Jack’s famous rat pencil case (Picture: Jack Devaney)

Yes, that’s a rat pencil case. No, you’re right, those are magnetic mouse earrings. Yep, he really has put a rat’s scrotum in a pendant.

Jack Devaney is a professional taxidermist and has been for several years. He runs The World Around Ewe, a one-stop shop for all the bespoke skinned, hallowed out and creatively transformed animals anyone could ever need or, indeed, want.

Metro.co.uk caught up with the Plymouth based artist to discuss the divisive nature of his craft, internet virality, public disgust and the necessity to brief any unsuspecting visiting tradesmen who find themselves round at his flat.



Firstly though, we touch on what leads to someone take up such a singular trade.


A googley-eyed mouse turned into a USB stick (Picture: Jack Devaney)

‘I was at university, where we were given a project doing something “that represented our past” which also had to be what they called a “feasible product”,’ Jack tells us, though he’s reluctant to say precisely which uni, ‘as they got a bit funny over it’.

But what of his own past, further back from the relatively recent days of higher education? What other influences led him to such an unusual (for some, deeply squeamish) creative path?

Jack explains that he worked at a butchers in his home city Manchester as a kid, ‘from around 13, as a Saturday lad on and off for a few years until uni’.

A lizard on a cross (Picture: Jack Devaney)

‘I really enjoyed it, just hanging out and learning the trade. That’s where [the taxidermy] came from really. The transferable skills, taking meat and fur off animals and that sort of thing.’

It’s the path that led him to crafting the rat pencil case, the first – entirely unexpected – viral sensation he credits with helping to launch World Around Ewe.

‘[Simple really] a zipper down the spine and a pencil sharpener up its backside’, he says.

One of his mates suggested posting a photo to Imgur, which they duly accomplished, only to fall asleep, before waking up to ‘an absolutely nuts situation’ that had spiraled far beyond whatever expectations they’d harboured on uploading the image.

Magnetic mice earrings (Picture: Jack Devaney)

It goes without saying, the stuffed creatures aren’t to everyone’s taste or comprehension. There are plenty that find it repulsive, jarring or excessively macabre. Though the fans tend to outweigh the naysayers, he says.

It took a while to get to the point where the business turned over enough cash to become a full-time concern. There were the usual litany of ‘normal’ post-university jobs, including a selling windows door-to-door.

That changed when Jack discovered an affordable studio space, where he could start upping the volume. Now, turning dead animals into products for sale is a full-time job.

‘Really, I just try and make things silly,’ Jack tells us. ‘That’s why I use the googly eyes and stuff’.

A cap made of rat (Picture: Jack Devaney)

‘It’s mad how it became a full-time job. At one point, slightly later, I was combining it with a part-time role fixing computers, but managed to give that up’.

‘I try not to take it too seriously. Obviously, I take the craft seriously and it’s what I do to pay my rent. It was when I made a fully functioning rabbit toaster that things changed, with it really just taking off [full-time] from there’.



There’s a lingering question that has to be asked; just where does he get the animals? The answer comes in the form of a welcome reassurance.

‘I buy them frozen from pet shops. All the rats and most of the rabbits, though some of them come from pest control. Estate managers are also a big help’, he adds.

‘Whatever happens, happens. It’s mad that people are interested in it. I just try and keep up with the orders. It’s about making as much new stuff as possible, really. Maybe some stuff for Christmas, intestines through a candy cane or something’.

‘Show them you care, give them a rat’s ass’ (Picture: Jack Devaney)

It’s certainly a novel idea. Jack also tells us he tries to use every part of the animal. Reassuring.

What about people’s initial response when he tells them what he does for a living? Surely, not everyone is fully on board with the concept of a disemboweled animal loitering on their Christmas trees?

He laughs. ‘There’s a few people that recognise me. They shout “oi, there’s the rat man” and stuff like that. It’s odd.’

‘A guy came to fix my washing machine today, and I’ve got a to-do list on my fridge, for the business, you know? Now to an outsider, to see things like “buy x amount of rats” or whatever. Well, that takes some explaining’.

‘He was laughing and smiling, while I showed him a few pictures. But I did get the sense he was doing that while edging towards the door.’


We wrap the conversation up there. Jack’s busy preparing for a night at a local exhibition space called Studio 102. His initial idea was to run a small workshop showing how to skin a mouse, live. It’s been vetoed, on the grounds of children potentially finding it traumatic.

‘I’ve had to paint instead, which is something I’ve never done before,’ he says.

A small mercy perhaps, for the art lovers of Plymouth. Or maybe not. After all, the existence and success of Word Around Ewe shows that there are plenty of people who would be fans.

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