40 



TAXIDERMY AND ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTING. 



To rip open a leg-, seize the foot in your left hand, bring 1 the leg 

 against your own knee to hold it tense and firm, then insert the 

 point of your knife into the middle of the foot at the back, and 

 cut straight up the back of the leg until you come to the "knee" 

 on the foreleg, and hock-joint on the other. At these points 



gradually change the di- 

 rection of the cut and ran 

 it on up the inside so 

 that it will finally come 

 to the body-cut at a point 

 exactly between the legs, 

 and as much as possible 

 out of sight. The lines 

 in the accompanying- fig- 

 ure (G) show how the cuts 

 in the legs should be 

 made. In skinning 1 the 

 head of an animal having 

 antlers or horns, it is 

 necessary to make an 

 opening at the back of 

 the neck shaped like a Y- 



FIG. 6. Opening Cutn oa a Large Mammal. -*- i /i i 



Make the cuts as shown 



in Fig. 7, on opposite page ; cut completely around each horn 

 at its base, and skin the head by working downward over 

 the forehead and cheeks. The skull is then taken out through 

 this Y * 



Thoroughness. The principles to be observed in skinning 1 the 

 body are precisely the same as those given for small mammals. 

 Remember that it is easier to take the skin off clean and free 

 from flesh as you cut it from the animal, and can stretch it tight 

 with your left hand in order to shave the flesh off clean, than it 

 will be to clean the skin after it is off. An excess of flesh left 

 on the skin means unnecessary weight, a waste of preservatives, 

 and longer time in curing the skin. A clean, thin skin is more 

 easily and quickly cured and carried than one badly taken ofT. 

 My habit is to clean a skin so thoroughly in taking it off that 

 no paring down is necessary before curing it unless, indeed, it 



* For detailed instructions in skinning large heads, sec Chapter XIX. 



