'Sentimental Rabbit Suicide' took approx 30 rabbits. They were sold as food on the Market and almost all of them I ate. There were a couple which I felt had been in the freezer too long so i gave the bodies to a friend who fed them to her dog. I don't hold with waste. I tend to do taxidermy work in the cellar (featured in 'The Reynard Diary' & 'Taxidermy Tea Party'), however, partly as this could be considered food preparation and partly as I had so many to do and the cellar is cold, I skinned for this project in the kitchen.
I always find the process of skinning fascinating, especially the reaction we have to death and its internal realities. I always skin from the belly out, across the back legs and tail then up to finish with the head.
Here I am reaching the end of the left foreleg.
Here I have taken the skin as far as i can down the foot and I am cutting the very bottom of the foot & toes with umbilical shears. On larger animals such badgers I use bolt croppers.
Rabbits don't have much flesh on the feet so they will preserve in the chemicals.
Rabbits don't have much flesh on the feet so they will preserve in the chemicals.
By this stage the skin is almost entirely inside out. Holding it in this manner retains tension and makes skinning easier however the ears and eyes can be tricky.
The very last past of the skin is cut away at the lower lip.
Rather than feeling removed from the process through exposure, I find the process very intimate. Small details such as grass in the mouths of the animals make you realise it was eating before momentarily looking up and being shot.
Rather than feeling removed from the process through exposure, I find the process very intimate. Small details such as grass in the mouths of the animals make you realise it was eating before momentarily looking up and being shot.
The fix chemical bath is called 'fix' and stops slippage - rot essentially. It is a mixture of alum, phenol & salt.
The rinsed skins go in the washing machine on a quick wash with biological powder to de-grease. They then go in another bath 'pickle' which contains a mixture of borax and salt.
After the second bath of a minimum of a week's duration the skins are washed again and then shaped to dry. I initially shaped them using sawdust but found it messy to use so progressed to wood wool.
I'm not very good at taxidermy and although i like the results I get I have gained a great deal of respect for those who can execute it with craft and accomplishment. Traditionally the corpses where copied using cotton bound with thread to create the shape of the muscles....
I'm not very good at taxidermy and although i like the results I get I have gained a great deal of respect for those who can execute it with craft and accomplishment. Traditionally the corpses where copied using cotton bound with thread to create the shape of the muscles....
nowadays it is more normal to buy a hard, expanded foam animal 'former' onto which the skin is sewn. This is much easier as a process but nevertheless requires great skill in finishing.
Here I am rather crudely using a toothbrush to remove the sawdust sticking to the fur.
Here I am rather crudely using a toothbrush to remove the sawdust sticking to the fur.
This hare is stuffed with wood wool...
...with wire added to shape.
Here is a domestic cat the was hit by a cat. Its skull was completely smashed meaning it most likely had a quick death.
It was interesting to find that it had a layer of fat across its back. There is never any surplus fat on a wild animal.
It was interesting to find that it had a layer of fat across its back. There is never any surplus fat on a wild animal.
I love and respect animals and don't generally approve of pet keeping. I certainly feel animals should have freedom to live a 'normal' life and that they should interact with their own kind.