# Stuffing Your Relatives **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 24, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975 "2016-02-24T15:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/1 "2016-02-24T15:16:44Z")
I’m having an interesting conversation at work ( I work with some seriously twisted individuals) after reading a [Pickles cartoon](http://assets.amuniversal.com/3e1d7630b53501333e9a005056a9545d). Would having your Loved Ones taxidermied even be legal in N.America or Europe? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/2 "2016-02-24T16:52:01Z")
It would depend on where and do some extent why. What you think of as “stuffing” wouldn’t work; fur-free animals are tough to do. You would have to get into more a plasticized format. But it can and has been done at least in a few limited examples. I can see someone picking it from among the non-traditional “post-life” options. > **[After Death: 8 Burial Alternatives That Are Going Mainstream](https://www.livescience.com/15980-death-8-burial-alternatives.html)** > > A desire to be immortalized, and a separate urge to 'go green' are changing the face of funerals and burials. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/3 "2016-02-24T17:19:32Z")
Somehow I know this wouldn’t be about Thanksgiving dinner… I don’t think, even if I could do it, I’d have them preserved. Strikes me as the sort of thing that would cause people to talk about you, and I’m a private individual. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/4 "2016-02-24T17:36:02Z")
I know the Telus World of Science had an exhibit a while back of [Body Worlds](http://www.canada.com/cityguides/edmonton/story.html?id=703b3035-4f1b-41e0-8658-2c3a14da577e) where cadavers have been preserved in various states of “undress” so to speak where you can see whats going on under the hood. I wouldn’t be too keen on having Mom or Dad in situ for eternity either but I’m sure it could be considered honoring your ancestors in some way. I still don’t know whether that would be considered violating human remains or whether there would be a statute restricting you from doing so if you wanted to. I haven’t had time to really dig into this but there doesn’t seem to be any definite answer one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/5 "2016-02-24T17:46:55Z")
Tried it on Jackass. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/6 "2016-02-24T17:49:52Z")
I really liked a stuffed bobcat I saw once so yeah, I’d do it. I think ol’ Dad would look great leaping up into the air trying to claw at a flushed quail. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/7 "2016-02-24T22:19:43Z")
Just to clarify, in your scenario do they have to be dead first? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/8 "2016-02-25T01:12:39Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Just to clarify, in your scenario do they have to be dead first? The obligatory Monty Python references are all running through my brain. OK – bring out your dead is probably the closest but I still prefer [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aclS1pGHp8o) ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/9 "2016-02-25T01:58:16Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I really liked a stuffed bobcat I saw once so yeah, I’d do it. I think ol’ Dad would look great leaping up into the air trying to claw at a flushed quail. This made me Chortle-Out-Loud (COL).😃 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/10 "2016-02-25T04:17:26Z")
If I can’t stand being near them while they’re alive, why in hell would I want to keep them around when they’re dead? And as for my husband . . . I’ll be long gone before he dies. So it’s his decision, not mine. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/11 "2016-02-25T14:17:55Z")
I have a plan with a buddy of mine: whoever goes first, the other gets to use his skull as a drinking cup. We even, as a side project, drew up mutual wills to that effect. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/12 "2016-02-25T15:09:24Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I really liked a stuffed bobcat I saw once so yeah, I’d do it. I think ol’ Dad would look great leaping up into the air trying to claw at a flushed quail. Please tell me you’l at least put clothes on him… > [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Just to clarify, in your scenario do they have to be dead first? Meh. I’m thinking mostly dead would be sufficient, but that’s a kettle of fish for an ethicist, of which I am not… ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/13 "2016-02-25T15:25:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > If I can’t stand being near them while they’re alive, why in hell would I want to keep them around when they’re dead? Getting to do it _now_ vs. having them in a corner of the basement would be a tough call. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuffing-your-relatives/746975/14 "2016-02-25T16:23:26Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Tried it on Jackass. I remember that episode. The guy initially wanted no part of it, but then his professional curiosity took over, and he started walking around Johnny Knoxville’s grandmother, sizing her up.