You’re riding through the Heartlands, maybe hunting a deer for the camp stew, when you see it. A small, unassuming poster tacked to the wall of a train station. It’s a call for help from a woman named Ms. L. Hobbs. She wants "perfect specimens" for her art. You think, "Hey, I’m a decent shot, how hard can this be?"
Big mistake.
The wildlife art exhibition rdr2 mission—officially titled "A Better World, A New Friend"—is arguably the most soul-crushing, tedious, and rewarding side quest Rockstar Games ever conceived. It’s not just a hunting trip. It’s a test of your actual sanity. You aren't just looking for animals; you are looking for specific, three-star carcasses that haven't been trampled by your horse or singed by a stray bullet. It makes the Legend of the East satchel grind look like a relaxing Sunday stroll in Saint Denis.
The Brutal Reality of Ms. Hobbs’ Request
Most players stumble into this in Chapter 2. You find the poster at stations like Valentine, Rhodes, or Strawberry. Once you pull that paper down, you’re committed to five stages of increasing difficulty. Honestly, it’s the variety that kills you. One minute you’re looking for a squirrel, the next you’re trekking through a swamp for a bullfrog.
The game doesn't tell you the real catch: you have to mail these animals.
If you get a perfect rabbit but forget to find the squirrel, that rabbit is going to rot on your horse. It’ll turn into a one-star stinking heap of fur before you find that elusive rodent. You’ve basically got to plan these hunts like a military operation. You need to know exactly where the spawns are, what time of day they appear, and most importantly, you need the Buck Antler Trinket. If you don't have that trinket from the Legendary Buck, just stop. Don't even try. It gives you a chance to keep a three-star rating on a carcass even if your shot was a bit messy. Without it, the RNG (random number generation) will break your spirit.
Stage One: The Rabbit and The Squirrel
This is the "honeymoon phase." You need a perfect squirrel and a perfect rabbit. Most people get the rabbit in five seconds because they’re everywhere. The squirrel? Suddenly, every squirrel in New Hanover has disappeared.
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Go to the woods around Ringneck Creek. Sit still. Use your binoculars. It sounds boring because it is. But if you run around like a maniac, you’ll spook them. You need the Small Game Arrow for the squirrel. Don't use a Varmint Rifle. It’ll ruin the pelt every single time unless you have the luck of the gods. Just one clean hit. It’s frustrating because the target is the size of a postage stamp and moves like it’s on caffeine.
Why the Wildlife Art Exhibition RDR2 Hunt Gets Weird
By stage two and three, the requests get specific. Cardinal, Rat, Woodpecker, Opossum. This is where the wildlife art exhibition rdr2 quest stops being a hunting game and starts being an ornithology simulator.
Birds are the worst.
Seriously. Trying to find a three-star Robin is a rite of passage for RDR2 completionists. You’ll spend three hours staring at the sky near Fort Brennand, praying for a specific silhouette. Most players don't realize that Fort Brennand (northeast of Kamassa River) is the "secret" spot. Stand on the walls. Look up. Small birds constantly fly over. If you try to hunt Robins in the open woods, you’re going to lose your mind.
The Opossum Trick
The stage two Opossum is a jerk. It only comes out at night. If you’re riding around the area south of Riggs Station after midnight, look for something that looks like a giant rat. The weird part? Opossums in this game actually play dead. If you see one and it "dies" before you shoot it, it’s faking. Walk up to it, wait for it to move, and blast it with the Varmint Rifle.
The Logistics of Death and Decay
Here is a tip that saves lives: Small animals go in your satchel. Larger animals go on the back of your horse.
Anything that fits in your bag (songbirds, squirrels, rats, frogs) will never rot. You can keep a perfect woodpecker in your pocket for three years and it’ll be fresh as the day you shot it. But the "large" carcasses for this quest—the Rabbit, Skunk, Opossum, and Beaver—will decay.
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Do not hunt the large animal first.
Collect every small bird and rodent on the list first. Once they are safely in your satchel, then and only then should you go for the animal that sits on your horse’s rump. The moment you kill that larger animal, it is a race against time to get to a Post Office.
Stage Five: The Final Stretch in the Epilogue
You cannot finish this quest as Arthur Morgan.
Well, you can do the first four stages, but Ms. Hobbs will send you a letter saying she’s going on vacation. It’s a polite way for the game to say "Wait until the Epilogue." You won't get the final request until you are playing as John Marston.
The final list is a nightmare:
- Cedar Waxwing
- Bat
- Blue Jay
- Crow
- Beaver
The Beaver is easy—Owanjila Lake is crawling with them. The Bat? Go to the waterfall at Elysian Pool. Walk behind the water into the cave. There are dozens of them hanging from the ceiling. Use a small game arrow. It’s the easiest part of the whole quest, which is a relief because finding a Cedar Waxwing is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, if the needle could fly and looked like every other needle.
The "Reward" and the Squirrel Statue
Once you finish all five orders, Ms. Hobbs invites you to her house. She’s eccentric. She gives you a prize: a Squirrel Statue dressed like John Marston.
It sounds like a joke. It isn't.
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When you get home to Beecher’s Hope, you can put it on the fireplace. But the quest isn't actually over. This is the "It's Art" achievement/trophy. Abigail (John's wife) hates the statue. She will hide it. You have to find it. Then you put it back. She hides it again. This happens six times. You’ll be looking in chimneys, inside chests, and eventually, you’ll have to trek all the way to Mount Shann to find the squirrel perched on the very top of the mountain.
Only then, when the squirrel is back from the mountain, do you get that 100% completion credit.
Expert Strategies for Success
If you're actually going to do this, stop playing normally. Change your settings. Turn off the music so you can hear the bird calls. Use Eagle Eye constantly.
- The Varmint Rifle is your best friend, but only for animals like Skunks, Opossums, and Rabbits.
- Small Game Arrows are mandatory for everything smaller than a squirrel. If you use a Varmint Rifle on a Robin, you’ll downgrade it to two stars instantly, regardless of your trinkets.
- Save your game. If you get a perfect Woodpecker, save the game immediately. If you die before you reach a post office, you might lose that carcass.
- Don't skin them. This sounds obvious, but in the heat of the moment, habit takes over. Ms. Hobbs wants the whole body. Skin it, and you've just wasted your afternoon.
The wildlife art exhibition rdr2 is less about skill and more about patience. It's Rockstar's way of forcing you to look at the incredible ecosystem they built. You’ll see animal behaviors you never noticed before. You’ll see how the light hits the feathers of a Blue Jay. You'll also probably scream at your monitor when a goat knocks you over while you're aiming at a Sparrow.
Actionable Next Steps
To get started without losing your mind, follow this exact order:
- Kill the Legendary Buck first. Obtain the Buck Antler Trinket from a Fence. This is non-negotiable for maintaining three-star quality.
- Craft 40-50 Small Game Arrows. You will miss. A lot. You need Flight Feathers, which you get from any bird (hunt ducks or ravens for easy feathers).
- Clear your satchel. Get rid of junk so you can easily see your quest items.
- Head to Fort Brennand. Stand on the northeast tower and spend one full in-game day shooting every small bird that flies over. You will likely check off 50% of the bird requirements for the entire questline in twenty minutes.
- Hunt the "Horse Carcass" last. Once your satchel is full of the required birds and squirrels, go find the Rabbit, Skunk, or Beaver, then ride straight to the Post Office in Rhodes or Valentine.
The statue might be ugly, and Abigail might be right to hide it, but the feeling of checking this off your 100% completion list is better than any gold bar in the game.