Rattlesnake skin preservation
jano
Paul Clark wrote:
> I have been given a dried but unmounted rattlesnake skin. Any advice
> on the best way to mount and preserve the skin?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Paul Clark
>
> "Out of touch with reality so you don't have to be."
>
> Tickhaven Farm
> Bald Knob, Kentucky
It has been a while since I have had anything to do with skins
but I knew a man that was a rattlesnake dealer of sorts. His recipe was
a fresh skin, 1 part alcohol,1 part glycerin, 1 part antifreeze. Soak the
skin for a few days in the solution and dry. I believe I have the
ingredients right but I am not for sure, but I am 98%. . Anyway you have
a start for a fresh skin, the dry one I do not know I would soak it in
glycerin for a start. Mart Texas
Paul Clark
wri...@reliable-net.net
Paul,
I have skinned hundreds of rattlesnake hides and sold thousands of
dollars worth of the products. I have my own method of skinning,
fleshing and preserving them. About a year ago I sold an article
about this subject to FUR-FISH-GAME. I still have it on disk and am
copying part of it below. I hope this helps.
Alan
When the hunt is successful there might not be time to skin
the snake. If not, just place it in the freezer. Carefully wrapped,
it can last for months to years. Be sure to wrap it well or the hide
will get freezer burn in places making the skin substandard.
When you have time to skin it out later, just fill a bucket
with warm water and let the snake soak for a while. Be careful! Do
not use scalding hot water! I ruined several skins one day when I was
in a hurry and dumped several frozen snakes into scalding hot water.
This caused the skin to blister and separate the various layers. I
wasn▓t happy.
Road kills are a dirty word to some people, but not to me.
With practice you can take a road kill and salvage a lot of skin. My
method is this: hold you nose and put the snake in a zip lock bag.
Place the bag in the freezer until solid. Thaw the snake just enough
to allow the skin to move over the body but still have the center
frozen. Skin the snake quickly and dispose of the carcass before the
stench comes back. Forget that macho hunting knife too. The easiest
way to skin a snake is with a pair of sharp scissors. A word of
caution, don▓t use your wife▓s sewing scissors! If you do, clean them
well and put them back before she notices they are gone. I didn▓t
follow my own advice and after I got out of the dog house I had to buy
my wife a new pair.
Skinning
After this point you must clean and flesh the skin. To do
this you will need several ordinary items.
Item No.1--A place outdoors where you have good water drainage. I use
an old picnic table on our patio.
Item No.2--A garden hose. I use a constant stream of water as I▓m
fleshing a skin. It helps hold the skin flat and washes away the meat
and fat as you work.
Item No.3--A brass pot and pan brush that has a bristle pattern
approx. two by two inches and has a handle about eight inches long.
If you don▓t have one this can be found at any department or grocery
store.
Item No.4--A board wider and longer than your snake. A pine board 1"
by 6" by 48" is usually big enough for most of the snakes I find.
Item No.5--Your scissors.
When you are ready to skin your snake gather the listed items. Lay
the snake on it▓s back. Using the scissors, cut down the center of
the belly. Near the tail you will encounter the anus. This is the
hardest part to deal with. I normally cut the tail off before the anus
and save only the rattles.
If you want to save the skin for a wall hanging then you must
carefully snip the anus muscles away to free the skin. Don▓t be
surprised if some snake feces comes out while you are doing this.
Don▓t worry. It washes off.
After negotiating the anus area, snip the rest of the way to
the rattle. Stop there and carefully peel the skin from the carcass.
Rattlesnakes are quite fatty and the skin peels off easily. If you
are skinning a nonpoisonous snake be prepared to do some pulling. I
have skinned out road kill gopher snakes and at times it takes
everything I can do to pull the tough skin off. On the other side of
the coin, I have attempted to skin several coral snakes. In most cases
the coral snake skin tore, no matter how careful I was.
Once you have the skin peeled away, it should be hanging by
the rattles. Using the scissors, snip the rattles away from the
carcass, leaving them intact with the skin.
At this point it is quite easy to gut the snake carcass and
save the meat if you so desire. I have a friend who loves to save the
meat and wait for company to come over for dinner. When he has an
unsuspecting guest he pulls the snake out of the freezer, plops it
into the frying pan and watches his guest▓s reaction.
Now we are ready to flesh the skin. Lay it out on the board
flesh side up. The flesh side (inside) will be whitish with blobs of
yellow fat and strands of pinkish meat. There might also be blood
stains from whatever killed the snake (tires, gunshot, club, baby
stroller┘a baby stroller can be an effective weapon when used
correctly. I found out one night when I found a large Diamondback
crossing the road and had nothing else to dispatch it with.)
Start the water hose running a little bit stronger than a
trickle. Using your off hand, hold the hose end at the end of the
snake, allowing the water to run over the skin and off the board. The
water will help the skin lay out properly. With the water running
start running the brush down the snake. As you brush, the fat and
meat will come free. Some will stick to the brush and make it rough
to continue. When this happens rap the brush handle on the edge of
the table, knocking the debris free.
As you scrub, the skin will turn very white and clean looking.
This is the desired effect. You want to remove all the fat, meat and
blood. Leaving them will allow the skin to turn rancid, stink and
affect the finished product. Give extra care along the edges of the
belly scales for leaving body tissue in that area will make the belly
scales curl up excessively.
Preserving
Once you have the skin clean, do any adjustments necessary to
allow the skin to lay flat on the board. At this point I allow the
skin to dry until it is almost like paper but still flexible like a
piece of cloth. This might take as little as an hour in the dry
weather we have out west or as long as a day in more humid climates.
Check it often to make sure it doesn▓t dry too slowly and starting to
rot. A hair dryer can help it along.
Once the skin is dry enough, make a solution of glycerin,
rubbing alcohol and water using equal parts of all three. Start out
with about two ounces of each, making six ounces total. That should
be more than enough for a snake skin. The glycerin and rubbing
alcohol can be found at any pharmacy.
Using a paint brush, apply the tanning solution to both sides
of the skin. Do this twice a day for two to three days and then place
the skin in a dry airy place. After several weeks the scales will
start to loosen. Help them along with a pink eraser or scrap of shoe
crepe. You want to remove the scales thoroughly or once you start to
use the skin, they will come off when you don▓t want them to, like in
front of a potential buyer of your products.
I want you to know that I don▓t use salt very often when
working with snake skins. I used to when I first started but I had
bad luck with salt leaching out of the skins every time it got damp.
I have used salt when I had no other way to quickly dry a skin but I
washed the skin very well before continuing the process.
Using the Skins
Now that the skin is done you can use it. Some people make
wall hangings by gluing the skin to a piece of felt. You can also
make wallets, purses, hatbands, belts, belt buckles, earrings...the
list is endless. Get a Tandy leather catalog and look through it.
They have everything you need, the quality is great and the people are
helpful. I make many different items and sell or trade them around at
different craft shops or trading posts.