I just stepped out for a walk and came back with a big grey squirrel, thick winter coat, no cape damage. It's in the freezer, all i need now is the form, and tools.

If anybody has anything ( Forms, tools etc.) That they would want to get rid of (sell, or free) let me know. I'm ready to attempt my first taxidermy....

BTW, dad doesn't know theres a squirrel in the freezer yet :)

How do you intend to keep it hidden?

A trick to hide things in the freezer is to use camo. Camouflage it to look like something else. When I was a kid my mom could never keep a supply of cookies on hand because my siblings and I would always find them. Eventually she started wrapping them in brown paper and marking the outside "roast beef" or something like that that we wouldn't open.

In your case you could try hollowing out a loaf of bread and hiding it in there.
Who would suspect it to be anything else.
Be sure to mark it carefully for future identification. If it is found blame the bakery.

ah secrets out, he came up from downstairs and asked me, " Travis, whats in the trashbag" I said.... a squirrel.

He said " Don't let ur mother find out" So, im good, she wont go down there..... its too manly for her

Ah ha! I knew it was you on taxidermy.net


haha well you and I are in the same boat...MN_Whitetail got me a Very large female squirrel to practice on. Ive never done a squirrel mount, so its gunna be another first for me.



...by the way...exacto knives can work well for skinning. Just be careful not to poke through the hide with that sharp point.
van dykes offers a squirrel mounting kit if you like.
but thats not the only way to go.
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/8...g-kit-climbing-

Mine is a very very large female squirrel also, im beginning to wonder if it will fit on a form, or if I am going to have to use clay to build it up.....


Squirrels don't seem too hard, depending on how you skin it, it seems like a fairly easy proccess, the only thing i dont get is do u use the skull, or skin the head out some how.


Good luck with your squirrel.... After i complete my first, i am going to do a squirrel through the wall mount, with the head on on side and the tail and butt on the other, by just sawing a form in two halves hahahaha.

Personally I would use a form. And trust me, you will be able to find a form that fits the measurements. If anything you can alter the form a tad...or add clay like you said.

... I case skinned my squirrel to hide the stich better. If you want to wrap your own body and use the original skull, clean EVERYTHING off the skull, eyes, brain, muscle. the only thing you leave attached is the lips....and fill the brain cavity with clay or apoxie sculpt. If you wrap the body pay close attention to anatomy.

good luck and post pictures when your done.

How did you skin the feet out? I tried yesterday on a practice squirrel and messed up the feet.

....and he said it seemed easy.

Give me a form and squirrel cape, needle and thread and ill make it look like the best.....

Mutant alien you have ever seen :)

haha :)....well since squirrels have such tiny fingers I like to cut the bones right where the fingers start to split. On larger animals such as coyotes, I skin all the way down to the last toe bone (where the nail grows from).
No worries if you mess up. I actually made a pretty good cut on one of the hands too. I just plan on using thin fishing line and sewing it up before I mount her.
Just go SLOW and be careful.
I make plenty of mistakes on all of my hides but you need to figure out how to fix them. Like someone once told me...you will get nowhere if you toss out a hide every time you mess up.

Thanks shed. So leave the toes in just cut them off... that makes it easier :)

here she is. Drying. needs more grooming too.

That was quick,

I havent even bought the form or nuthin or mine yet and yours is already skinned tanned, and mounted i need to speed things up huh haha.

Looks good shed!

well, I had the squirrel form from last year that I never used. and I was already tanning a fox at the time, so I Just threw the squirrel hide in witht he fox. Friday I froze the fox, and mounted the tree rat.

haha, I'm gettting stuff together as well...

Gotta get a squirrel kit, and I got a WDR ( western diamondback) on the way. Also gotta get some tanning solution.... aaahhh.

I was just wondering about the eyes, did those come with a kit?

They look kinda odd for a squirrel haha.....




I can't critique when i haven't mounted a squirrel yet, but its just something that stood out to me...

Great job again shed, maybe you outta do this and start taking in customers animals... you got a knack for it.

Yeah I never was a fan of those eyes. And yes, they came witht he kit, so I just figured id use them up. If I would do it over again id use a hollow black bubble eye for sure.

a diamond back eh? Let me know how working with reptiles are.
All I know is they require a different type of tan, and alot more painting once they are done. should be neat though :)

I'll post the proccess, from my research i have read that they require little to no finish work, and the only painting is if you do a artificial head?

I don't know about anything yet. We'll see how it all works out. Taxidermy.net is very helpful too.

I just wish they would actually tell you how to do something instead of referring you to a post that has a LITTLE bit about what u are tryin to do, haha.

heres an eye for ya

and here the fox sq my bro in law did for us last year

thanks theeler, great lookin mounts u got there.

fox squirrels are neat looking. Maybe I just think that because I dont see them in MN.