Get girth from more then one location. Every 3-4 inches including the width of the tail.
Our fella found our video of taking measurement from Rons 72 pound blue cat extremely helpful.
It takes all the guess work out of the replica for him. Get close up photos of anything out of the ordinary.
Remember you have to translate what you saw to someone else that might be thinking of something else completely.
The more detail you can provide, the more accurate your reproduction will be.
Check out the Alligator Gar replica at Everts next time your down that way. There’s a photo of the live animal attached to the mount. It looks exactly the same as the real thing…all 140 pounds.