| Here is a copy of a two-page article that was written about me in the Spring '03 issue of the North American Bear Foundation magazine! |
Road kill! Highway buffet. Interstate pizza. Whatever you want to call it;
she can rebuild it. She can make it whole again. She can give it new life; in a
manner of speaking. She is Amy Ritchie... taxidermist, pianist, web-designer
and all around 16-year-old. She lives on a 5-acre farm in Midland, N.C. (near
Charlotte) and has access to dead things, so she puts them to use.
This passion for creating life after death started two years ago when she
was 14 and noticed a dead king snake on the side of the road and saw
something... a belt. She grabbed an American Boys Handbook and read how
to skin and tan a snake. From there, she jumped on the Internet to see what
else she could learn about this art. What she found was a hobby that would
bring her great fulfillment and joy, and sometimes an inbox filled with hate
mail. More on that later.
Amy also found a benefactor of sorts; Kerry Zerr, a taxidermist from Williston,
North Dakota. He sent Amy a shop full of supplies and forms. Amy credits
Zerr with helping her to get started. Says Zerr, "When I was young, probably
younger than Amy, I would go to all the shops [taxidermist] in town only to be
turned away... this is my way of giving to someone like I had wished
someone would have done for me". Zerr added that so many taxidermists
have supplies just lying around, why not share it with an up and coming?
This has paid off in a big way; Amy has recently added a full size freezer to
her 6-ft. by 14-ft. shop (built by her dad) and has to start turning away offers
for more specimens, saying that she simply doesn't have the room any more.
But, she appreciates all the offers.
Amy has also found an interesting market for her creations: advertising.
Walgreen's has tapped her for a couple of her mice for some of their
commercials. Nike, the TV show Dragnet, and a prop shop have also
requested her talents. She also sells her completed mounts on ebay. She
has sold several squirrels for over $100 apiece so far. All of this to the half-
surprise of her parents. Says her mom Lisa, "I always knew that Amy was
different; when she was 2-years-old, she flipped her dollhouse upside-down
and tried to figure out how it was put together". She adds that Amy will
simply watch something on TV or read about it and want to learn more about
it. Some of Amy's other curiosities: submarines and nuclear fission.
Lisa is a stay-at-home mom and Amy's dad, Ned, is a Marines Reservist who
has had the same paper route in Charlotte, North Carolina for over 23 years.
He also sells futures [commodities] on the Internet and is an all around
handy man. Is there any wonder where Amy gets her strong work ethic?
Amy and her sisters, Sara (Age 12) and Hannah (age 6) are all home-
schooled (there is also a younger brother, Stephen, age 3). Amy considers
this more of an advantage than disadvantage saying that she has time to
work on her hobby and still stay active in the community. She is a 4-H club
called "World Changers" where she does lots of wildlife projects and
speeches. She also does monthly nursing home ministries and enjoys being
in the mother-daughter book club in her area. There has always been
criticism about being home-schooled with naysayers saying that the kids are
not getting any social interaction, but, says Lisa, are the kids in school to
learn, or to socialize? Touché'.
Social interaction is not something that Amy worries about; she worries
about her PayPal account (eBay) being FDIC insured and how to deal with
the animal rights activists that continually visit her site. When she first
started doing taxidermy, Amy designed her own website. The site included
pictures of her entire family and where she lived. After receiving over
300,000 hits and thus shutting down the server, she had to revise her site
and take off some pictures and personal information for the sake of safety.
Some of the hits were from as far away as Amsterdam.
"It was like someone distributed her website to all the animal rights sites on
the Internet", says her mom, "it was getting to the point where I had to
monitor her emails and delete the more offensive ones... I can't believe that
people would write such things to a child". Many of those "things" are not fit
to write in a friendly publication, so subjecting a child to such onslaughts
gives little credibility to their cause. Today, the website (http://www.
AmysTaxidermy.com/) includes a disclaimer before you can enter into it that
tells the viewer what they will see and not to bother with hate email... her
mom still deletes those before Amy can see it.
