About our Dermestid Beetle Company
Hi!
I’m Ken, the Founder of Kodiak.
My transition from law enforcement on Alaskan waters to high-end taxidermy is quite a journey, and I’m eager to share it with you.
Outdoors in the Alaska Wilderness
In the Fall, after enjoying the fishing season, I loved nothing more than chasing Sitka blacktail deer over the Kodiak Island landscape, as did both of my sons, who were born on “The Rock”. Liberal bag limits allowed for filling the freezer, then hiking high targeting quality bucks. Seeking an alternative to boiling, I had heard stories about dermestids. In 2005, after finally locating a source and paying an exorbitant price, I fumbled into a thriving colony.
Alaskan Adventures
A prominent professional Kodiak bear guide, Dick Rohrer, arm-twisted me into establishing a business. These guided customers desired the highest-quality beetle cleaned trophies. The bear-guide community promised they would embrace my business, (which they certainly did)! I perfected my craft by cleaning the “DLP” (lawfully killed in “Defense of Life and Property”) bears for Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game. Kodiak Bones & Bugs Taxidermy began as a professional, licensed business in 2007.
I retired in 2012 and with our sons in Portland and Spokane, in 2015 my wife and I relocated to the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, where KBBT still operates. I continue to enjoy harvesting deer and turkey on my 40 acres of paradise.
Embracing Dermestids
While I still clean a small number of skulls for local customers, my passion lies with helping others establish and grow their colonies or businesses, and discovering the highest quality of final product using dermestids!
The Next Chapter for Skull Cleaning
As I begin stepping back from the skull preservation side of the business, I am proud to share that the professional skull cleaning and European mount portion of Kodiak Bones & Bugs is continuing through Mayhem Mounts.
Mayhem Mounts is operated by Becca and Kyle Tidwell, career wildlife biologists, avid hunters and anglers, and trained preservation specialists. Their love of biology, outdoor pursuits, and artistic creation made them a natural fit to continue this work.
Back in their college years, Becca and Kyle tended a dermestid colony that prepared specimens for laboratories and a natural history museum. Through that work, they gained experience with a wide variety of animals and developed hands-on preservation skills.
As practicing biologists and outdoor enthusiasts, they later found themselves frequently using Kodiak Bones & Bugs to preserve their own mounts. When the opportunity came for them to study under me, they immersed themselves in the process. Over the last two years, they have advanced their equipment, workflow, and techniques while continuing the skull preservation tradition that Kodiak Bones & Bugs was built on.
About Mayhem Mounts
Kyle is a career wildlife biologist who has worked for the last two decades on human-wildlife conflict and predator-prey interactions. He received a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Oregon State University and a PhD in wildlife ethology from Portland State University. He has published numerous reports and peer-reviewed publications on wildlife topics ranging from amphibians, lamprey, and salmon to birds and sea lions.
Becca is also a career wildlife biologist with more than 15 years of professional research and applied monitoring experience. While obtaining her degree in biology, she trained under several museum curators and learned the preservation trade. Her experience includes necropsies, skin mounts, wet mounts, and dermestid beetle work on specimens ranging from whales to insects.
Together, Becca and Kyle bring a scientific, detail-focused approach to skull cleaning and bone preservation. Building from the techniques taught through Kodiak Bones & Bugs, they have incorporated new methods and applied their natural history background to continue producing professional skull cleaning results.
Continuing the Tradition
Mayhem Mounts is now the skull cleaning and European mount preservation side of the business, while Kodiak Bones & Bugs continues to represent the foundation, dermestid beetle knowledge, and professional standards that started it all.
Becca and Kyle understand the time, effort, and meaning behind each harvest. When they are not working with fish and wildlife, they can often be found pursuing it themselves through waterfowl hunting, big game hunting, salmon fishing, and ocean fishing.
That close connection to the outdoor community allows them to appreciate every specimen they work on. Their goal is to help turn each harvest into an heirloom piece that commemorates the hunt for generations to come.
For professional skull cleaning, European mounts, pricing, timelines, and specimen requirements, please visit our Skull Cleaning page.
Mayhem Mounts
Becca and Kyle Tidwell
Phone: 503-708-1283
Email: Mayhemskulls@gmail.com