Location: 766 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA

We’ve wanted to bring this class back for years, and it’s finally scheduled and in the books. Our Taxidermy Raccoon Head Mount Workshop has returned! If you’ve taken one of our classes before, this is a must-attend workshop. If you haven’t, hey, no worries. Our master taxidermist will walk you through the steps, and by the end, you’ll have a sweet raccoon taxidermy head mount that you made with your own two hands.

A bit about raccoons:
We’re spoiled in North America when you really think about it. Other continents get poisonous snakes, weird spiders, or giant carnivorous cats roaming their backyards, and we get the one and only trash panda. While they may look like someone smashed a cat and a dog together, raccoons are actually smaller relatives of bears.

One of the reasons they seem to grace our properties and back porches at night is that raccoons are easily adaptable to various environments. They can live in a hollow tree just as happily as they can in abandoned cars. Depending on the car, it can get pretty comfy for them. Their hands resemble human hands, and boy, do they put them to work. They have five fingers and use them to collect food, open shells, doors, or trash cans. It’s always fun when they get into your trash can, right?

Speaking of raccoon dining habits, raccoons often place food in water before they start to eat it. If you’re an outdoor cat owner like me, you’ll know that if you leave dry cat food outside overnight next to the water bowl, raccoons will absolutely make a mess of things. Next time you forget to bring the food in and wonder why the water looks so gross, it’s because the furry little bandits were dipping the food in the water before they ate it. They do this because they have a highly sensitive sense of touch, and water increases that sensitivity even more. I’m not sure what’s so sensually appealing about dipping cat food in water, but hey, to each their own.

About the instructor 

The instructor, Mr. Vassallo has over thirty-five years experience as a professional taxidermist and teacher. He has traveled Continental North America, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Europe and Africa studying, collecting and preserving wildlife.

Please Note: Pre-registration required as materials must be prepared for each student and space is VERY limited. Please arrive promptly at the start time. Students are encouraged to bring lunch/snacks. Cancellations must be made at least 72 hours prior to the date of the class. Cancellations will then be converted to credit that can either be used toward merchandise in the store or to enroll in another workshop. Cancellations made less than 72 hours prior to a class or failure to show up to a class will result in no refund or transfer. Class takes place at 870 Valencia St, San Francisco.