Question...

[Bucksmith]

Hey Guys,

Im not new to taxidermy but I mainly work on game heads.  Im just amazed at some of the work that you guys put out in this category for lifesize!  True artistry....anyways, I really want to get into doing some small lifesize pieces for my own game room (fox, bobcat, racoon,squirrell ...ect )....and maybe start taking in some lifesize work down the road..... had a few questions for you.

1.  Are you tanning all your skins?  or do you use Dry Preserve ?  I know we dont use DP much anymore for gameheads but didnt know if it was popular for small game

2.  when you are skinning life size out, do you prefer Dorsal cut?  im assuming the pose has an infuluence on this aswell.

THanks
Bucksmith

[TMALONE]

 I tan all my lifesize, even squirrels.  Pose determines the cut, but I usually use the dorsal.

[trbruning]

i tan all my skins as well even if just to be consistent, skinning cut i normally go with as small a dorsal cut as possible, which i do because i suck at sewing, but pose and animal species is important when determining it as well, when skinning badger i use ventral cuts because unless you are doing a unusual pose they sit so low to the ground you would never see the seam even if you sew as badly as me =) the incision is just as important as the pose

[George Roof]

Everything up to coyote gets DP unless I have denatured alcohol on hand or the hide's been salted (then it gets a topical "tan")  By the time most guys tan the skins for these critters, mine is already drying.  Time is money for most people- for me, it's more time to screw around doing things I'd rather do.

[CrabCrazy]

X2 what George said...time is money...why tan a squirrel skin...isn't that overkill

[3bears]

I understand the time is money argument, but I tan everything as well. For my piece of mind. I'm sure DP works but I am not comfortable using it, on mammal skins. To each their own. 3bears

[muscle20]

     I also tan all my skins for quality, I have even when time was money , mind you I can do that as I do not spend too much time on taxinet, and I spend the extra time on my tanning than being on the computer,  money is not really that important to me anymore, but quality still is, the old saying time is money, well these days time is more important to me than money LOL.

[JerseyJays]

i tan everything with fur

[George Roof]

LMAO @ Muscle.

But you know I just gotta ask.  When you waste all that time tanning a tree rat, did it ever occur to you that you are going to end up with a SQUIRREL?  I have DP'd squirrels that look just as good as any tanned ones I've see.  Henry Wichers Inchemuk perfected the art of mounting small fur bearers and guess what he preserves them with?  Nope, Not DP.  Nope, not tanning.  How about a denatured alcohol soak?  So I ain't being embarrassed by those of you who swear by tanning.  I'm in pretty good company where I am already ----even if I do spend a lot of time on here.  LOL

[CrabCrazy]

Will have to try DA next time...George i been here since 2006..I'll never catch up..I'm barely pushing 1000 posts

[muscle20]

   Hey George I also dabbled with Touchstone DP. when I was very young like 11 years old, matter of fact I still have a large box of the stuff never used it since, as all my mammals of my own that I trapped and used dp on are not around anymore, matter of fact the bugs got to them within 15 years, so I do not have my mink,squirrels, game heads from those days, when I started tanning my skins I never had any more problems with bugs rather than using raw skins, maybe it is because the bugs in this country have got only the summer months to feed and breed, as we have very cold winters(not this winter lol ) I do not know what its like using dp down south, but here I will not mount raw skins, lol I even tan mice that I use in raptors feet and bills let alone squirrels, I once did a experiment with a box of raw skins and treated skins, and a family of larder beetles, the raw skins disappeared in a few months and the little buggers touched a few hairs on the treated skins then left them alone, and I do not think it was because they were satisfied from the raw skins and were just not hungry anymore, so I prefer to tan all mammal skins, that way I feel more comfortable as quality goes, and yes I can mount a squirrel with dp that looks as good as if it was a tanned skin, but there is a difference!

[George Roof]

Oh, I wouldn't argue that. Its just preference. Some years back the Taxidermologist and I had a LONG sgrumrnt on this and neither of us capitulated. I know borax kills bugs and tans don't. I also know that dermidtids seem able to eat BOTH. So to me, its a choice.

[michael p.]

   Hey George I also dabbled with Touchstone DP. when I was very young like 11 years old, matter of fact I still have a large box of the stuff never used it since.....................

I HATED that stuff! LOL  The 'mothball' smell made me sick at my stomach

[Matt]

Tanning a squirrel is not over kill, especially when you have several other small mammals to tan. I don't do alot of tanning, but If I have time, I will tan up some mink, fox, yote, and throw the squirrels in there as well. Time is money, but I don't feel I am wasting either of them. Plus, I charge for squirrels what alot charge for a wt!

[3bears]

I totally agree Matt. I charge more for a squirrel than some do for a shoulder mount deer. If I am gonna do them I am gonna make money. 3bears