Preserving Skins

Jon Porter wrote:
Tom Guntzel ) wrote:
: I will soon begin receiving partridge, wood duck and pheasant skins
from
: friends hunting this fall.

: What should I do to cure the skins without harming the feathers?

It's easy. Just takes a little time to do it right...

1. First, you want to strectch the skin out on a board (plywood
works) so
that the feathers are down under the skin. Pin it down with tacks or
brads. The skin does not need to be drum tight, just so that it won't
wiggle around as you work on it.

2. Scrape off as much fat as possible with a dull knife or round
edged
scraper. With bird skins you need to be careful so that you don't
pull the
skin apart in the process. Just get most of the fat. To much fat left
on
the skin gets into the feathers after a while.

3. Salt down the skin. Cover it under a layer of non-iodized table
salt.
(It is cheaper than iodized) Many prefer to use borox instead. The
trick
here is to cover it completely just on the skin side. Let it sit for
a day
or two and then scrape it off and put on a fresh layer of salt. Do it
again if you still see the salt pulling moisture out of the skin.

4. After about two weeks of the salt treatment, scrape off the final
layer
of salt removing all that you possibly can. I like to use a brush to
completely remove the salt. Store the skins in ziplock bags or air
tight
boxes to keep the bugs out. Moth ball or cedar chips can help with
that.


I still have skins that I have salted from several years ago using
this
method. The feathers are still good.

Jon Porter

Jon Porter wrote:
Tom Guntzel ) wrote:
: I will soon begin receiving partridge, wood duck and pheasant skins
from
: friends hunting this fall.

: What should I do to cure the skins without harming the feathers?

It's easy. Just takes a little time to do it right...

1. First, you want to strectch the skin out on a board (plywood
works) so
that the feathers are down under the skin. Pin it down with tacks or
brads. The skin does not need to be drum tight, just so that it won't
wiggle around as you work on it.

2. Scrape off as much fat as possible with a dull knife or round
edged
scraper. With bird skins you need to be careful so that you don't
pull the
skin apart in the process. Just get most of the fat. To much fat left
on
the skin gets into the feathers after a while.

3. Salt down the skin. Cover it under a layer of non-iodized table
salt.
(It is cheaper than iodized) Many prefer to use borox instead. The
trick
here is to cover it completely just on the skin side. Let it sit for
a day
or two and then scrape it off and put on a fresh layer of salt. Do it
again if you still see the salt pulling moisture out of the skin.

4. After about two weeks of the salt treatment, scrape off the final
layer
of salt removing all that you possibly can. I like to use a brush to
completely remove the salt. Store the skins in ziplock bags or air
tight
boxes to keep the bugs out. Moth ball or cedar chips can help with
that.


I still have skins that I have salted from several years ago using
this
method. The feathers are still good.

Jon Porter

I need help and I don't know where to go for the answer. Be kind! My
husband found a rattlesnake while working outside San Antiono and he
put this snake in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and holes for air. The
snake is now living in my garage and I don't like it! I want to put the
snake in the freezer so it doesn't have to suffer any longer without my
husband knowing. I don't want a snanke any where near my kids. I poor
snake has been in the bucket for over a month without food. How long
will it take to "freeze" it

? It would be more humaine to kill it now instead of letting it suffer.




Jon Porter wrote:
Tom Guntzel ) wrote:
: I will soon begin receiving partridge, wood duck and pheasant skins
from
: friends hunting this fall.

: What should I do to cure the skins without harming the feathers?

It's easy. Just takes a little time to do it right...

1. First, you want to strectch the skin out on a board (plywood
works) so
that the feathers are down under the skin. Pin it down with tacks or
brads. The skin does not need to be drum tight, just so that it won't
wiggle around as you work on it.

2. Scrape off as much fat as possible with a dull knife or round
edged
scraper. With bird skins you need to be careful so that you don't
pull the
skin apart in the process. Just get most of the fat. To much fat left
on
the skin gets into the feathers after a while.

3. Salt down the skin. Cover it under a layer of non-iodized table
salt.
(It is cheaper than iodized) Many prefer to use borox instead. The
trick
here is to cover it completely just on the skin side. Let it sit for
a day
or two and then scrape it off and put on a fresh layer of salt. Do it
again if you still see the salt pulling moisture out of the skin.

4. After about two weeks of the salt treatment, scrape off the final
layer
of salt removing all that you possibly can. I like to use a brush to
completely remove the salt. Store the skins in ziplock bags or air
tight
boxes to keep the bugs out. Moth ball or cedar chips can help with
that.


I still have skins that I have salted from several years ago using
this
method. The feathers are still good.

