The art of taxidermy as practiced at Wards was very simple by any standards, yet typical of the era. To stuff an animal the skin would first be treated with salt, alum and arsenical soap, the bones wired and wrapped and put back inside the legs, and once hung upside down, the skin literally stuffed with straw until it could hold no more. To thin the body at any point, the skin would be sewn through with a long needle and the hide drawn in. Other shapes or contours would be achieved of this 'upholstered' specimen, simply by beating the detail into the mount with a plank of wood. Akeley left this establishment briefly for a period of six months to work with New York taxidermist John Wallace following a misunderstanding that led to his dismissal from Wards. 'A more dreary six months l never had spent anywhere' described Akerleys time at Wallaces Taxidermy of New York. So when Henry Ward came after Carl declaring that his dismissal had all been an erroneous mistake, he happily returned to his former employer and stayed a further 3 years. But Carl found little inspiration at Wards. He was critical that much of the work lacked any anatomical accuracy and that there was little attempt by the establishment to put the animals into natural attitudes.

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