Taxidermy Part 3

Now, in beginning work upon the small mammal specimen, make outline studies of it in same way the bird specimen was handled, _i. e._, both before and after skinning. When the preliminary surface sketches are completed, replace the wrapping paper used for the purpose, with newspaper, cornmeal at hand, and proceed with the skinning.

Have scalpel or skinning-knife well sharpened. Lay head of specimen toward right. Part fur over center of breast bone, insert point of knife just under skin, forcing backward, and with as near one clean stroke as possible open the skin neatly along center of abdomen. Do not cut the abdominal wall. Carry belly incision to close to the vent. In male specimen run the incision to one side of the testes.

Next insert point of knife in fore center of pad or feet and paws and with a gentle push carry these incisions upon back of wrists and inside of ankles to where swell of large muscles is felt. In mammals the size of woodchuck or racc.o.o.n, split toes on under side.

If a mammal skin is to be kept for some time, dried or in brine, split the tail full length along under side. If tail skin slips easily and the specimen is to be mounted at once, pull the tail out, splitting only the very tip to allow a.r.s.enic solution to be run through. In many species the tail must be split and peeled out with a knife because of tough binding. (For general diagram of incisions, see Fig. 12.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 12.]

The next step in handily skinning a mammal is to peel out the feet through their incisions, severing toes at base and leaving them complete in the skin. Peel the leg skins back over ankles and wrists (see Fig.

13).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 13.]

If tail was split, peel it down next, beginning at tip. Now return to the abdominal incision and neatly peel the skin from the body, in many instances using only the thumb nail for loosening it.

When the thighs are encountered, bend hind legs back and sever hip joints from pelvis (see Fig. 13), cutting carefully through the large muscles so that the skin on opposite side of them may not be punctured.

When the hind legs are cut free, peel around back of pelvis, loosening skin to base of tail. Set the specimen upon its head end and, with thumb and finger nails of left hand, grasp skin about the base of tail while with right hand strip tail out with force.

Next peel the body down to shoulders. Hang large specimen up by cord tied about loins, the more handily to finish the skinning.

Sever the forelegs at shoulder joint (see Fig. 14), using care not to cut through skin.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 14.]

Peel skin down over neck to ears. Cut ears free from head, working with knife close to skull. Peel to eyes. In cutting the eyelids free, work close to eyeb.a.l.l.s so that lids are not injured. Peel to mouth and cut close to jaw bones in severing lips and nose from skull (see Fig. 15).

With the skin removed from the body, next peel out the legs.

Split inside of lips free with sharp knife, very carefully, so as not to break edge of them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 15.]

With scissors shear out all mouth and nose meat, being careful not to cut off the whisker pockets, which are usually very prominent when the side nose muscles are partly sheared off.

Skin out the backs of the ears clear to edges by pressing a finger tip inside the ear and peeling over this with finger nail or other dull instrument. With scissors shear off meat of b.u.t.t of ear and whatever meat and fat adheres to rest of skin.

In sketches of skinned body mark points of shoulder joint and hip joint and note width of pelvis at hip joints.

Remove the skull from the carca.s.s and clean it by cutting and sc.r.a.ping away all meat, pulling out the eyeb.a.l.l.s, and scooping out the brain.

For the purpose of mounting, the base of the skull may be cut off to facilitate cleaning, but for study (cabinet) skins the skull must be kept intact and always accompany by number the skin it was removed from.

Trim all meat from the leg bones and poison these and the skull when finishing preparation of the skin.

Add a few drops of carbolic acid, well stirred in to the a.r.s.enic water used upon skins of small mammals for mounting. This aids in preventing decay and slipping of the epidermis.

Apply the poison solution thoroughly with a brush, to all inner surfaces of the skin and to the toes. If tail was split only at the tip, run a few drops of a.r.s.enic water through it.

Turn the poisoned skin right side out, lay it flat, side pressed to side, roll up, place in paper, and cover with a damp cloth. Lay in this way over one night, giving the a.r.s.enic solution a chance to penetrate through to roots of hair before mounting. If a specimen is b.l.o.o.d.y or mussed the blood may be cleaned off before skinning by wetting the spots with alcohol and rubbing the blood and juices out with cornmeal.

The first step in mounting is properly to wire the skull and leg bones.

(For details of this see Fig. 16.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 16.]

For the body-wire select a size larger than for the legs, cutting it twice as long as head, neck, and body. For legs choose a size wire that will firmly support the specimen in position without wobbling. If the mammal is to sit erect, the hind leg-wires must be considerably larger than otherwise and foreleg-wires may be much lighter. (Making the pelvis loop may be easily followed in diagram in Fig. 17.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 17.]