Jon Porter

I need help and I don't know where to go for the answer. Be kind! My
husband found a rattlesnake while working outside San Antiono and he
put this snake in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and holes for air. The
snake is now living in my garage and I don't like it! I want to put the
snake in the freezer so it doesn't have to suffer any longer without my
husband knowing. I don't want a snanke any where near my kids. I poor
snake has been in the bucket for over a month without food. How long
will it take to "freeze" it

? It would be more humaine to kill it now instead of letting it suffer.




Jon Porter wrote:
Tom Guntzel ) wrote:
: I will soon begin receiving partridge, wood duck and pheasant skins
from
: friends hunting this fall.

: What should I do to cure the skins without harming the feathers?

It's easy. Just takes a little time to do it right...

1. First, you want to strectch the skin out on a board (plywood
works) so
that the feathers are down under the skin. Pin it down with tacks or
brads. The skin does not need to be drum tight, just so that it won't
wiggle around as you work on it.

2. Scrape off as much fat as possible with a dull knife or round
edged
scraper. With bird skins you need to be careful so that you don't
pull the
skin apart in the process. Just get most of the fat. To much fat left
on
the skin gets into the feathers after a while.

3. Salt down the skin. Cover it under a layer of non-iodized table
salt.
(It is cheaper than iodized) Many prefer to use borox instead. The
trick
here is to cover it completely just on the skin side. Let it sit for
a day
or two and then scrape it off and put on a fresh layer of salt. Do it
again if you still see the salt pulling moisture out of the skin.

4. After about two weeks of the salt treatment, scrape off the final
layer
of salt removing all that you possibly can. I like to use a brush to
completely remove the salt. Store the skins in ziplock bags or air
tight
boxes to keep the bugs out. Moth ball or cedar chips can help with
that.


I still have skins that I have salted from several years ago using
this
method. The feathers are still good.

Jon Porter

"Katrina" wrote in message
oups.com...
I need help and I don't know where to go for the answer. Be kind! My
husband found a rattlesnake while working outside San Antiono and he
put this snake in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and holes for air. The
snake is now living in my garage and I don't like it! I want to put the
snake in the freezer so it doesn't have to suffer any longer without my
husband knowing. I don't want a snanke any where near my kids. I poor
snake has been in the bucket for over a month without food. How long
will it take to "freeze" it

? It would be more humaine to kill it now instead of letting it suffer.

Just tell him to get rid of it, and its chicken**** to treat a wild thing
like that. If he threatens you walk out. Unless he plans on running for
President, one chicken**** from Texas per decade is probably enough.

Dave

"Katrina" wrote in message
oups.com...
I need help and I don't know where to go for the answer. Be kind! My
husband found a rattlesnake while working outside San Antiono and he
put this snake in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and holes for air. The
snake is now living in my garage and I don't like it! I want to put the
snake in the freezer so it doesn't have to suffer any longer without my
husband knowing. I don't want a snanke any where near my kids. I poor
snake has been in the bucket for over a month without food. How long
will it take to "freeze" it

? It would be more humaine to kill it now instead of letting it suffer.

Just tell him to get rid of it, and its chicken**** to treat a wild thing
like that. If he threatens you walk out. Unless he plans on running for
President, one chicken**** from Texas per decade is probably enough.

Dave

"David Snedeker" wrote in message
. ..

Just tell him to get rid of it, and its chicken**** to treat a wild thing
like that. If he threatens you walk out. Unless he plans on running for
President, one chicken**** from Texas per decade is probably enough.

Dave

"Darlene stood above the second box, praying hard. Then she gradually
moved her good hand and slid it under the larger of the two rattlesnakes in
the box. It was a mild October night, and the snake was alert. At her
touch, it peeled off a tight drumroll of rattles and withdrew its head
sharply. But it did not strike. The texture of its skin against her palm
reminded her of warm, dry varnish, and she remembered how good snakehandling
could feel Then she felt Glenn's hold on her hair loosen.
'OK,' he said. His vice was hollow, perplexed. 'I'm going to let you
live since the Lord let you handle that one' Glenn was impressed. All
drunk and mussed up, Darlene had just handled the meanest of all his snakes.
It was like the best of times in church, when God turned the strike aside
and you could just feel the victory all over you. He hadn't expected it
that way. For now, all the murder in him was gone. He felt uncertain how
to proceed. In the end, he led her outside and walked her to the Chevy,
even lending an arm for support. They sat in the car, listening to the
night-birds in the woods, and for a long time neither spoke.
Darlene was beginning to feel real bad. The pain around the bite was
extreme, hot as a hob you'd whip your hand off if only you could. The whole
left had looked swollen now, the skin stretched in an unfamiliar way. She
felt nauseous and dizzy. Shapes were appearing in front of her eyes, little
glittery yellow lozenges that fluttered like falling leaves..."

