Reddit | darth_meh

11+ Taxidermy Fails That Will Haunt Your Dreams For All Eternity

Updated September 8, 2021

The idea behind taxidermy is a fairly noble one.

When we spend a large part of our lives with an animal companion, it can feel devastating when nature makes the difference between their lifespans and ours abundantly and cruelly clear.

So, it's not difficult to understand why the art of taxidermy would end up developing. When it's done well, an animal can become its own memorial to honor the life it shared with its owner.

Done wrong, however, it can end up looking either nightmarish, derpy, or a bizarre combination of both. And we're about to see just go wrong taxidermy can go.

It's quite the blessing in disguise when even the departed animal doesn't seem to approve of the job the taxidermist did.

Reddit | stevieisbored

It looks angered, but it's kind of a low-stakes anger that seems more like intense irritation. '

So yeah, whoever put this on Snapchat isn't wrong. Some days put exactly this look on our faces.

I'll give the taxidermist behind this one thing, they managed to make the happiest bear I've ever seen.

Reddit | lucyposhaheidi

This may not reflect what the bear looked like in life, but he looks like that chill roommate we had in college who was always up for a party.

Not only that, but the bear would probably get as much homework done as that guy did.

Someone stuffed this rabbit so strangely that they practically invented a whole new animal.

Reddit | flun_the_pun

If anyone ever said they wanted actual bunnies to look more like cartoon ones, here's a nice reminder that they really don't.

It's like seeing "realistic" Homer Simpson, it's just scarring.

Sometimes, it's not the quality of the taxidermy itself, but how the customer uses it.

Reddit | alextomato

Granted, this bug-eyed mouse would probably be a little unnerving on its own, but there's no way it could freak people out from a shelf as well as it does from this guy's ear.

Seriously, why would anybody ever do this?

This is just the result of a terrifying botch, but once again, it looks like this cat is reacting to itself.

Reddit | lucyposhaheidi

It's hard to find something that both makes one cringe while putting intense fear in their eyes, but finding out that this is what you now look like ought to do it.

If nothing else, at least they were able to make this deer look pretty friendly.

Reddit | 5-HT_proprietor

Granted, he also looks like he'd run headfirst into the wall if he wasn't mounted on it, but at least he'd be good-natured about it.

Any fans of the red panda out there might want to brace themselves for this one.

Reddit | StraySocks

Although this job managed to make a normally adorable animal scary looking, I guess it's nice to know what Rocket could have looked like if he wasn't a raccoon.

They got his temperament down, at least.

If these two...interesting decoration choices don't entice visitors to this store, nothing will.

Reddit | pandapornotaku

I can't help but wonder, do all of this shop's creations look like they spent way too long staring at the sun?

Very comforting.

This one kind of looks like it's almost right, but almost doesn't count in taxidermy.

Reddit | QueenOfKarnaca

If anything, receiving an animal that looks like yours, only slightly more evil would probably just bring back memories of Pet Sematary.

I get the feeling that this wildcat looks a lot happier stuffed than it did in life.

Reddit | Spaghetti_Asker

And unless the taxidermist was trying to make it look ferocious, that probably makes this one the most successful job we've seen so far.

After all, at least it won't be in my nightmares.

I think this used to be some kind of otter, but he's since been transformed into an avatar of disappointment.

Imgur | lucyposhaheidi

Not only because this probably wasn't the face the customer had in mind, but I'm pretty sure I make more or less the same face when something bad happens to me.

You know you've done a job you can be proud of as a taxidermist when it's hard to tell what this animal was even supposed to be.

Reddit | darth_meh

I want to see it's a bat based on the ears, but for all I know, somebody could've stapled together three different animals like some kind of down home Frankenstein.

I'm guessing that this guy screamed at this cat because the taxidermist made it look startled.

Reddit | wutheringdelights

Either that or it just happened to sport the right facial expression when somebody took a candid shot of the guy's horrified reaction to it.

Proboscis monkeys can already look a little weird, but that definitely isn't helped by whatever one taxidermist did to these two.

Reddit | Ajimento

I guess I can see how those Wallace & Gromit smiles was supposed to make those pitch black eyes look less off-putting, but let's just say it didn't work out.

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