HEDGEHOGS.
When it is wished to preserve Hedgehogs, rolled into a ball, which is a very common position with them in a state of nature, there should be less stuffing put into them than is usual with quadrupeds, so that they may the more easily bend. No wires are required in this case. The head and feet are drawn close together under the belly; then place the animal on its back in the middle of a large cloth, and tie the four ends firmly together; suspend it in the air till thoroughly dry, which finishes the operation.
If Hedgehogs are wished with the heads and limbs exposed, the usual method of mounting is adopted. The skins of Mice, Moles, etc., having a very offensive smell, it will be necessary to add a considerable portion of the tincture of musk to the solution of the corrosive sublimate with which the skins are imbued. The same applies to Badgers, Wolverenes, Polecats and Skunks, all of which are strong-smelling animals.
BEARS.
The structure of the wires requires to be different in these larger animals from any we have before described.
Procure a bar one inch thick, two inches broad, and as long as to reach horizontally from the shoulder to the connection of the thighs, or os pubis. A hole is bored four inches distant from one of its ends, from which a connecting groove must be formed, extending on both sides to the end of the plank next the hole; this groove must be cut out with a hollow chisel deep enough to receive the wire. The wire is then passed through it, one end of which is just long enough to be twisted with the other at the end of the plank. The wire on both sides is now pressed down into the grooves, and twisted firmly together by the aid of a pair of strong pincers. Pierce some holes obliquely into the groove and insert some wire nails into them, which must be firmly driven home, and then bent over the wire to keep them firm. The longest end of the wire should be at least eighteen inches beyond the bar, so as to pass through the skull of the animal.
The use of this bar, it will be observed, is a substitute for the central or supporting wires of the body. Two other holes are now bored into it, the one two, and the other three inches from the end which we first pierced; these are for the reception of the wires of the forelegs; and two similar holes must be made at the other extremity of the bar for receiving the wires of the hind legs.
Bears always support themselves on the full expansion of their dilated paws, so that it is necessary to bring the leg-wires out of the claws. The leg-wires are bent at right angles for a length of five inches from the upper end. These are put through the holes in the bar, and when they have passed through they are curved again. Two small gimlet-holes are then made for the reception of smaller wire, by which the leg-wires must be bound together close to the bar. The fore-leg wires are fixed in the same manner, which completes the frame-work.
No other means are used for middle-sized animals, such as the Lion, Tiger, Leopard, etc. The stuffing is completed as in other quadrupeds.