Pamlico taxidermist debuts

When Page Nethercutt was 8, he used the skills he learned from his taxidermist father Gerald to enter a squirrel in a school science fair. He won a blue ribbon, but not the overall best of show.

He didn’t consider it the end of his world and continued to hone his skills.

Nethercutt, now 41, is not sure whatever became of the science fair winner, but television viewers will have the chance Thursday to see his vision of a real “End of the World” moment in nature when he is featured on a new AMC series entitled “The Immortalizer.”

Nethercutt, who took over his father’s business and reopened it as Moore Swamp Taxidermy in Pamlico County in 1994, is one of four taxidermist chosen for the eight-part reality show.

 “The basis of the show is a competition between what they called ‘The Immortalizer,’ who they consider their master taxidermist versus a challenger,” he said.

He was first approached by the network more than a year ago and after four days of filming at his shop and more production time in Hollywood, he is The Immortalizer in the Thursday episode. The filming included Nethercutt working on the piece, interviews and some scenes of him and his family around their beehives and aviary on Moore Swamp Road near Reelsboro.

Last week, he attended a huge press party in New York City.

Nethercutt will be featured in two of the eight shows. Contractually, he can only talk about the first show with the quail and bobcat, set in a southwest United States scene. It includes a small habitat.

“It is something you add to represent the natural ground effects — dirt, trees and bushes — for color, to give it an artsy flow,” he said. “We want to see circles in the piece so that as your eye looks at the animal, it moves around to another point and back to the animal.”

 “Your eye basically wants to come back to the quail, because he is the theme of the show,” he said. “He is scared out of his mind. He has his mouth open, screaming. His eyes are bugged out and his foot is slamming against the cat’s leg, trying to push away from him.”

The bobcat’s jaws are wide open, with the quail’s wing is slapping his whiskers, making that side of the cat’s face squint, with one eye half-closed.

“This is a split-second in time,” Nethercutt said. “This is a predator-prey scene.”

He decided not to go with traditionally mass-produced pedestals for the scene, instead commissioning Bayboro cabinet maker Steve Ballenger, who hand-selected the wood to match the colors of the animal and bird.

The piece is the property of AMC and is still in Hollywood, although it will be returned. But, Nethercutt cannot sell or give it away.

“We’ll find a place to put it,” he said of his shop showroom, which features his personal collection of birds and animals. At home, he and his wife Bonnie have 98 more mounts.

 There is no source for mount material and it would have to be constructed by hand. But, more importantly, he said that a pet is impossible to create authentically.

“There is a look in that dog or cat’s eye that we can’t duplicate in glass,” he said. “A dog or cat can make some facial expressions and we cannot capture that to that owner’s liking, so therefore they are always going to be disappointed.”

He will do pet birds. Despite having personality, they have no facial muscles.

Page also works as a judge in other states for taxidermy competitions and has produced how-to videos.

Page’s father Gerald was a self-taught taxidermist, who opened Gerald’s Taxidermy in 1963 and retired in 1987.

The family has deep roots in the remote area where they live. Page’s grandfather, Rex Potter, bought a farm from the Moore family. When the county 911 emergency address systems were enacted, it was named Moore Swamp Road.

 As a youngster growing into manhood, he worked in the taxidermy studio to pay his way on hunting trips out west. He also toiled on his grandfather’s farm and did some work as a commercial fisherman.

After high school, he joined the Air Force and spent four years in Montana.

“That’s where I got heavier into taxidermy,” he said. “When it was time to re-enlist, I decided to go into taxidermy.”

He has since won many awards for his creative waterfowl, along with African and North American mammals. He is one of just 15 designated master taxidermists by the North Carolina Taxidermy Association.