Taxidermy Mounts by Reimond W. Grignon
The Finest Museum Taxidermy In New England !

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#1. Who mounted all the birds and animals?

This is the number one question asked by almost every person entering the museum. Every specimen shown here or taken to his shop has been personally mounted by Mr. Reimond W. Grignon. He has no appendices or other help. He does all the taxidermy completely by himself. All of Mr. Grignon's mounts are done by him alone, and that is the only way he has operated for over the past thirty years.

The mounts in the museum are only a few of Mr. Grignon’s favorite mounts. Some are more recent than others, and the mounts are usually changed when something comes along that he wants people to see and admire. Mr. Grignon has been a professional taxidermy artist since 1972 and has been doing taxidermy since he was a teenager. That’s over 30 years of experience! He has won in the Masters Division of the World Taxidermy Championship a number of times!

To read Mr. Grignon's biography click here.

#2 Where did the animals all come from?

Mr. Grignon trapped many of the Maine furbearers. He has held a Maine Master Guides license since 1974 and is an avid outdoorsman. Some of the other animals have been purchased from other trappers, such as the Arctic Fox which were bought in Alaska, frozen and air freighted to Bangor, Maine. Coastal Maine Outfitters has been very kind in providing at no cost, many of the Sea Ducks that Reimond mounted. The African mounts were mounted by Mr. Grignon for Mr. Howard Jones, a famed African hunter. Mr. Jones has graciously let the museum keep some African mounts on display temporarily. Other animals such as the bear cub and small deer were given to Mr. Grignon by state game wardens.

#3 How long did it take to mount these animals?

He is never done! Many of the mounts come and go, as he is able to provide them. There are quite a number of mounts in the museum but what many people fail to realize is that these are only a small fraction of the mounts that Mr. Grignon does every year. Mr. Grignon does all the taxidermy work himself with no outside help.

#4 Where does Mr. Grignon do the work?

Most of the actual mounting and finish work is done in this building in another room. There the mounts are put together. Then they go into the upstairs drying room until dry. When dry, they are again brought down and finished. That is, painted, combed and cleaned. The mounting/finish room is kept very neat and clean! There is even a piano back there that Mr. Grignon loves to play!

#5 How does he do the work?

The hides are sent to one of the world’s best tanners, located in California. Nine to ten months later the tannery will tan the hides and ship them back to our location in Palmyra, ME. Mr. Grignon takes the tanned hides, re-soaks them in pure water and mounts the hides on a primed and glued mannequin. Mr. Grignon is a wonderful sculptor; many of the mannequins are made right here! It is a super clean job, comparable to working on any wearable garment. His workroom is really nice!

#6 How long does it take to mount an animal?

As stated above, usually the tanning process takes nine to ten months. Mr. Grignon absolutely refuses to use any of the so-called fast and cheap quick tans or other improper home tans which do such an inferior job. After tanning, it may take from one to several days to mount a specimen. Then the mount must dry for several weeks. When dry, he will proceed to "finish" the mount. That is paint it, comb it and clean it, and put it on a base. 
The tanned hides which have come back from the tannery are done in the same order that they were brought in. That is, first come, first served. Most of Mr. Grignon’s customers are very patient. Mr. Grignon takes his time with each mount doing his best on each one. He refuses to rush any mount that he is working on; he can only do his best work if given enough time. Mr. Grignon’s work is not for everyone. It is for those that want the best tanning, and taxidermy work possible, not the cheapest and fastest. Presently he does not lack for customers!

#7 Why does he do Custom Framing?

Mr. Grignon takes great pride in his custom picture frames! He is a master frame builder and mat cutter. He has been a professional framer for years. He does a lot of wholesale framing work for other shops, doing the very difficult shadow box framing jobs for them. He does absolutely beautiful graduation and wedding shadow boxes for example. 
He has many mouldings to chose from. Behind the molding sample doors there are enough corner samples to cover a wall over 50 feet long! Many of his mouldings are imported direct from Italy, Finland, and other countries!

The building contains a complete custom frame shop with all the latest, up to date, modern equipment such as molding choppers, glass and mat cutters, etc.…. Being the artist that he is, he loves not only taxidermy art but also other forms of art such as sculptor and painting. It has always been one of his dreams to have a facility where he could combine the arts. That is why he has so many Limited Edition prints in the store along with his taxidermy work and original paintings and photographs.

#8 What about all the prints on the Wall?

Most of the prints are limited editions of paintings done by master painters such as Jim Hansel, Derk Hansen, Robert Duncan, Rick Kelly and many, many others. In fact we have a catalog showroom where you can research to find just the perfect art for you. There are many publishers represented. We also have some original paintings by B. Haley, Robert Wells and others.

#9 Where did all the old bottles come from?

Mr. Grignon is an avid Scuba diver. He is one of the very few persons in Maine to hold the distinguished P.A.D.I. "Master Scuba Diver" rating. He is also a rated "Rescue Diver", and holds the professional "Dive Master" rating. He was also editor/publisher of "The Maine Diver" magazine. Most of the bottles were found off nearby coastal islands where junk has been dumped since before the pilgrims landed. (Yes, did you’t you know Maine was populated before the pilgrims arrived? That first winter they even came up here to Maine to get food or they would all have starved.) Some of the old clay pipes and bottles were found over 130 feet deep in dark murky water! The round bottom ones (teardrops) were the first carbonated soda bottles. They were made round so that the bottles would lay flat keeping the corks wet. If the corks dried out, they would pop!

#10. Who did the background paintings on the wall?

Mr. Bob Wells, now deceased, was a famous illustrator and painter who lived and studied in New York and Mexico before moving to Maine. He lived most of his later years on his private island on Sibley Pond in Canaan, Maine. He was an avid painter and has done the covers of outdoor magazines. He did the large mural up above by the Elk and the mural behind the Lion, and others.

#11. Where did all the great photography come from?

Mr. Grignon is a well-known outdoor photographer. His pictures are stunning and beautiful. His Aerial photos are suburb. He has been a pilot for over twenty five years and shoots many pictures out of his little Taylorcraft airplane which he loves to fly. His outdoor nature photos are rated among the best. You will find much of his photography here on this site.