not really~
it's a good title, though, don't you think?
Our son, Jonathan, at 14
lives and breathes being outside.
One of the things that's he's taken up is
skinning & tanning.
You may remember
that a year or so ago,
that a year or so ago,
he had opportunity to spend some time
with a local taxidermist.
Recently a friend killed a skunk and asked Jonathan
to skin & tan it.
Now, skinning a badger, fox, or marmot...
is a little different,
because,
you know~those glands that a skunk has.
In fact,
check this out:
"When the animal is frightened, it can explosively release the musk, which, along with stamping its feet and turning its back, tells a predator to back off. If it lets go, it has quite accurate aim—preferably into the enemy's face—for a distance of more than 6 ft (2 m). Foxes will usually be driven away by the spray, but some large owls are able to just ignore the odor and will attack the skunk anyway. The skunk is forced to spray using up one of its reportedly one to eight shots of musk. When they are gone, the animal no longer has a defense. It is vulnerable until its body has time to produce more musk."
I 'warned' him that any skinning needed to be done
AWAY
from the house and
AWAY
from the barn!
The day he did it, I think he was about 1/4 mile down the road!
Good son :)
Well, he didn't puncture those 'glands'
and did an amazing job skinning and tanning that skunk.
I only wish we'd taken a picture of the underside-
pretty impressive with his new
'fleshing' equipment.
 |
| The skinner & tanner~ |
 |
| Some of the 'tools'~ |
2 comments:
We all agree that Jonathon did a fabulous job! Way to go. (and thanks)
What an art form! Very good job, Jonathan! Our boys did that some when they were younger. We have a friend who found a car-hit bobcat dead. He froze it, and my oldest son and he skinned it in TX. I heard it stunk to high heaven...they had to thaw it :)Do ask Jonathan to wear double gloves and be cautioned that Lyme's disease can be transmitted in the blood of all animals that have the spirochete , not only by mosquitoes and deer ticks now.
Hope you are all well!!!
Blessings!
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