The first body-wire loop is bent to set into the brain cavity. Then the foreleg loop is made some little distance back of actual shoulder point (in fox-squirrel about an inch and a half or two inches). Get distance from skull to hip joint from body sketch and follow this sketch for dimensions in bending wire pelvis into shape. The tail loop is last to be made.

As Fig. 16 shows, the leg-wires are wrapped tightly upon the back of the bones with thread or light cord, leaving shorter end of wire pa.s.sing from sole of foot. At shoulder joint turn wire back sharply and at hip ball turn wire in at right angles. In palms and soles of feet turn wire down at right angles.

When the bone wiring is completed take up again the body sketches. Bring out a quant.i.ty of fine excelsior for replacing the leg muscles and skull meat and for filling the body after a.s.sembling the wired parts within the skin.

In wrapping on the artificial leg muscles begin at the feet. Follow the outline sketches and with thread and small cord wrap small, properly proportioned ma.s.ses, squeezed firm in the hand or finger tips, upon the bones, copying Nature's outline and form accurately.

Wrap the foreleg to the shoulders. Complete the hind leg to the knee and above this point wrap on only the muscles on top of the thigh bone, leaving back of thigh to be filled with loose material when the skin is adjusted.

The tail may be made of cotton, wrapped tightly and smoothly upon the wire, wisp by wisp. Begin at tip and work down, spinning the wire with right hand to produce uniformity of shape. If mammal is larger than a squirrel the tail may be made of tow, pulled smooth, laid lengthwise of the wire, and wrapped smoothly down with thread. For size, length, and shape of tail, refer to the sketches.

The head muscles may be replaced in much the same manner as leg muscles.

(See Fig. 18 for wrapping complete.) The specimen is now ready to a.s.semble.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 18.]

To accomplish this in systematic order, insert the head into place and next the forelegs. Consult sketch and bend a right angle in foreleg-wire back of shoulder at such a point that shoulder will set in proper relation to head. One at a time, using the pliers, twist these foreleg-wire ends, after setting them through shoulder loop, tightly back along the body-wire. Next insert the hind legs into the skin. Slip their wires through hip loops, carry them forward, and tightly twist them around body-wire as in forelegs.

If the tail skin was unopened except at tip the wrapped tail should be put in when the head is placed in the skin. If tail skin was opened full length, the artificial tail may be placed after all the legs are adjusted. Run tail-wire base forward through its pelvis-wire loop and twist it around body-wire. (For general a.s.sembling of specimen see Fig.

19.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 19.]

Before filling the body, sew up the tail, using short st.i.tches and a round needle, if it is possible to push it through skin easily. Begin sewing at tip and work toward body. Finish all sewing with a simple knot drawn tight under tip of finger.

Next, with a stuffing rod of appropriate size, place the neck filling, stuffing against palm of left hand hollowed outside the skin at point of filling so that the forming may be felt accurately.

Then comes the filling for shoulder blades over forelegs and with it the chest filling. In handling the excelsior, pull out wisps of it from the ma.s.s and rub them between the palms so that the fiber is broken up and softened. Fine excelsior ("wood wool") is the material par excellence for stuffing the bodies of small mammals from size of small chipmunks up. Mice require a softer material, and short chopped, fine tow answers requirements in them. The leg bones of mice may be wrapped with long fiber cotton batting or fine tow.

When the shoulders and chest have been filled firm full, but not to the point of looking stuffed, turn to the hind legs and pelvis. Fill in the back thigh muscles neatly; then cover top of wire pelvis, pushing material well down to base of tail. Fill rump sufficiently to overcome a pinched or too high set look. The position must be considered in properly filling the back, sides, and abdomen. If a bunched up position is to be worked out, bend the wire back bone into semipose and place the legs in approximately their final position. After this, fill the body to suit the position, always forming with the stuffing rod working against the left hand. See that all filling is firm but not packed in to the point of distorting the skin. Consult sketches and aim to preserve the little animal's natural form. (For general filling details see Fig. 20)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 20.]

When the filling is all placed, sew the abdominal incision neatly up, beginning at rear end always and going forward. Wax the thread. In a hunched together position, middling long st.i.tches may be used. In a straighter pose shorter st.i.tches should be used.

Now, when the body is sewn up cover the specimen with paper and a damp cloth to prevent drying while a small batch of compo. No. II is prepared for finishing feet and head. Returning to the specimen with this, slightly moisten the wrapping on the bones of the feet and apply a bit of the compo. at front and in the sole of each foot. This cements the toes to the foot and fills the pads.

After this is done sew each foot up neatly, beginning at toes and working toward body. If toes were large and required splitting and removing of toe cords, replace the cords with bits of small rope or soft twine and sew toes up neatly with short st.i.tches. It is best to use a round needle and black thread, well waxed for this work.