Wacky taxidermist is turning dead mice into jewellery

Jack Devaney with his dead mouse earrings. Picture: SWNS

Wacky Jack Devaney, 24, has previously made dead rats into pencil cases and a dead rabbit into a toaster, as well as making jewellery out of rat testicles.

And the creative student has now branched out into a jewellery range of dead rodent ear pieces.

While he acknowledged some find it grim to wear a dead mouse attached to their ear, Jack said he has already sold quite a few of them.

A rabbit turned into a toaster by Jack Devaney. Picture: SWNS

The University of Plymouth student sells the mice in two halves with magnets attached, to produce a fake ear stretcher look.

They are priced at £18 for the pair, but Jack said if people don’t have the money to part with that amount, they can always buy half of one and use it as a fridge magnet.

On his website, he sells “build a mouse” fridge magnets and you can purchase a “full”, “head” or “a**” - or magnetic mouse earrings.

The website warns: “Magnetic earrings made from mice. No mouse will be perfect. Everyone gets something unique.”

Jack, of Plymouth, Devon, said: “I had a bunch of strong, old magnets lying around so I tried them on my ear lobe. When I’d managed to get them off it, and the pain had stopped.

“I tried them again, but this time with some fabric to see if they were strong enough to hold and if the fabric stopped the crushing sensation.

“Luckily it was, so then I stuffed the halves of the mouse, sewn them up with the magnets inside and took the photo.

“The beauty of the earrings is if someone doesn’t want to wear them, or they just don’t have £18 to spare, they can buy half of one and use it as a fridge magnet!”

Jack gets the mice from the freezer at his local pet shop as they are sold as snake food.

He insists that none of the animals he taxidermies are harmed in the process.

He said: “They’re sold dead, I don’t harm anything to do it; I’m not a mentalist.”

Jack said that he is “desensitised” to taxidermy, as he worked in a butchers from a young age - but he still has limits.

He added: “I don’t get queezy.

“The only thing that has made me question my career choice and also made me feel a bit weird was when I started making keyrings.

“The initial ones were made out of intestines and bits of skin and paws, and they were fine. But I thought people might like it if I squeezed out the contents of the intestines and did hearts and drawings in the resin before it set.

“Turns out that’s my ‘line’ or close to it anyway - never knew I had one. It wasn’t the smell of it though, it was the texture. Imagine greasy sand.

“But obviously it’s from a recently defrosted mouse so cold, greasy sand.”

The taxidermist has already sold his previously strange creations all over the world and is hoping for similar success in his latest jewellery line.