Turning small mammal ears
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Turning small animal ears is the hardest thing
to do when you start - it is really pretty easy
when you have the right tools and use the right
techniques - the animal we are working with is
a coyote - i have used this method on
everything down to a skunk
The most important thing to do is leave the ear attached to the
skull for as long as possible - the skull acts as a third hand and
gives you something substantial to tug against - when you are
inverting ears DO NOT use a scalpel - use a knife that is
forgiving - work on one ear and go to the other side and go
back and forth
Cut the ear base off where it joins
skull
go slowly and invert the ear on
skull as far as possible - this is
about as far as I can normally go
here's another shoshot from the
side
Cut it off flush with skull
I got this mandrel idea from
another taxidermist - i went to
wal-mart and bought a baseball bat
and took it to a woodworking shop
and had them turn it down on a
lathe
here is tip - small enuf for marten
and large enuf for buffalo - I use a
regular ear turner for big animals
and then touch it up here after
tanning
here is how far we got it inverted
on skull - i have marked it - left
mark
here it is without mark - enlarge
picture and it is very clear where
skin where connecting tissue is -
no scalpels here
put reverse tension - wooden
mandrel give you resistance to
push against
where connective tissue shows
(white membrane) touch knife
blade there and it will turn inside
out easilly
done - this is not completely turned yet - this is where i stop
and throw in tanning agent - come back after tanning and the
rest of it will turn slicker than our former president - if you
are using dp go ahead and finish it up - as you get closer to
the tip slow way down and completely invert it - i have tried
any number of ways to turn the ears and this is by far the
fastest.... and truly the easiest
