I bought a dorsal skinned marmot from a "taxidermist" about a month or so ago. Since I lived quite a while away from the guy, I asked him to please turn everything and salt/dry it so I could save on shipping costs. Anyway, he had no problems, and about three weeks after paying, I received the marmot. It was dried wonderfully, salted... everything I had asked for. However, I can't tell if the lips or ears have been done because of the stiffness of the pelt, and the last part of the feet are still in. I wrote the guy that sold it to me and he said that he didn't want them to shrink or something like that. I was told to inject the feet and toes to get them to soften up, and I read the archives on the left side of the page. However, nobody seems to have written about my specific problem yet. I am ready to take the little guy into the tannery, but I have to get the feet done (at least) or else they will be cut off, and I wont be able to mount the marmot (the whole reason why I bought it). Should I rehydrate the whole thing, skin what I need to skin, and then refreeze until I'm ready to take him in to be tanned? Any advice would be appreciated, and if you are giving me a recipe for rehydrating, please be specific in your measurements. It is a full-grown, well-furred marmot with a back dorsal cut. Looks a lot like a stretched, round beaver.
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There are a couple things you can do. I have injected squirrel toes with plain hot water (no salt added). You will need a syringe with a sharp point to get through the dried skin, then you can microwave a small amount of water until it's very hot and inject. You can also try soaking in hot salt water. Always mix one pound of salt per gallon of water. Heat up the water, then dissolve the salt into it (maybe in a bowl or dish just big enough to hold the feet) then soak until pliable. This may take up to a few hours on larger animals, but should be pretty quick for yours. If it was me, I'd do both- inject it and then let it soak. I have also watched some videos by [a supply company] where they inject toes of squirrels with windex, but I haven't tried this method. hope this helps
Thanks Bud, and everyone else for your replies. Turns out the skin wasn't any good anyway, looks like I got screwed (again).