MOUXTIISTG MAMMAL HEADS. 



curiosities and works of art in foreign lands, but they do not 

 excite one-half the admiration that is called forth by the series 

 of really fine heads of buffalo, deer, mountain sheep, elk, ante- 

 lope, and mountain goat of which I am the fortunate possessor. 



Inasmuch as this chapter is intended chiefly for the benefit of 

 sportsmen and amateur taxidermists, we must begin at the be- 

 ginning, and treat the subject in somewhat full detail. We will 

 consider that we have a deer as our subject. 



Many a fine deer head is spoiled forever by being cut off too 

 close behind the ears. With such animals as the lion, tiger, 

 leopard, puma, and bear, a long neck is not desirable unless the 

 head is to be mounted in a glass case, looking out of a thick; ' : 

 and neither is it best for a buffalo head to have a long neck. It 

 may be set down as a safe rule, however, that the heads of all 

 deer, antelopes, sheep, goats, and the like, should have moder- 

 ately long necks. Having experimented fully with necks of all 

 lengths, I find that the most satisfactory to competent critics, 

 and therefore the handsomest, are those which strike a happy 

 medium, such as the antelope head shown in Plate XI. To 

 secure this length, the head should be cut off well back toward 

 the shoulders, so as to leave a little surplus to be trimmed off 

 when the head is mounted. 



To Skin and Preserve a Deer Head, proceed as follows : 



1. Start at the back of the neck (on top) just in front of the 

 shoulders, or "withers," keep the point of the knife under the 

 skin, with the edge up, and divide the skin in a circle all the 

 way around the neck, keeping down to the point where the neck 

 sets on the shoulders. You need not cut through the flesh and 

 bone of the neck at that point. 



2. Never slit the skin open along the under side of the throat. 

 Cut it open in a straight line along the back of the neck, all the 

 way along, up to a point midway between the ears. From that 

 point run two cuts like the arms of a Y, one to the base of each 

 antler or horn, as seen in Fig. 7. Run the point of the knife 

 dose around the base of each antler, and cut through the skin all 

 the way. 



3. Begin at the back of the neck, and skin downward on each 

 side until the entire neck is free. As you proceed you will pres- 

 ently come to the ear, which stands up like a tree-trunk covered 



