Skins, and their treatment.
The hunter of the fur-clad denizens of the forest and the field, who, for the love of sport and the obtainment of trophies of the chase, penetrates to little-known regions; and the hardy and keen trapper—who, with pack, traps, kit, and rifle, steers his own course to the most remote and untrodden solitudes—each require a somewhat different mode by which to fit their spoils when gathered for transport to either the cities of Europe or the trading port of the professional peltry dealers. It would be a hopeless task to attempt giving all the processes had recourse to by both classes of hunters, as many of them are kept scrupulously secret by their discoverers. Indians, too, profess to know more of skin-dressing than they care to divulge. We will, therefore, content ourselves by communicating to the reader such modes of skin-dressing as we have either practised ourselves, picked up from experienced and travelled comrades, or gleaned from the reports and experiences of practical explorers and slayers of large and small game in wild countries.
The character of the climate in which the hunter may be pursuing his vocation will determine the necessity for the immediate removal of the skins of the animals killed from the carcases, or the postponement of the operation until camp is reached and every assistance at hand. In dealing with the larger carnivora of tropical climates, too much expedition cannot be used in the performance of skinning operations. On no account, when by any possibility it can be avoided, should a dead and unskinned animal be exposed to the action of either wet or the sun’s rays. Immediately on being found to be perfectly dead the animal should be conveyed to a cool shady situation, and the hide at once removed. The purpose for which the skin is ultimately intended will influence the method to be observed in removing it from the body. If to be preserved for stuffing, much greater care is required than is usually bestowed on hides merely intended for camp use, or sale to purchasers of roughly dried skins.
Great alertness and firmness are also required on the part of the European hunter who is engaged in tiger shooting in India to prevent the native hunters and camp followers from burning off the whiskers of the slain beast, and stealing the claws. The whisker singeing ceremony arises from superstition, and the greatest anxiety exists to possess tiger claws in order that they may be made use of as amulets. Keep, therefore, a very close watch on your tiger skins. When about to commence skinning a tiger, lion, leopard, or other of the large Felidæ, choose a level spot of ground, lay the animal on the flat of its back, with all four legs in the air. Prepare four stout sharp pointed stakes and drive them into the ground at about six feet from the animal, placing a stake opposite each leg in a parallelogram. Now, with some pieces of spare rope, grass cord, raw hide thongs, or twisted creepers, fasten each paw to the head of a stake, and stretch the legs well out. With your skinning knife—which should be short in the blade, half round-pointed, and very long handled—commence your cut between the two centre lower teeth and carry it directly backwards along the centre of the belly to the vent, taking great care not to penetrate the abdominal cavity. A line down each leg from the paw joint to the centre line should now be cut; the hind legs should be first skinned by peeling off the hide completely round beneath the paw joints, which should be divided and the stumps thus formed fastened to the stake ropes; the skin can now be stripped and turned down over the thighs; a cut along the under side of the tail will enable the operator to skin that cleanly out, when it can be cut off at the root; the two fore legs may now be treated in the same manner as the hind, making the bare stumps fast and skinning down to the shoulder joints, and up the front of the neck and throat. The animal may now be turned on its belly and each leg stump hauled tightly out to the bottom of each stake; the skin is now turned up over the back, and stripped up as far as the attachment of the ears; great care must now be exercised in separating their roots from the head without cutting the skin; divide carefully round the eyes, lips, and corners of the mouth, and the skin will be free.
There are two ways of stretching out skins for the purpose of first freeing them from every particle of fat and adhering matter. One is to lay them on the ground fur side downward, and then secure them by driving a number of sharp wooden pegs round the margins; the other is to cut one or two straight tough poles, lash their ends together, and make a hoop large enough to take in the skin, and allow of sufficient space to admit of its being tightly stretched out by being attached to the interior of the hoop by a rough system of lacing, as shown in the annexed illustration. A skin well secured in this way becomes as tense as a tambourine. The hoop can be set on its edge or inclined to facilitate the operation of fat trimming, which must be most strictly carried out, without cutting through the skin. A pair of strong broad pointed forceps much facilitate the operation. The point and edge of the skinning knife should be constantly touched up and renewed on a butcher’s steel or bit of Norway stone. On no account allow your native followers to attempt the treatment of your stretched skins, as they will most certainly ruin them by the caustic nature of the ingredients they employ. Many mixtures of substances suitable for skin preservation are recommended, and we possess a considerable number of them. The following, communicated to the Field by a correspondent signing himself “I. F.,” is a thoroughly good one, and easy of preparation in any part of India. After trimming off all fatty matter, &c., apply the following mixture: powdered alum, one part; powdered turmeric (the huldee of the natives), four parts; powdered kadukai nuts, eight parts; to be well mixed, and diluted with water until just fluid. The kadukai nuts are the fruit of a tree (Terminalia chebula) common all over India. Its vernacular names are, in Hindostanee “hurra;” in Tamil, “kadukai marum;” in Teloogoo, “karkai.” The dried nuts are commonly sold in the native bazaars. When no preparation for skin dressing is at hand, firewood ashes may with advantage be sprinkled over the skins. The American trappers make use of no preparation whatever, but merely expose the perfectly cleaned and trimmed skin to the action of the air. Traps, when set for animals, should be visited frequently, in order that the game taken may be perfectly fresh; tainted skins lose their hair, and become valueless for fur purposes. The smaller fur-bearing animals taken by the professional fur hunters of America, such as the fisher fox, raccoon, &c., are not skinned by being opened from end to end, but are treated in the following manner: incisions are made close to the hind paws; these are carried down to the borders of the vent; this is circled or cut round, and the tail opened and skinned out. An orifice will now exist large enough to admit of the skin being stripped from the animal, by turning it inside out, as the operation of skinning proceeds. Three modes are adopted for stretching skins so prepared: one is by what is called a board stretcher; this consists of three pieces of light tough wood, of the shape shown in the centre figure of the annexed illustration.
The two flat side pieces are first placed in the pouch or pocket, formed by reversing the surfaces of the skin; the centre stick is then passed down between the two sides, which are nicely rounded off at the edges and point by scraping with glass or a sharp knife. When properly fitted to the stretcher like a glove on a wooden cleaning hand, a tack or two or a few cuts in the edges of the board will serve to hold the skin fast until dry enough to pack away. A strong flexible rod may be made use of as a skin stretcher, as shown in the annexed cut.