Amy is undeterred. However, she has an answer to these people: is it better
to let the animal decay on the side of the road; or to allow it to live a second
time? Amy is an old soul and a response like that proves that she has far
more wisdom than her 16-years shows. Amy also has an answer to all those
who think her "weird" or "unusual": she isn't weird or unusual; she just has
an unusual hobby... or is it? "No one questions a 16-year-old boy who does
taxidermy," says Amy, "and aren't we trying to show equality all around?�
There's that wisdom again.
Her friends all think that what she does is "cool", especially since she makes
more money than they do. They admit to being a bit squeamish when it
comes to fleshing out the animal, but the rest of it they fascinating. Even her
younger sister (Hannah) has found an interest in the hobby. She helps Amy
to skin the animals and will even enter her own animal in the junior
taxidermist competition on the state level. Amy has a kindred spirit in her little
sister.
Taxidermy is just the tip of the iceberg of the many talents of Amy Ritchie:
she plays the piano by ear and is even composing some of her own music to
include in a future, separate website. She has a passion for art (no surprise
there) including drawing, sculpting and painting. She also plays the guitar
and designs websites and has recently taken up hunting.
For her 16th birthday, Amy bought herself a pellet gun and has been squirrel
hunting with it, keeping herself busy both in the woods and her shop. She's
also been keeping her mom busy cooking the squirrels. Her favorite is to
have it slow cooked in the crock-pot. She would like to go deer hunting;
she's just waiting for someone to go with her. Amy's dad doesn't hunt, but he
does help her with her taxidermy. He brings her the road kill to work on. This
isn't ghoulish, it's supportive, and both her parents are very supportive of
Amy in all that she does.
"Amy takes care of her business.. She’s very professional and takes
care of all the business matters with her shop," says her mom. Her mom also
describes Amy as very "lady like"; she likes to wear skirts. Very little
separates Amy from other girls her age (aside from the obvious that is), she
has long brown hair and wears nail polish. To talk to her you wouldn't think
that you were talking to a teenager, except for the happy, bubbly tone of her
voice. She speaks well and is very polite.
With college looming in the horizon, there are thoughts of attending the local
community college and study art and maybe marketing. Both would be a
huge asset for her business. And although her mom would like to see her
study medicine (she says that Amy would make a good surgeon or
veterinarian), Amy sees a different path and it has animals all around it.
She's a different kind of Snow White. Disney, eat your heart out!
she can rebuild it. She can make it whole again. She can give it new life; in a
manner of speaking. She is Amy Ritchie... taxidermist, pianist, web-designer
and all around 16-year-old. She lives on a 5-acre farm in Midland, N.C. (near
Charlotte) and has access to dead things, so she puts them to use.
This passion for creating life after death started two years ago when she
was 14 and noticed a dead king snake on the side of the road and saw
something... a belt. She grabbed an American Boys Handbook and read how
to skin and tan a snake. From there, she jumped on the Internet to see what
else she could learn about this art. What she found was a hobby that would
bring her great fulfillment and joy, and sometimes an inbox filled with hate
mail. More on that later.
Amy also found a benefactor of sorts; Kerry Zerr, a taxidermist from Williston,
North Dakota. He sent Amy a shop full of supplies and forms. Amy credits
Zerr with helping her to get started. Says Zerr, "When I was young, probably
younger than Amy, I would go to all the shops [taxidermist] in town only to be
turned away... this is my way of giving to someone like I had wished
someone would have done for me". Zerr added that so many taxidermists
have supplies just lying around, why not share it with an up and coming?
This has paid off in a big way; Amy has recently added a full size freezer to
her 6-ft. by 14-ft. shop (built by her dad) and has to start turning away offers
for more specimens, saying that she simply doesn't have the room any more.
But, she appreciates all the offers.
Amy has also found an interesting market for her creations: advertising.
Walgreen's has tapped her for a couple of her mice for some of their
commercials. Nike, the TV show Dragnet, and a prop shop have also
requested her talents. She also sells her completed mounts on ebay. She
has sold several squirrels for over $100 apiece so far. All of this to the half-
surprise of her parents. Says her mom Lisa, "I always knew that Amy was
different; when she was 2-years-old, she flipped her dollhouse upside-down
and tried to figure out how it was put together". She adds that Amy will
simply watch something on TV or read about it and want to learn more about
it. Some of Amy's other curiosities: submarines and nuclear fission.
