Guide to Taxidermy 



99 



same length t!iat your specimen was from his nose 

 to the root of the till. Wind a little tow around the 

 junction of the skull with the neck, and also a thin 

 lawyer on the back, winding both down smoothly with 

 the cops. Whatever the position of your animal is 

 going to be, bend the body into approximately the 

 shape that it is to occupy. If you want your squir- 

 rel sitting up with a nut in his paws, bend the neck 

 upward, the head horizontal and put a sharp grace- 

 ful curve on the remainder of the body. 



Insert the body into your specimen (and if you 

 have left it rolled up over night it will be best to 

 give it another coat of soap first) insinuating the 

 liead up through the neck to its proper position. 

 The body should now just fill the skin and when 

 smoothed down the back, the tail should come in its 

 proper position at the end. 



Number 14 wire is the proper size for the four V<\lf*m<i i^ft Wc^S 0^ 

 legs and the tail. You will want four pieces a foot ^ S'i'^^f ifaV • 

 long, sharp on one end. and one piece about 18 in. 

 long, sharp on one end and rounded on the other, 

 this last one being for the tail. Wire the fore legs 

 first, running the wire through the sole of the foot, 

 up through the back of the leg under the skin until 



