About the time I got done washing the breakfast dishes yesterday morning, just as I was setting up to pour my tea and turn on my computer, Mama comes in and demands if my rifle is loaded. It wasn't, but as she explained that there was something in the chickens, I was collecting ammo. Whatever it was had killed one of the birds.
I was right behind her on the way out the door when Daddy came busting by to go snatch up his pistol. Before I was completely loaded and cocked (I had a few extra cartridges in my apron pocket), Daddy was back and passing us.
He went in and I stood guard, ready to shoot whatever it was if he flushed it through the fencing. We didn't see it at that point, though I did see the grass waving in the next paddock as if a creature was walking along in the high grass.
Daddy set to work chopping down the tall stuff with his bowie knife while I dressed out the dead bird. Her neck was cleanly broken right at the base of the head...but no blood.
On my way back to the house with the bird, I turned and glancing over my shoulder I looked straight into a face with little beady eyes--that actually reminded me of Runty when she thinks she's in trouble. I said, barely above a whisper, "Daddy! There he is!"
Well, the critter slipped back into the paddock Daddy was in and Daddy took to semi-blind shooting into the grass and sent me after a pitchfork. Suffice to say, the "creature" got the short end of the stick:
I was right behind her on the way out the door when Daddy came busting by to go snatch up his pistol. Before I was completely loaded and cocked (I had a few extra cartridges in my apron pocket), Daddy was back and passing us.
He went in and I stood guard, ready to shoot whatever it was if he flushed it through the fencing. We didn't see it at that point, though I did see the grass waving in the next paddock as if a creature was walking along in the high grass.
Daddy set to work chopping down the tall stuff with his bowie knife while I dressed out the dead bird. Her neck was cleanly broken right at the base of the head...but no blood.
On my way back to the house with the bird, I turned and glancing over my shoulder I looked straight into a face with little beady eyes--that actually reminded me of Runty when she thinks she's in trouble. I said, barely above a whisper, "Daddy! There he is!"
Well, the critter slipped back into the paddock Daddy was in and Daddy took to semi-blind shooting into the grass and sent me after a pitchfork. Suffice to say, the "creature" got the short end of the stick:
Turns out, it was a mink...and one of the first things Mama said to me was, "I'll let you tan this one." (You may recall the raccoon hide adventure...I think she was rather incredulous about that one.)
So...in short order Daddy and I skinned it out. I ended up with a blood splatter on my left leg from when the hide slipped off the head and the carcass (which I was clinging too) necessarily jerked rather violently. I went right to work scraping with the bronze scrapers Daddy has. They work much better than just a pocket knife and the thumb and first finger...
So...in short order Daddy and I skinned it out. I ended up with a blood splatter on my left leg from when the hide slipped off the head and the carcass (which I was clinging too) necessarily jerked rather violently. I went right to work scraping with the bronze scrapers Daddy has. They work much better than just a pocket knife and the thumb and first finger...
Making faces at each other...
I didn't get completely done with the scraping before lunch, so I tossed it in a bucket and after washing it later on I went back to scraping. I still didn't do a perfect job, partly because I was really beginning to feel awful.
Because we haven't any tanning solution in stock, nor enough salt, I rolled him up and stuck the hide in the freezer until we do. You'll find out about that and the finished look once it happens. :)
While he has a few pitchfork and bullet holes in him, they aren't overly noticeable, so mayhap he'll end up being a collar. :) I would kind of like to know how to save the heads like the ones you see in the old mink stoles. Perhaps next time--if there is a next time.
Because we haven't any tanning solution in stock, nor enough salt, I rolled him up and stuck the hide in the freezer until we do. You'll find out about that and the finished look once it happens. :)
While he has a few pitchfork and bullet holes in him, they aren't overly noticeable, so mayhap he'll end up being a collar. :) I would kind of like to know how to save the heads like the ones you see in the old mink stoles. Perhaps next time--if there is a next time.
May be nuts...but this kind of work is interesting to me despite it's tedium...and the smell. (Actually he smelt quite mild in comparison to "Rascal"--the coon, y'all.)
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