Mike Orthober, a nationally renowned taxidermist from Egg Harbor, has no plans on retiring after being inducted in the International Hall of Fame in Sioux Falls, South Dakota last month.  Traveling to put on seminars around the country while still finding time to mount birds and animals for the Whitefish Dunes State Park and Door County Historical Museum have Orthober continuing his life-long love of taxidermy.  He explains how he first became interested in his craft at the young age of 11.

Orthober, 58,  says the most challenging taxidermy mounts of the thousands he has done over the years are hummingbirds.  Some of those works are displayed in the diorama at the Door County Historical Museum.   That exhibit features over 140 of his birds and several reptiles and fish along with trees as part of the natural setting.  Orthober adds that he plans on restoring more old cars in the future, which he compares similarly to the art of taxidermy.  

(photo contributed)