A king snake was the very first animal that I ever
skinned. It was the one that started it all; the one
that got me interested in taxidermy!
I found it hit in the road outside out
house, and it's skin was so beautiful that I didn't want
to throw it away. So I decided to see if I could skin
it! My mom was doubtful, but I was determined. It turned
out pretty well, and I was real proud of it.
To date I have skinned three snakes. Here
are my three snake skins... King snake (top), black rat
snake (middle), and copperhead (bottom): |
I tanned the copperhead with Rittel's "Reptile
Tan", so it is very soft and supple. My neighbor
found it in his yard, killed it, and gave it to me. I
have since made it into a very attractive belt.
I found the blacksnake (and a very large
one it is!) in our back yard, literally attacking our
dogs. It was too worked up and aggressive to attempt
catching and releasing, so I had to kill it. |
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I have kept the heads of all of the snakes in jars of alcohol |
This
is a photo of my copperhead skin while it was tanning |
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