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Villarreal relatively new to preserving the afterlife of the living
Traditionally, when choosing a form of education people venture to four-year universities or local colleges. Some even enter a trade.
Brian Villarreal, 22, did not choose the traditional route, instead opting for a slightly more eccentric trade that has given him the ability to preserve the afterlife of the living.
The trade in question? Taxidermy.
Entering this niche line of work, Villarreal has managed to gain an education through his craft and been able to learn the skills necessary to be successful.
In June, he participated in the 2024 Texas Taxidermy Association Inc. Convention and State Championships. He submitted his work at the beginner level and took home second place — a proud moment for Villarreal, considering it was his first-ever competition.
Villarreal said he was only planning to attend the convention as a spectator and had no plans of entering. But his mentor, Richard Schmidt, convinced him otherwise.
“I really just wanted to go talk to the other taxidermists and learn a thing or two from them,” Villarreal said. “It was a last-minute decision to enter a mount.”
The showpiece that helped land Villarreal a place at the winner’s podium was the mounted head of an axis deer, also known as a spotted or chital deer.
“It took a week for me to work on the mount. For that one I did a little more custom work,” he said. “I took it (mount) a little bit above my skill set just for the competition.”
For the past three years Villarreal has worked alongside Schmidt, owner of Cow Creek Taxidermy and Game Processing. This is where Villarreal currently works and began his training.
Cow Creek is a family- owned business located six miles north of Boerne. They specialize in the complete processing of game, curated meats, sausages and, of course, taxidermy.
Schmidt, a taxidermist for more than 15 years, said he has chosen to teach Villarreal because he sees the patience, attention to detail and perfectionism in his mentee’s abilities.
“The one thing about Brian I’ve seen this year more than ever is that he wants to get to perfection,” Schmidt said. “Every mount that he does, he strives to do better on that one than his previous one.”
The first year of Villarreal’s training consisted of watching and assisting his mentor with skinning, preserving and mounting animals into clients’ desired positions.
By year two, Villarreal was given small projects to complete and, in year three, was given bigger projects to do on his own, from start to finish.
Like most tradesmen, Villarreal hopes to expand and perfect his expertise.
Next year, he wants to enter the competition and not only win first place but enter a more advanced division. At the same time, he wants to preserve the memories of animals that enter his corner of the Cow Creek shop.
“I found something I really like doing,” the taxidermist said. “I never thought I would be doing something like this and it’s really cool being able to preserve the animals and their memories.”
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