Man's labor of love brings life to the once living
by
Katie Ferrell
Story Created:
May 2, 2011 at 6:26 PM CDT
Story Updated:
May 2, 2011 at 7:09 PM CDT
Many animal lovers turn their passion for God's creatures into a profession. But, it's not often you meet someone who loves working with animals that aren't alive anymore.
In our special report, "Labor of Love", meet a Hastings man who spends his days giving new life to the once living.
"I love them, they're all my buddies, I love everyone of them."
Meet some of Steve Stutesman's friends:
"I'll walk in in the morning and tell them all good morning."
This animal loving...
"They're my little critters."
Hunting fanatic...
"90% of the stuff I do I've hunted myself."
..spends his days bringing the dead back to life.
"You gotta thank the main man upstairs because he give 'em to me."
It's definitely not your typical 9:00 to 5:00 and you'd never guess the woman who inspired Steve to become a taxidermist.
"The nun, she looked at me and said Steve I gotta book I want you to read and it was on taxidermy work and it was fantastic," said Stutesman.
Yes, you heard right. Thanks to a nun Steve's had a love affair with the wild almost 4 decades in the making.
From squirrels and badgers to pheasants and geese, even deer twice the size of me, Steve has seen and stuffed it all.
"What's neat is to see an animal that walks in, lifeless and then it looks like a bomb hit it in the middle and then at the end it's like it's going to walk right out the door, that's what's fun," Stutesman said.
It is a passion for giving new life to the once living.
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