TRAPPING MOLES AND UTILIZING THEIR SKINS. 11 



And in the larger species is so tough that there is httle danger of 

 tearing it with ordinary handhng. The best tool for the work is a 

 small, strong pair of scissors about 4 or 5 inches long (fig. 9), with 

 one blunt-pointed and one sharp-pointed blade. A scalpel (fig. 10) 

 or a sharp-pointed pocket knife may be substituted for the scissors. 



Proceed as follows: With scissors or knife make a slit in the 

 skin down the middle of the belly from chin to root of tail, taking 

 care not to cut through into the abdominal cavity. Now, with 

 thumb and fingers loosen up the skin on the hind quarters and 

 turn it wrong side out down to the ankles and the root of the tail. 

 Snip off legs and tail at the points mentioned, without cutting the 

 pelt. Grasping the body with one hand and the skin with the 

 other, continue the process of turning the latter wrong side out until 

 the wrists are reached. Sever the arms at these points as was 

 done with the legs at the ankles. This process may require a 

 heavier pair of scis- 

 sors, however, for the 

 bones are thick and 

 strong. After a little 

 snipping at the con- 

 nective tissue about 

 neck and head, the 

 skin can be pulled 

 over the nose and off 

 the body entirely. 



STRETCHmC AND DRYING. 



When the skin is 

 off, pick from it any 

 bits of fat that have 

 adhered and snip off 

 the dangling legs and 

 tail hi such way as 

 to leave the smallest 

 possible hole in the 

 skin. Now pin the 

 skin out on a board 

 to dry, fur side down, first tacking the four comers, then using four, 

 and fuially eight more intermediate pins, as shown in figure 11. 

 A light tack-hammer will serve to drive the pins, and a pair of forceps 

 with corrugated tips to help in the stretching. 



Hang the drying boards where the air circulates freely, but not in 

 the sunshine. In a few days or at most in two or three weeks, 

 depending upon the humidity of the atmosphere, the skins will be 



