Tuesday, January 11, 2011

GASPORT TAXIDERMIST IN LOCKPORT PAPER

Yesterday's Lockport Union Sun and Journal featured an interview with a Gasport resident who dabbles in an interesting method of skull preservation...


Armond Armenia, 39, has a bare bones business. With the help of scavenger beetles, the GM employee operates Bone Heads out of his home on Humphrey Road.

The slogan for his European Mount Skulls practice is “Bare Your Skull” and sportsmen from miles around bring their animal heads to be cleaned up for mounting.

Armenia, a native of Sanborn, has a wife, Kristen, and two sons, Nicholas, 5, and Garrett, 3.

“My wife came from a hunting background so it doesn’t bother her,” Armond said. “It’s not gross to her and my kids think it’s a normal thing in every house. They want to help so bad, but they’re too young. Show-and-tell for them in a few years is going to be interesting.”

Armond graduated from Starpoint Central and attended Niagara County Community College. He is a HVAC operator at the former Delphi plant.

Area hunters bring him common little critters like rabbit, squirrel, mink and muskrat. Then come opossum, skunk and raccoon. Mid-priced animals are beaver, fox, coyote and bobcat.

Buck and doe are common. The average fee for deer is $100 and Armenia is processing 76 deer now.

Armenia, and thousands of beetle helpers, bare the bones of bear, boar and turtles. He is working on his own 37-inch diamond head rattle snake and a moose head.

The Buffalo Zoo has provided animals for use in education courses and a deal is in the works with the Buffalo Museum of Science.



Read the great interview here:

http://lockportjournal.com/local/x1733411161/Gasport-man-takes-taxidermy-to-bare-bones