I am going to be mounting a weasel I ordered from frozen critters and I havent done a fur bearer in years, I am a bird specialist.I have done some squirrels this year and a weasel years ago that looked very nice. I have a few questions, recommended tan agent, what to use on ears, should I separate the tiny cartilage and how, how far down the toes do you skin on something so small?
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I mounted a small weasel recently; they are really fun to mount and cute as can be!
First of all, for a tanning agent I would reccommend either Krowtann or a Safetee acid pickle/then Liquatan. You could also dry preserve, but a tan would be best for a weasel since they have a musky smell and tanning will remove most of that odor.
Open the ears up (very carefully) and fill them with critter clay or apoxie sculpt. No need to remove the cartilege.
I skin down to the toes on weasels and squirrels, leaving the toe bones and very small amount of meat in. Then I inject with a 50/50 mixture of balmex (preserving liquid from Van Dykes) and fin backing cream (to plump the toes)
One thing I must mention is that I would DEFINATELY recommend a case incision (between the two back legs). You will have a little more difficulty getting the form into the skin, but the results will be fantastic. Hiding a ventral incision, or worse - a dorsal! - will be hard on something so small. Just cut the two front legs off the form and put them into the legs of the hide when you're ready to mount, and put a little apoxie sculpt on the cut area. Then slip the form in through your case incision and pin the legs in place. You may or may not have to cut the back legs off to get the form in. Sounds tricky but it's really not!
Hope this helps,
Amy Ritchie
www.AmysTaxidermy.com