freeze drying simply put is kinda like dehydrating the animal completly i THINK....i had a squirrel done like that....see the pics a few post below. i assume it was gutted first though because of the stiching i can see. i dont know if it was then filled with something to keep the body shape or what...some of the taxis here can fill you in better. i only paid 125 for the mount in the post below. i think for that price i got a decint mount. a little work and i bet i can hide the stitching pretty good..not that its at all visible from the wall mount..i just know its there lol