230 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



eggs and nesting in the month of March when the weather 

 may register from twenty to forty below zero. 



In the forest there are several different ways of skinning 

 animals: one is called "case skinning" and another is called 

 "split skinning." To case skin an animal such as ermine, fox, 

 fisher, lynx, marten, mink, otter, muskrat, rabbit, or skunk, 

 the skin is cut down the inner side of each hind leg until the 

 two cuts meet just under the tail, and then the pelt is peeled 

 off by turning it inside out. To split skin an animal such 

 as wood-buffalo, moose, wapiti, caribou, deer, bear, beaver, 

 wolf, or wolverine, the skin is cut down the belly from throat 

 to tail and also on the inside of each leg to the centre cut, 

 and then the pelt is peeled off both ways toward the back. 

 All split skins are stretched on rectangular frames — all save 

 beaver skins which are stretched on oval frames. All case 

 skins are stretched over wedge-shaped boards of various sizes — 

 all save muskrat skins which are more often stretched over a 

 hooped frame or a looped stick. So, of course, our moose pelt 

 was "split skinned," but there is still another way to skin an 

 animal that is too large for one man to turn over, and that 

 is — in case the animal is lying on its belly — to split the skin 

 down the back and then peel it off both ways toward the 

 belly. 



If the skin is to be used as a robe, the hair is left on, and the 

 animal's brains are rubbed into the inner side of the pelt, after 

 the fat has been removed, and then the skin is left to dry. 

 That softens the pelt; but traders prefer skins to be sun-dried 

 or cold-dried. If the skin is to be used as leather, the hair 

 is cut off with a knife, and a deer's shin-bone is used as a 

 dressing tool in scraping off the fat; both sides of the skin are 

 dressed to remove the outer surface. It is easier to dress a 

 skin in winter than in summer, but summer-made leather 

 wears better, for the reason that the roots of the hair run all 

 through a summer skin; whereas in winter the roots show only 



