26 ORNITHOLOGIST 
Practical Taxidermy. 
BY FRANK B. WEBSTER. 
CHAPTER VI—SMALL ANIMALS. 
In mounting birds it is important that the be- 
ginner should take the measurements until by 
practice he becomes familiar with the size and 
shape; but with animals (mammals) it is @dbsolute- 
ly necessary. YT would advise making a rough 
sketch showing the general form, prominent 
muscles, depressions, &c., and noting on it the 
(details of measure. After the skin is removed 
there is in it very little to be guided by; far less 
than in birds. Referring you to the chapter on 
skinning birds, you will notice that the process 
with animals is quite similar. For our study I 
will select a common bare—White Swamp Rab- 
bit. Laying it upon our work table, we will 
measure it as follows: Nose to tail; breast to tail; 
fore foot to back; hind foot to back; girth back 
of fore shoulder; girth front of hind quarters; 
fore shoulder to hind shoulder; base of ear to 
nose. We next proceed to skin it. Fill the mouth, 
nostrils and vent with cotton; cut from breast to 
vent. (A—B fig. 1.) Skin to right and left, sev- 
ering the bones at the hip joints, C, C. Skin 
down to foot, about to D; clean bones, leaving 
enough muscle to hold them together. There 
will be three principal bones in the skin. (See 
fig. 2.) Force the skin off the back and flanks to 
root of tail. Take a partly split stick, or clothes 
pin, and force it well on to the tail between body 
and skin. (See fig. 3.) Hold the pin firmly and 
pull by the body; the pin will hold the skin, and 
the tail will slip out. There is little danger of 
injuring the skin if you hold the pin firmly so as 
not to allow the skin to be drawn through; if it 
is a long tail like a squirrel’s, and a shot has 
passed through it, it will be liable to break (the 
bone) and leave partin the tail skin. In that case 
you must open from the outside at the place 
where it broke, (under side) and get a fresh hold 
for more pulling. The skin of the tail does not 
turn inside out. 
Proceed, using great care not to stretch the 
skin, till the fore legs (wings) are reached; sever 
at shoulder blade, E, E, fig. 1, and clean, leaving 
three bones in the skin, same as with the hind 
legs. Skin to the skull and over; ears are not to 
be skinned; cut off what gristle you can without 
cutting through to the outside; leave the rest 
with theskin. Now note. If the animal is to be 
stuffed with the mouth closed, skin all off but the 
lip of the nose. (Fig. 4.) If with the mouth 
open, skin as far as you can without disturbing 
the front part of the lips. (Fig. 5.) This rule is 
[Vol. 11-No. 2 
for small animals, up to foxes and dogs. In large 
animals the entire skull is removed, The reason 
is: In large animals a frame body is made which 
holds the skin in place. In small ones a wire 
merely being run through the skull, the skin ad- 
hering to lips, holds it in place and saves some 
trouble. In this case we will close the mouth, 
and detach the skin as in fig. 4. After cleaning 
the skull, removing brain, ete., we will sew up 
the mouth. Foxes, dogs, &c., begin at center 
and sew right and left, overcast stitch; do it so 
that when the skin is turned the under lip will 
be a little under the upper. If a squirrel or rab- 
bit, it will be found that the lip parts from the 
nose down, making a three-cornered opening. 
(Fig. 6.) Sew from G to H, and then from II 
right to J and H left to I. Next poison the skin 
thoroughly with the soap. If a dog, give it two 
or three coats before using sawdust. Turn the 
skin back and it is ready for mounting. If you 
have an animal with horns, skin to base of skull 
and cut off; open the skin outside the neck. (See 
fig. 7.) Cut to a point between the horns, K to 
L, then from L to each horn, and around the base 
of the horn closely. You can then take the skull 
out; the cut in the skin will be like fig. 8. This 
is necessary in skinning deers’ heads. 
In stuffing animals two points must be ob- 
served, viz., they must be stuffed so as not to be- 
come distorted by shrinking, nor be made too full 
to start with—solid and just right. We begin 
with the head: fill the eye cavity, sides of jaws 
where we cut away the meat, and nostril cavity 
(this part is gristle, and if not well looked to, in a 
few weeks your specimen will have a peculiar 
turn to its nose that will well express your own 
disgust.) with clay, plaster or putty. If the latter 
have it as free from oil as possible. If you use 
plaster or clay, leave a place to set the eves with 
putty when the stuffing is complete. Now push 
the skull in place. Cut a quantity of excelsior 
finely ; if the animal is very small, use tow. For 
our hare we will use both mixed. Fill the throat, 
skull and neck down to the breast; pack it in 
well without distorting. Next cut six wires: One 
for the body, one and one-half times the length of 
the animal (head to tail); two for hind legs, one 
and one-half times the length of leg, C to toes, 
fig. 2; two for fore legs, one and one-half times 
the length of leg; one for tail. This must be 
two to six inches longer than the tail. In select- 
ing wire, use that which will be heavy enough to 
bear the weight. The following sizes I give you 
to work from: Chip. squirrel, 18; woodchuck, 
12; fox, 11; gray squirrel, 16; hare, 18; setter 
dog, 9. From these you can estimate what would 
be required for others. 
