MOUNTING SMALL MAMMALS. 



121 



FIG. 26a. The Legs 

 Wired Together. 



the skin, anoint it most thoroughly with the soap, from the 

 back of the head to the base of the tail. While the skin is ab- 

 sorbing 1 the soap, take a hatchet and chop up 

 finely a quantity of coarse tow. With your 

 longest forceps, cover the inside of the skin 

 with a layer of cut tow, placing 1 it between 

 the wires and the skin. It is highly impor- 

 tant to have a good thick cushion of it next to 

 the skin at the shoulders, hips, and along the 

 back. 



This is the time to give the animal the at- 

 titude it is to have when finished. All the 

 members are now completely under control, 

 and we can give the animal any pose we wish. 

 Bend up each leg 1 at a right angle to its pres- 

 ent position, making the bend abruptly at the 

 head of each femur, and thus leave between 

 them the same distance that separated thorn 

 when they joined the pelvis in life. Likewise 

 bend up the foreleg, by making nearly a right angle in the leg- 

 wire at the head of each humerus, and leave the proper space 

 between the shoulders. With the play that is given to the fore- 

 legs, by means of the distance left between the shoulder point 

 and the ring, we are able to adjust the forelegs with the great- 

 est freedom, to move each shoulder either up or down, and in- 

 crease or lessen the distance between them at will. 



The most pert and characteristic attitude of a squirrel is sit- 

 ting up on its haunches, either on the alert, eating something 

 held in its paws, or, perhaps, washing its face with its paws. 

 This attitude is rather difficult to get, but it is well worth try- 

 ing 1 for. Bend each hind leg- at the knee until the thigh 

 touches the calf and rests upon it. Bend the ankle-joint until 

 the foot makes an acute angle with the calf. Make a very de- 

 cided curve in the backbone, so as to throw the body well for- 

 ward between the knees, which must come nearly opposite the 

 centre of the body. Push the hind legs up into the body so 

 that the squirrel can sit upon his tail. 



The elbows drop down until they almost touch the knees, 

 which is partly accomplished by curving the back. Just below 



