Life and Style - Eww! Schoolboy shares bedroom with 75 DEAD animals

IS THIS Britain's youngest taxidermist?

GRUESOME: Archie Crawford is Britain's youngest taxidermist [CATERS]

Instead of soft toys 12-year-old Archie Crawford has filled his bedroom with 75 real-life stuffed animals.
And the youngster even keeps ROADKILL in his family freezer.
Archie, who lives in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, started his unusual hobby aged seven, after he found hedgehog bones under a porta cabin at his primary school.
After reading about taxidermy online, the curious schoolboy became fascinated with the craft and has amassed a huge collection of stuffed animals including a buzzard, a racoon, a marmot and even an armadillo.

ROADKILL: Archie keeps dead animals in the family freezer [CATERS]

“I am always on the lookout for roadkill”

Archie Crawford

Archie is not afraid to get his hands dirty and loves nothing more than working on animals himself.
He has stuffed squirrels, rats and mice and his creations take pride of place in his bedroom.
"I am always on the lookout for roadkill to practice with and I love skeletons, fossils and skulls," he said.
"I think taxidermy is really cool and I am going to keep practicing until I am able to do it for my profession.

"My favourite pieces of taxidermy are the ones that look like they are alive, like my armadillo, which was a present. I would love to be able to create that one day.
"I love animals and nature, and I am really interested in creating my own pieces.
"Some people think it is an odd habit but most of my friends think it is interesting."

SUPPORT: Mum Polly says she's 'delighted' with her son's unusual hobby [CATERS]

Archie has even managed to convince his mum, Polly Branney, 47, to make some space in the family freezer for dead pheasants, squirrels, rabbits and moles which he is working on.
Polly said: "I am delighted with Archie's hobby. He loves the outdoors and it's great that he has curiosity for nature."
The GP has even helped her son explore his quirky interest.
"I remember the first animal he carried home with him was a dead fox which he spotted at when he was at school and he went and brought it home.
"I wasn't hugely pleased at first but I helped him cut it up and left it in the garden to disintegrate and then I boiled up the bones so he could work on his first piece."
However, she's not too keen on having to nestle dead animals in amongst the frozen peas.
"It's not ideal keeping his animals in the freezer but I know how much it means to him.
"At the minute we have a squirrel and a skinned rabbit in the freezer at home."
Archie is looking to expand his collection further: "I am really dedicated to it and would love to expand my collection to some larger animals- my mum says that's fine, as long as they can all fit in my room."