Schafer tackles taxidermy
By Suzanne Werre
Editor
Turtle Lake’s Savannah Schafer didn’t quite know what she wanted to do after she graduated high school a couple years ago. She was thinking about becoming an artist, or maybe going to cosmetology school so she could work on hair, but she also wanted to work with animals.
She decided to do all three, and went to taxidermy school.
She now gets to work on the hair, feathers and skin of animals and birds as she works to make them look as lifelike as possible.
When she was still deciding what she wanted to do as a career, her dad Shawn, jokingly suggested she could become a taxidermist. Savannah didn’t think it was such a funny idea. In fact, she thought it was a terrific idea. She contacted Dave Tonneson of Dave’s School of Taxidermy by Newburg to enroll in his course, and the rest is history.
“I just figured, it’s an eight-week course, so if I don’t like it, it’s only eight weeks,” said Savannah. “I ended up loving it, and now it’s my full-time job.”
Savannah opened up shop at her home just northwest of Turtle Lake a few months ago, and she is ready for more business as she finishes up work in her shop on the family farm.
