Taxidermy project to be public spectacle

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The hide of a record-breaking grizzly bear, killed seven months ago near Lincoln, is hanging on a rack alongside a zebra pelt at Montana Rocky Mountain Fur Dressers Inc. in Great Falls.

From nose to tail, the grizzly’s shell stretches 8 feet, 4 inches long, and is almost 5 feet wide. Claws, each more than 3 inches long, stick out from the fur like daggers.

The bear hide, which is being tanned, won’t be sharing space with exotic animals from Africa much longer.

Next month, a team of champion taxidermists will go to work bringing the bear’s imposing form back to life.

The U.S. Forest Service has decided to allow the public to witness the resurrection. Because there is such intense public interest, officials have decided to let people watch the taxidermists in action June 26-28 at the Lincoln Community Center.

Shawn Dawson of Timberland Taxidermy in Great Falls, one of the United Taxidermy Association taxidermists who is donating their labor, has butterflies in his stomach. It’s not every day he gets to work on what he describes as a “local celebrity,” much less in front of an audience.

“It’s a good butterflies,” Dawson said. “When you get that feeling inside like, ‘Yeah, this is cool.’ “

At the time of its death, the Lincoln bear weighed 830 pounds.

That’s the largest grizzly ever recorded west of the Continental Divide, and the third biggest in the northwest Montana grizzly ecosystem.

“It’s just an honor to work on something that big, just to be part of it,” Dawson said. “The creature is just so huge.”

Before the taxidermists can go to work, Montana Rocky Mountain Fur Dressers must finish its job.

Workers there also said they are honored to be working on the headline-grabbing griz.

“It’s still got a really nice color to it,” said Ben Emrich, one of the owners of Montana Rocky Mountain Fur Dressers.

The hide is being tanned and rebuilt in preparation for its permanent display at the U.S. Forest Service’s Lincoln Ranger District building.

“It’s one of the local treasures around that area, and I think everybody is really happy it’s going to stay,” said Pat Shanley, a biologist with the U.S. Forest Service.

The town of Lincoln, as well as the University of Montana, home of the Grizzlies, expressed interest in displaying a mount of the 12-year-old bear after it was hit and killed by a pickup in October 2007 while crossing the highway in Lincoln.

Lincoln residents, proud of their resident record-breaker, mounted a campaign to make their town the bear’s final resting place, and wildlife authorities agreed to send it home.

“Everybody seems to be real grateful for that,” Shanley said.

Dawson will be joined on the grizzly job by Steve Faechner, owner of the Academy of Realistic Taxidermy north of Havre and a board member of the United Taxidermist Association, and Jay Roberson, a taxidermist in Lincoln.

When it’s finished, the mount will look “pretty darn close” to the real thing, Faechner said. “It’s pretty exciting.”

The bear will be depicted in a natural state on all four legs, rather than standing up.

Shanley said the district didn’t want the bear to look aggressive, which would cast the wrong image. In most cases, he said, bears are not a threat to people.

The bear display will feature information about the proper precautions to take when in bear country. Tidbits about the radio-collared bear’s history, which was well-documented even though it was rarely seen, also will be included.

The bear began its life east of the Divide, on the Rocky Mountain Front near Choteau. It traveled the Blackfoot River Valley, including the Lincoln area, since at least 2004, Shanley said.

The bear was hit by a vehicle once before the fatal collision, and also survived being shot.

Jacob Emrich of Montana Rocky Mountain Fur Dressers can vouch for the shooting. He said he dug shot out of the bear’s hide, which he said was the most scarred he’s ever worked on.

“It’s definitely the most high-profile case we’ve ever done,” said Ben Emrich, Jacob’s brother.

That’s saying something.

The Emrichs once tanned a buffalo skin for a taxidermist whose client was pop star Britney Spears.