CHAPTEE IV. 



TREATMENT OF THE SKINS OF SMALL MAMMALS. 



MANY hundred beautiful and curious quadrupeds are shot every 

 year and allowed to perish utterly for lack of the little knowl- 

 edge and skill which would enable the hunter to remove and 

 preserve their skins. The operation is simple and easy, the re- 

 quirement in tools and materials quite insignificant, and the 

 operator has only to exercise a little patient industry to achieve 

 good results. There are few circumstances under which a de- 

 termined individual finds himself thwarted in his desire to re- 

 move and preserve the skin of a dead animal. In nineteen cases 

 out of twenty the result hinges on his own disposition. If he 

 is lazy, a thousand things can hinder his purpose ; if he is de- 

 termined, nothing can. A sharp pocket-knife, a little powdered 

 alum and arsenic in equal parts, or failing that, common salt 

 alone, will do the business in lieu of a better outfit, for any small 

 mammal that ever lived. 



I begin with small mammals, because it is squirrels, rabbits, 

 cats, woodchucks, weasels, opossums, raccoons, and foxes that 

 the beginner will fall in with long before he is called upon to 

 wrestle with such subjects as deer, bear, elk, or buffalo. These 

 general directions apply to the skinning of all terrestrial quadru- 

 peds up to the size of a setter dog, and the preservation of their 

 skins in a mountable condition. 



MEASUREMENTS. The following are the most valuable meas- 

 urements to take of a small mammal. 



1. Length, from end of nose to root of tail. This is to be taken 

 with the head stretched out straight as far as it will go. Meas- 

 ure from the tip end of the nose to the point where the tail joins 

 the body. In my judgment it is always best in determining 

 this latter point to take the angle made by the tail (underneath) 



