ORIGINAL: zubba
How did he get the hide tanned i wonder in that short of time? Hope he did it the right way!
With a turnaround like 40 days, he probably used a home tan (if he tanned at all). For example, there is a tanning solution called Krowtann that thousands of taxidermist use to tan their capes without having to send them out to a commercial tannery. With this method, a taxidermist can kick out mounts fairly quick.....here is an example.....
Day 1 - Cape the head, rough flesh, split lips, eyes, nose, turn ears, and place in Krowtann
Days 2-6 - Cape sits in Krowtann
Day 7 - Remove cape from Krowtann, neutralize, final flesh, and mount.
Days 8-22 - Drying time
Day 23 - Finish/paint the mount
The above timeline is if one was dedicating their time to the one mount and using a home-tan. However, most full time taxidermist can't tan the cape and flesh/shave it for what it costs for commercial tannery to do it. Thier time is worth more than that.....so they typically send it out. Bottom line, a mount can be done in 40 days and the cape can be tanned (instead of a dry preserve...which I would never recommend).