When i kill a squirrel i want to keep the fur and tail together for display how do i do it so it doesnt rot?

Question

easy and simple i have no special tools but how i herd you put salt and thats all but how do you do it

Answer 1

You can "green tan" the hide with salt but it will be hard and stiff.  After skinning the animal scrape the flesh side untill all the flesh and fat is removed.  Rub salt into the hide and stretch and tack it to a board.  If you don't stretch it, it will shrink up as it dries.  Latter after the hide is dried it will stay preserved almost indefinatly.  You can send it to a taxidermist and have it properly tanned at a later date.  

Answer 2

you can use salt but the fur will become hard

Their is a way to naturally tan hides by using cow brains if available. Some natural tanning agents are available at stores.

Answer 3

Find a taxidermist in your area.  They can help preserve it better for you than you trying to do it yourself.

Answer 4

Scrape all the fat off first. Borax works better than salt. But pour whatever you use pour it all over it so it is about 1/4 inch deep. Stuff it down inside the tail so it doesn't rot off.

Answer 5

Scrape ALL flesh from the hide, and make sure you skin out the tail as well.  Instead of peeling the hide down over the tail bone, run a knife along the underside of it and split the entire tail lengthwise and remove the bone.

Stretch it out on an old scrap of wood and use small finishing nails to get it into the shape you like (hair side against the wood) then coat it liberally in a thick paste made from salt and water.

After about a week, scrape off the salt.  If you want to make the hide soft, you will have to work it...wad it up over and over again, pound it with a rock, a stick, rub it (skin side down) over the corner of a workbench, etc.  This will take hours and hours, but it will eventually soften.

If you just wish to display it, skip the softening part and tack it to a board or the wall with the hair side showing.  Good luck!