Nothin' like that in "Weekly Reader", huh?

While "Katrina" is rubbing y'alls naughty parts, there are some interesting
things going on in this world. Read a book* or something some time.

Wolfgang
*"The Snakebite Survivor's Club: Travels Among Serpents", Jeremy Seal,
Harcourt, Inc., 1999, for example.

Wolfgang wrote:

"David Snedeker" wrote in message
. ..

Just tell him to get rid of it, and its chicken**** to treat a wild thing
like that. If he threatens you walk out. Unless he plans on running for
President, one chicken**** from Texas per decade is probably enough.

Dave


"Darlene stood above the second box, praying hard. Then she gradually
moved her good hand and slid it under the larger of the two rattlesnakes in
the box. It was a mild October night, and the snake was alert. At her
touch, it peeled off a tight drumroll of rattles and withdrew its head
sharply. But it did not strike. The texture of its skin against her palm
reminded her of warm, dry varnish, and she remembered how good snakehandling
could feel Then she felt Glenn's hold on her hair loosen.
'OK,' he said. His vice was hollow, perplexed. 'I'm going to let you
live since the Lord let you handle that one' Glenn was impressed. All
drunk and mussed up, Darlene had just handled the meanest of all his snakes.
It was like the best of times in church, when God turned the strike aside
and you could just feel the victory all over you. He hadn't expected it
that way. For now, all the murder in him was gone. He felt uncertain how
to proceed. In the end, he led her outside and walked her to the Chevy,
even lending an arm for support. They sat in the car, listening to the
night-birds in the woods, and for a long time neither spoke.
Darlene was beginning to feel real bad. The pain around the bite was
extreme, hot as a hob you'd whip your hand off if only you could. The whole
left had looked swollen now, the skin stretched in an unfamiliar way. She
felt nauseous and dizzy. Shapes were appearing in front of her eyes, little
glittery yellow lozenges that fluttered like falling leaves..."

Nothin' like that in "Weekly Reader", huh?

While "Katrina" is rubbing y'alls naughty parts, there are some interesting
things going on in this world. Read a book* or something some time.

Wolfgang
*"The Snakebite Survivor's Club: Travels Among Serpents", Jeremy Seal,
Harcourt, Inc., 1999, for example.



or... "feast of snakes", by harry crews; and, "Salvation on Sand
Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia" by
Dennis Covington. or, simply attend one of the little clapboard-sided
churches filled with pentecostals around triplett, nc (near boone)...

jeff

"Jeff Miller" wrote in message
news:zCRCd.68590$Jk5.61729@lakeread01...
Wolfgang wrote:

*"The Snakebite Survivor's Club: Travels Among Serpents", Jeremy
Seal,
Harcourt, Inc., 1999, for example.



or... "feast of snakes", by harry crews; and, "Salvation on Sand
Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia" by
Dennis Covington.

Dang.....never would have picked you for a herpetophile!

or, simply attend one of the little clapboard-sided
churches filled with pentecostals around triplett, nc (near
boone)...

All the churches I attended during my tenure south of the M/D line,
while they served up bountiful victuals worthy of a seven star
restaurant and leavened liberally with an apparently profound faith,
failed to include rattlesnake either on the menu or in the service. I
guess there's something to be said for the urbanity of Atlanta after
all.

Wolfgang
well ****, MORE additions to the "to be read" list.

On 1/5/05 8:41 AM, in article , "Wolfgang"
wrote:


"Jeff Miller" wrote in message
news:zCRCd.68590$Jk5.61729@lakeread01...
Wolfgang wrote:

*"The Snakebite Survivor's Club: Travels Among Serpents", Jeremy
Seal,
Harcourt, Inc., 1999, for example.



or... "feast of snakes", by harry crews; and, "Salvation on Sand
Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia" by
Dennis Covington.

Dang.....never would have picked you for a herpetophile!

or, simply attend one of the little clapboard-sided
churches filled with pentecostals around triplett, nc (near
boone)...

All the churches I attended during my tenure south of the M/D line,
while they served up bountiful victuals worthy of a seven star
restaurant and leavened liberally with an apparently profound faith,
failed to include rattlesnake either on the menu or in the service. I
guess there's something to be said for the urbanity of Atlanta after
all.

Wolfgang
well ****, MORE additions to the "to be read" list.

I do ROFF for the books, man, the books.

:-)

Bill
who finished Heinrich and has moved on to The Race to Save the Lord God
Bird... with a brief P. D. James break. (and who needs an extension for his
homework assignment....)