I have a couple squirrel tails and was wondering how to preserve them. I don't know any of the technical terms, so could you explain it in laymen's terms? Thanks!
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When I was a kid, I would save all my squirrel tails every season.
All I did was cut them off and leave them in the shed untill they dried.They would last about a year or so and then start falling apart,but it didn't matter cause it was time to start the next years collection!
About the only "easy" way I know to do it now is :
Pull the bone out,this is tricky at first cause it's easy to pull the tail in two but with practice it can be done quickly.
I take a pair of pliers and get ahold of the stub,and take an adjustable wrench and adjust it to fit snug NOT TIGHT on the tailbone just under the pliers so that it holds the skin still while you twist and pull the bone out.REMEMBER this will take a little practice!
Once the bone is out take some 20 mule team borax(GET IT FROM THE LAUNDERY ISLE AT WAL-MART) and work it down into the tail with a thin piece of wire.
This will "preserve" the tail but it WILL NOT be flexible.
If you want it flexible it will need to be tanned,wich is more trouble than a squirrel tail is worth.
Hope this helps you out and good luck.
someone please tell me how to make make a deer hide flexible and please explane it i have 2 hides in the freezer and dont know how to tan them
Any of the wet-tan chemicals from taxidermy suppliers will work for deer - but if you don't know anything about it I would seriously recommend getting a book or two. You can home-tan deer (IMO the tan that makes the softest hides is chrome tan, but you will have a greenish blue leather on the back) but when you break the hide (unless you have a tumbler) by hand you'll build some serious muscle (or worse yet come down with carpal tunnel syndrome, which I have so bad I can barely break a squirrel hide now...).
Best thing to do would be to get a book to explain all about prepping the hides, fleshing, pickle, tans, oiling, etc. It's too much to explain here. BTW I don't there IS a simple way (unless you send them to a tannery)! There are brush-on tans but since deer skins are thick (unless you flesh them real thin) I'd be dubious of the penetrating power of such tans. The brush-ons work great for squirrel, BTW.