A Chipmunk Rug

S

Sgt.Fathead

Moderator
Oh, boy, here we go...I have been shooting a lot of chipmunks in the yard with my air rifle lately, as the little critters are tunneling into my half-hand dug Yankee basement for some reason. The winter was icy and cold but damn if there aren't more this year than last. My norm is to toss the dead to the end of the road and the crows come for 'em. I'm fair sure someone will slam me for this.

Anyway, a good friend and non-hunter (bear in mind that I am new to hunting animals, just last deer season here in NJ, and I consider this chipmunk business to be varmint elimination) found out about this sniping from my wife and has asked me to make him...a chipmunk rug. No kidding.

I imagine I'd just skin it out almost like a really, really small deer (he does not want the head ala a Grizzle or polar bear, thank God), scrape it good with a bit of glass or a razor, salt it and such and pin it out? No idea. Help! Anyone ever make a chipmunk rug?
 
I have done it the old fashioned way with rabbits. The skin of small varmits is very thin so its pretty difficult to get a good finished product. Mine all turned out dried and crispy but the fur looked good. You can scape it with a knife and then soak it in turpinitine for a few days. Its a natural solvent. then dry it and work/rub cornmeal into it. That brings out the gloss of the furr. There are some pretty good instructions online to tan hide the old native american ways. You could try those as well.
 
Well I have made squirrel skin...I guess I will call them recoil pads. Ideally you want to just pull the skin off, not really cutting it at all, takes effort. And one of the better ways to tan a hide, at least that I know is to use deer brains. I suppose any type of brain works, you basically make deer brain stew with hot water and wash the hide in it.

I will see if I can’t find you a link for the whole process in more detail.
 
Not to be the safety natzi here but I'd be cautious around any ungulate (deer, sheep, cows etc.) brains, due Mad cow disease and it's derivatives... I'm not saying don't try it, just use care, wear gloves and preferably use vesseles that you do not use for food processing of any sort...

You don't want to end up as an intresting NIH case report...
 
there is also tulmeria (sp?) found in rabbits and a disease that hangs out in the brain of squirrels. either way you should be wearing gloves, just use your head and i'm sure you'll be fine.

I'm sure if you search for 'tanning hide brains' on a search engine plenty of info will pop up.
 
It could be done, but it sure seems like a lot of work skinning, tanning, & sewing a LOT of munks to make a rug. I'd imagine that the same rules of tanning that apply to any animal apply to munk skin. So just do a search for "tanning hides" to find the procedure. It's not particularly easy - lotta meticulous work involved in my understanding.

But, it would go nicely with a Costanza Russian rat-hair hat. ;)
 
So, how big a rug are you looking at? Don't forget the photo documentation that is necessary with a project like this. :p

bob
 
One Little Rug

The whole idea here is not many chippers sewn together but one little tiny chipper made into a doll house sized throw rug ala the lion or bear that always seemed to come alive in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. I made a real mess with the first even without using brains! That skin is thin is right. Luckily for me, plenty of the little bastards trotting about here. Thanks for all the input and I will surely photo document the project for all! Still don't know how to post pics here but that's one I'll find (thread I mean).
 
One little rug. The whole idea here is not many chippers sewn together
Click to expand...


LMAO - OK, sorry, I misunderstood - omg, belly laugh, tears are running hee hee. Ok then, that makes a little more sense for Barbi's Malibu beach house. :)

I am crappin you negatory, I'm laughing harder than I have in years at our little misunderstanding here. I have to thank you for this catharsis. :D

Lemme just say that, about deer hunting - keep trying and you will get one. The first year I hunted deer, I got NONE despite hunting 10 of 11 straight weekends and trying like hell. Some places are much MUCH harder to hunt than others. I have been on leases where the hunting is tough going - it's thick woods and the deer are damn near impossible to pattern because there's food everywhere (acorns) and no crops. And I have hunted wide open areas (plains with only small patches of woods) where it is 100 times as easy - you just go out and pick out a deer when one appears - it's not a matter of IF, but just a matter of which deer you want, how long you want to wait for a good one, and can you make the shot. So if you don't get a deer this coming year on the same lands, then the third year find a GOOD lease that you get on or have someone take you, and you'll probably be surprised how ridiculously easy it is when the spaces are wide open and the deer plentiful.

Here's links on tanning:

http://www.manataka.org/page27.html

http://www.heggeseth.com/tanning.asp

http://www.nativetech.org/tanning/tanning.html

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=221720

http://www.grannysstore.com/Wilderness_Survival/tanning.htm
 
Barbie is a Huntress

First Freedom, I thank you for the links and the advice on the hunt. I'm also pleased you so enjoyed the thought of Chip and/or Dale on the floor at Barbie's pad. We all know, Ken is none to manly and Barbie is more than likely shacking up with one of the guys on the G.I. Joe team, probably the silent Ninja type or the Marine, Gung Ho.

I will surely triple my bet this year with NY Rifle season up at my kid brother's place in Paradox, NY, NJ Shotgun on state land and also back on my pal Ed's land, with more days/mornings/afternoons and weekends spent afield. I'm sold on the hunt and the meat it provides. Free range, indeed!
 
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