I've been preserving squirrels with borax.. my question is, why can't larger animals be boraxed?
I have a cat I need to preserve right now.. it's about the size of a coon. I've fleshed it and degreased it well, so can it not be preserved with borax? I could tan it, but I'd rather just dry preserve, if possible.
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Amy,
I still DP foxes and raccoons on occasions and your cat certainly falls within that purview. Large is considered those animals whose skin thickness is enough as to cause significant shrinkage problems as they dry. Even this can be overcome by using fine stitching and good epoxy glues, but PERSONALLY, I like the feel of a good tanned and oiled hide when working on large animals.
why "stabilize" a skin in it's current state...when you can
easilly enough convert it chemically to leather?
HMMMMMMMMMMM?
the big debate again over tanning VS all the other what i call lazy ways to preserve.....big al is right in my opinion....of course ive always been taught if your going to take the time to do something then do it right the first time....
This is one of those cyclic fights that happen here. Lyle Lovett looked "good" to Julia Roberts, Joe Dimaggio to Marilyn Monroe, Dennis Rodman to....PLEASE! A DP hide in the hands of an artist canl look fantastic compared to a tanned on in the hands of a beginners. Let's just don't go there. ATFQ (that means "answer" and "question"). The lady has already decided which method she'd rathe use. It's impolite to tell her she has an ugly boyfriend.
Don't take someone's opinion as your own.
I started out with DP on Everything, but have since switched to tanning on
deer and other large animals.
For small mammals , medium mammals, and all birds, I prefer Ol' 20 mule team Borax.
Form your own opinions!
Merry Christmas