Yeah, I remember the lack of rattlers around there!
I've taken two sage grouse to taxidermists. The first taxidermist also turned out to be a thief. He claimed he'd contacted me by both phone and mail after it was done, and since I never picked up the bird he sold it to somebody else. Of course, he never contacted me in any way, so got both my 50% deposit, plus the full price from whoever he sold it to. Of course, he didn't last long in the business, so there was no way to get my money back, but what I really wanted was the mount.
The second bird turned out to be too shot up to do the job right, according to a taxidermist I trust.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
