Have we ever turned down a job because the rug was too far gone, even for us? Yes, but very few. Usually because it would be way too costly for the client, for what they would get in return, and not because it could not be done. One of our the most satisfied customers in our history had such a rug. It was about only thing he owned that had belonged to his father and he insisted we do the restoration, regardless of the cost. We did the job and received a wonderful "thank you" letter from him. To me, any money received for our services pales in comparison to the thrill I get from a truly satisfied customer!

Many rugs we get are absolute jig-saw puzzles! Literally in pieces, with broken ears, mashed or chewed off noses, missing pieces of skin needing replacement, or missing claws we replace by custom sculpting new, artificial claws to match any remaining ones.

In January, 1997 we acquired about 40 years of accumulated skin scraps from a major taxidermy studio that closed its doors in our area. Skin pieces literally from almost any animal you could name! Suffice it to say, we have plenty of patching material.

Almost all minor repairs are done "in the field". We don't usually do major repairs, or full rug restorations, on location. Those are shipped to our workshop in Lynnwood, WA. There we have the time, space, tools, and materials needed to do the really tough jobs. An exception was the rug we restored at the clients home shown in the following photos.

Picture on the left: sculpting one of 3 missing claws on a Grizzly Bear rug. Picture on the right: the finished product which includes 'new' pads for the claws.

With rugs, our process is somewhat the reverse of work done on heads or life size mounts. We usually do all the repairs and restoration work on rugs first and then go though the cleaning end of the process. The skins are often too brittle or torn up to do any kind of cleaning (let alone any brushing or grooming of the hair) before all the patching and reinforcing of the damaged areas have been completed.

In the 60's and 70's, long before starting TCI full time, the better part of all cleaning and repair work done for Jonas Brothers of Seattle, was on old rug mounts. I have gained a tremendous amount of experience in this particular field, by working on everything from a tiny Mink open mouth rug (really!) to massive eleven foot plus Polar Bear rugs, or from small African Wild Cat rugs to huge African Lions, and ancient Tiger rugs from India.

There are several reasons why head-mount rugs are more fragile and have a tendency to deteriorate much quicker than life size mounts, or shoulder mounted heads. If a rug is displayed on the floor, where there's lots of foot traffic, the rug can be literally worn out by constant walking on it. Children have a tendency to break ears, twist off claws, and pet the rugs so much they can literally go bald! Rugs are also susceptible to the # 1 Rug Destroyer, PETS! Dogs & cats have a nasty habit of mistaking rugs for "chew-toys" or worse yet, fire hydrants or litter boxes! Unfortunately their antics often go undetected until it is nearly too late, with disastrous results. The rugs can literally rot to pieces!

Another reason many animal skin rugs (bears in particular) are more susceptible to damage is simply because the rug skins are quite pliable and therefore moving them around, or "Using them," can actually shorten their shelf-life. On life size and head mounts the skins are always glued down to a rigid form, immovable and, as such, their shelf life can be ten times that of the average mounted rug.

The safest and best way to display almost any rug is to hang it on the wall. We do not recommend using nails to accomplish this, as that has a tendency to create small tears that may eventually damage the skin, as it ages. We recommend installing "wall rings" at strategic places around the rugs edge on which to hang it. Sewn on through the skin and lining, rings protect the skin from damage and give the rug a much safer support system.

If you have any rugs you or your taxidermist think are totaled out, don't throw them out! Contact us first! We take on jobs most taxidermists won't even consider doing!