Starting at a young age, Sydney Langton always dreamed of being a successful taxidermists. Now, she's able to build a career with her expertise and succeed in it.
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00:00People did take me less seriously at the beginning of my career, due to my gender and my age
00:16predominantly. I wanted to prove my worth, not only to myself, but to the other members
00:25of the community that being a young female, you can be successful in a male predominant
00:29industry.
00:45My name's Sydney Langton, I'm 18 years old and I work as a taxidermist. I've been practising
00:52taxidermy for about seven years. My company name is Langton Taxidermy. I would say my
00:59business tries to capture a moment in time of an animal's lifetime and present that to
01:06the wider public. I get the animals from a variety of different sources, predominantly
01:13from the chutes when the season's right. I get them from vets and rehabilitation centres
01:19or occasionally roadkill when I've found something on the side of the road. This is
01:25a European Buzzard, which I got from a rehabilitation centre in Stratford. A typical day in the
01:37life of a taxidermist for me personally is I'd get up early in the morning around 8am
01:42with an animal that I've already defrosted. I'd work the skin off the carcass and once
01:48the skin is washing I'd have a pre-made form or a form that I'm making whilst the skin's
01:53processing. And then once I've got my own form ready and the measurements all correct,
01:59I'd take the skin out, wash it in acetone to remove all sorts of water debris and grease
02:05that's remaining in the skin. I'd blow dry the skin down and then I'd mount the skin
02:11with wires, clay, car body filler onto the form and position it in the way that I desire.
02:18The process of taxidermy has really solidified the mortality of life and the way that life
02:25can be taken in an instant. And it's very unexpected and it's unpreventable, you cannot
02:31escape it and with that comes a great amount of respect for the animals that I work with
02:37because I want to regard them in a way that allows people to see them in their best form.
02:45When I was younger I had a lot of turn backs on me in the taxidermy industry and very few
02:51were interested and those that were interested in me I really latched onto and gained so
02:57much experience from them. I'd also like to see myself teaching others and helping them
03:04through the process of taxidermy and being the role model I wish I'd had when I first started.