Pins hold the hide of an oryx, killed in Texas, in place while Kettles details it. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
Kettles brushes off paste used to help bleach elk antlers that will be made into a European mount. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
Elk and mule deer antlers that will be made into a European mount bleach in the sun outside Kettles’ store, Quality Taxidermy, in Albuquerque. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
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Kettles takes a cigarette break. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
Done with his cigarette break, Kettles returns to work to resume making a elk antler mount. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
Kettles hangs a set of elk antlers that he just finished. Kettles likes to keep his finished work in his “wildlife studio” for a few days before calling his clients so that he can observe it, making sure there are no flaws. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
Kettles works on mounting oryx antlers to a form while Harley, a very much alive blue and gold macaw, sits on his roost. Kettles has always liked birds; when he was 10, he mounted his first bird, a sparrow hawk. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
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An iguana lies with other packaged animals in one of four freezers in Kettles’ shop. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
Tom Kettles says goodbye to his wife, Ida, in their home in front of the workshop. The two, who were married right out of high school, notably do not have any stuff animals in their home. (Craig Fritz / For The Times)
