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At a Los Angeles museum, Tim Bovard gives new life to dead animals

NYTSELECTS – Taxidermist Tim Bovard works at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Los Angeles, Jan. 9, 2026. At the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the creation, care and keeping of creatures is a responsibility the last full-time museum taxidermist in the U.S. takes both seriously and joyfully. (Sasha Arutyunova/The New York Times)

Taxidermist Tim Bovard at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The last full-time museum taxidermist in the United States takes his responsibility both seriously and joyfully.

PHOTO: SASHA ARUTYUNOVA/NYTIMES

Jordan Kisner

LOS ANGELES – At 11, Mr Tim Bovard undertook his first taxidermy experiment on a piece of roadkill.

He had found an unlucky skunk and improvised its reanimation using an instruction book, much to the alarm of his friends’ parents.

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