Hi all.
I have a friend who has asked me to do something for him, and well, im not quite sure if it will work.So, i thought you guys/gals might be able to offer an opinion.
Right: in short,
i have been asked to case skin a dead "feral" pig sucker, and preserve it someway ,(it only has to last a week or as long as poss),thats not going to kill the pups its used to train.
I know sound wierd, but i thought if it saves him using live ones to train up the pups and hes prepared to skin/salt it,i would only be too happy to see what i could do.
I thought (and please, tell me if it wont work), HE could case skin it,salt it,then i would dry it over a wire inside-out,then invert it, sew or glue up the mouth & eyes & ears, fill with sawdust or sand and sew up the last insision.Sort of like a bean-bag.
I told him anything i do without the chemicals isnt going to last long (as far as i know),- phewy- and the flys would probably get at it, but he says its ok as its not needed/doesnt last with the pups for too long and he can get another the next time hes out hunting.He obviously doesnt want to poison the pups.
The only thing im really not sure of, (apart from wether this will work. lol.),is how do i keep the flys off the skin when drying? I have never dried a skin on a wire (like they do with rabbits), before. Wish i had of watched dad a bit more closely now, though i was only 5-6 when he did it. Hessian bag?
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Samantha,
I can only presume the dogs will be trained to perform in much the same way as my coonhounds. If so, a dead animal's hide will serve a very limited use in this endeavor. A dog can tell by the scent being put off by the animal it hunts whether the animal is alive or dead. Scent glands acrioss the animal's body are living, perfused tissue that only function when the animal's heart is beating, aka, alive. In fact, my hounds often refused to trail or tree a sick coon. We could only guess it was a matter of the animal's smell. Once a coon was dead, a good dog will ignore it completely. Obviously, you have moral issues with the dogs training on live prey. If not, I apologize for drawing that conclusion. If so, please keep in mind that feral hogs are just that - feral. As such, they have no natural role in their ecosystem and actually do more damage than what possible good one could conjure up in their defense. The best thing you can do is hunt, hunt, hunt. Live prey is the only good way to train a pup. Unfortunately, it's a little hard to get an adult hog in a rollcage.
Hi LH,
No, you got me all wrong - i too hunt the feral pigs with dogs (checkout boardogs.com),and rifle. lol.
Its just a 'little bit illegal', here, to use live critters to train pups up.My friend is just taking a HUGE risk doing it 'live' so to speak and i wanted to help him out.
I also thought of getting an extra sucker off him to train up our youngest addition -- if it worked for him.
Thanks anyhow.
Oh, you might know - are there any coon hounds in australia?