Lisa is a stay-at-home mom and Amy's dad, Ned, is a Marines Reservist who
has had the same paper route in Charlotte, North Carolina for over 23 years.
He also sells futures [commodities] on the Internet and is an all around
handy man. Is there any wonder where Amy gets her strong work ethic?
Amy and her sisters, Sara (Age 12) and Hannah (age 6) are all home-
schooled (there is also a younger brother, Stephen, age 3). Amy considers
this more of an advantage than disadvantage saying that she has time to
work on her hobby and still stay active in the community. She is a 4-H club
called "World Changers" where she does lots of wildlife projects and
speeches. She also does monthly nursing home ministries and enjoys being
in the mother-daughter book club in her area. There has always been
criticism about being home-schooled with naysayers saying that the kids are
not getting any social interaction, but, says Lisa, are the kids in school to
learn, or to socialize? Touché'.
Social interaction is not something that Amy worries about; she worries
about her PayPal account (eBay) being FDIC insured and how to deal with
the animal rights activists that continually visit her site. When she first
started doing taxidermy, Amy designed her own website. The site included
pictures of her entire family and where she lived. After receiving over
300,000 hits and thus shutting down the server, she had to revise her site
and take off some pictures and personal information for the sake of safety.
Some of the hits were from as far away as Amsterdam.
"It was like someone distributed her website to all the animal rights sites on
the Internet", says her mom, "it was getting to the point where I had to
monitor her emails and delete the more offensive ones... I can't believe that
people would write such things to a child". Many of those "things" are not fit
to write in a friendly publication, so subjecting a child to such onslaughts
gives little credibility to their cause. Today, the website (http://www.
AmysTaxidermy.com/) includes a disclaimer before you can enter into it that
tells the viewer what they will see and not to bother with hate email... her
mom still deletes those before Amy can see it.
Amy is undeterred. However, she has an answer to these people: is it better
to let the animal decay on the side of the road; or to allow it to live a second
time? Amy is an old soul and a response like that proves that she has far
more wisdom than her 16-years shows. Amy also has an answer to all those
who think her "weird" or "unusual": she isn't weird or unusual; she just has
an unusual hobby... or is it? "No one questions a 16-year-old boy who does
taxidermy," says Amy, "and aren't we trying to show equality all around?�
There's that wisdom again.
Her friends all think that what she does is "cool", especially since she makes
more money than they do. They admit to being a bit squeamish when it
comes to fleshing out the animal, but the rest of it they fascinating. Even her
younger sister (Hannah) has found an interest in the hobby. She helps Amy
to skin the animals and will even enter her own animal in the junior
taxidermist competition on the state level. Amy has a kindred spirit in her little
sister.
Taxidermy is just the tip of the iceberg of the many talents of Amy Ritchie:
she plays the piano by ear and is even composing some of her own music to
include in a future, separate website. She has a passion for art (no surprise
there) including drawing, sculpting and painting. She also plays the guitar
and designs websites and has recently taken up hunting.
For her 16th birthday, Amy bought herself a pellet gun and has been squirrel
hunting with it, keeping herself busy both in the woods and her shop. She's
also been keeping her mom busy cooking the squirrels. Her favorite is to
have it slow cooked in the crock-pot. She would like to go deer hunting;
she's just waiting for someone to go with her. Amy's dad doesn't hunt, but he
does help her with her taxidermy. He brings her the road kill to work on. This
isn't ghoulish, it's supportive, and both her parents are very supportive of
Amy in all that she does.
"Amy takes care of her business.. She’s very professional and takes
care of all the business matters with her shop," says her mom. Her mom also
describes Amy as very "lady like"; she likes to wear skirts. Very little
separates Amy from other girls her age (aside from the obvious that is), she
has long brown hair and wears nail polish. To talk to her you wouldn't think
that you were talking to a teenager, except for the happy, bubbly tone of her
voice. She speaks well and is very polite.
With college looming in the horizon, there are thoughts of attending the local
community college and study art and maybe marketing. Both would be a
huge asset for her business. And although her mom would like to see her
study medicine (she says that Amy would make a good surgeon or
veterinarian), Amy sees a different path and it has animals all around it.
She's a different kind of Snow White. Disney, eat your heart out!
| Taxidermy Amy By Tonda Gregory |