It must feel a bit like playing God, bringing dead animals back to life the way only Roger Britton can. Roger is an award-winning, full-time taxidermist who lives above his bustling basement shop in Telkwa.

The showroom at the front of the shop holds a fully mounted bear, sheep, owl, and snake skin, amidst a row of moose and caribou antlers waiting to be shipped to points worldwide. "The hunting industry in B.C. is huge," Roger tells me.

Roger's father, Roger Britton Sr. was a shake mill owner who learned through books and trial-and-error how to turn a spare time taxidermy hobby into a business. Since he was eleven years of age, Roger (Junior) has been working with his father, eventually branching off on his own.

Over 30 years, they have perfected many of their techniques that make these mounts so life-like. Needless to say, these techniques are "trade secrets" and are what makes all the difference between creating a work of wildlife art and simply stretching the skin of an animal over a molded form.