ow flies. Specimens are often sent to the taxidermists
in apparent good order and when received are entirely ruined by fly
maggots; the eggs being deposited before packing and shipping.

CHAPTER VI.

SKINNING AND PRESERVING SKINS.

With a suitable specimen at hand it is for us to decide if we shall
mount it or preserve it as a skin temporarily or indefinitely. To
illustrate we will presume that we have a muskrat just from the trap
which is to be mounted at once.

Before skinning it is best to get some measurements to guide us in the
later work. In this case where the skin is to be mounted immediately a
simple outline is sufficient, as we will have the body in the flesh and
all the leg bones, etc., to guide us in rebuilding the creature.

To get such outline, lay the animal on its side on a piece of blank
paper, put the feet and legs in some natural position, fasten them in
place with a few pins and mark around the entire animal with a pencil.
The eye, hip and shoulder joints, and base of skull may be indicated on
this outline sheet. Our muskrat is a trapped and drowned one so we will
not have to replace the shot hole plugs with fresh ones, as would be
best if it had been killed with the gun. Also it has been dead long
enough for the rigor mortis to prevent the free flow of blood and body
juices which bother the operator if it has been killed but an hour or
less.

[Illustration: OUTLINE OF MUSKRAT. HIP AND SHOULDER JOINTS MARKED]

Laying the animal on its back, make the opening cut by pushing the knife
point through the skin at the juncture of neck and chest. Run the blade
down between skin and flesh, separating the skin in a long clean cut to
the root of the tail. Open the tail also along the under side from the
tip to within an inch or so of its base. Slit open the sole of each foot
from the middle toe to the heel and further if necessary so the leg skin
may be turned down over the foot.

Beginning at this central cut, skin back each side until the shoulder
and hip joints are encountered. Bending the limb will show the exact
joint where the muscles are cut apart and the legs severed from the
body. Cut off the tail near its base, leaving it in the skin for the
present. Loosen the skin from back and shoulders and turn it wrong side
out over the head. Skin down until the ears are reached, cutting them
off close down to the head and continue on to the eyes. Work carefully
around these and cut close to the