Can I tan a squirrel skin and it stay soft like a rug or do i need to send to a tannery to get soft tanned. My 5 year old son killed his first red squirrel and we want to put it on his dresser like a small rug. Thanks
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You can tan the skin. After you tan it you will need to break it as you would anyother skin. After it dries and you have broke it down I would use a fine grade sandpaper and snad it down some it make it softer.
Hope this helps you,
Kim
thats young. What'd he kill it with?
when my son was 5 he shot his first squirrel with a .22. Together we taned one and I let him break it by himself. It has been in his room for five years. (Probably under his bed now).
He shot his squirrels with a 4-10 single shot. We keep it unloaded until we have a squirrel treeed and its a good shot then we load an try to kill the squirrel. I am by his side at all times, we are very safe and teaching safety is more important than killing squirrels. We have been practiceing with a 22 and Trenton is a very good shot as long as he has a rest. We will try for a deer next year. thanks for the info.
I am no hunter at all, but an absolute beginner in taxidermy.
I learned alot at a workshop last year. If you use pure glycerine to preserve the skin, it will be soft for ever. After the skinning use alcohol to degrease it for about 8 hours. After that put it in the glycerine for 8 hours too. Then finally use cornflower to remove the glycerine from the skin. Be sure to remove all the glycerine from the skin, use a vacuum cleaner (I hope the spelling is corrrect, I am Dutch you know)and the skin will be soft and shiny. I had some success with my squirrel.
I wish you and your son much success in the future.
Ellen