As of this morning, I can add another farm-life / survivalist achievement to my list. I skinned an animal I killed myself, saved the pelt, tacked it, scraped it, and Im salting it tomorrow. It was a big skunk, female, larger than the last two males. I got a clean kill in two shots (one initial, one for double-assurance). I apologized to the skunk before the first shot, because I very much did not want it to be this way, and I prayed my shot would be true and there would be no suffering. It wasnt as hard to do this, mentally, as I had thought. Physically, it was a little more difficult because you cant be rough with or rush your scraping; theres a lot of tediousness to the precision of getting the fat and flesh off the hide without slicing the hide or tearing it. Some parts may have been a little gross, but I looked at the whole thing clinically and admired the intricacy of the body I was working on. And, as I skinned it, I praised the way the skunks help balance the ecosystem, how beautiful their fur is, how useful their claws are in digging their burrows, and how fascinating the whole life thing is. Unfortunately, theres not a lot you can use from a skunk, but I took from it as much that could be feasibly useful. I was grateful for what I could get to use and the lesson I got to learn today from this animal. I may make a hat once I figure out how to get the stink out of the fur. Ive heard baking soda paste works well. (Thats what I used to get the smell off my knife, so... perhaps.) Skunk mohawk hat. Notes: I still smell skunk even after a shower and hours of doing other things. I may never be able to eat prosciutto again. Once skinning started, it wasnt too bad to keep going. This skunk had eaten eggs earlier. Skunk spray is green.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 04:34:22 +0000
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