I am about to mount my first squirrel and was wondering if it is necessary to skin out the toes and seperate the ears. It seems like it would be almost impossible to split those thin ears.I will be using dry preservative on this mount. Thanks for any ideas. Bill.
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They are done by others as well as I have done them. you can card the aears back and inject the toes with bird feet injection fluid. i like to leave the toes in, and after skinning the toes out, pumping caiullk into the toes and then mounting. this looks pretty good and the knuckles all line up the right way with the skin. Experiment with different ways, the ears are tough to split, but if you go slow, you can do it. I flaten soom epoxy and put into ear to form it. when it hardens, the ears stay in shape and look very good.
Like Steve said they can be split. But it is much easier on a fresh squirrel than a frozen and thawed one.
Todd B
That's the main question asked and I would like to hear an answer to that one also. What is the downside of not doing it and what is the upside of turning them? Also, do you guys buy artificial teeth, cast your own or what? Thanks!
Hi Bill, I use a plain old butter knife for splitting the ears. It has a dull serrated edge and is the basic shape of the ear. You can wiggle it right up into the ear and easily split them without damage. Good luck.
these guys are right. if you want to do competition and a first rate job, go ahead and invest the time to learn how to do it. but,i have had good results painting the exterior of the ear with formaldehyde (this is about the only thing i use this poison for) letting it dry (ventilation is important), then i will use a doubled piece of tin foil, cut it in a semicircle (about the size of a dime), press this around the end of your finger to form a nice curve, slip it over the top of the ear, slip on a loose-fitting paper clip or two. i have had no bugs, no shrinkage, and no complaints.
I feel it is important to skin the ear. Years ago (When I was a teen) I didn't this was inportant and besides I didn't know how to do it, these squirrel ear have all schriveled up and are very brittle if not completely crack apart. Then I saw a method using a plastic butter knife (as listed above). I cut it down some to match the size of the ear and use the serrated edge to gently "Saw" inside the ear and am able to turn to the edge. I then use critter clay inside and I have never had a problem with cracked ears since. Yes it seems like a lot of work but after a few times, it only takes minutes. I'm sure some will disagree and say I spend to much time, but this works well for me and I don't mind the time as I feel it improves the mount. To each their own. Take it slow and easy at first and you will get the hang of it soon enough.
Rinehart has a tape on mounting a fox squirrel by Dave Luke. I wish it was available when I first tried a squirrel (didn't have VCR's back in those days!) I believe he uses a similar method as I have listed above as well as skinning the feet to the knuckles. Good luck
Thanks for the help. I will try the butter knife and see how that works for me. Bill.
I'd just like to say thanks also, great info Victor, I'll try it also as I don't want to have cracked up brittle ears either.