What to do with rabbit skin?

Factual Questions
1

So, yesterday I bought a (dead) rabbit for £4, gutted it, and skinned it. Now the meat’s in a pot and waiting to be cooked for dinner tonight. I gave the head to my ferret, who was absolutely thrilled and ran off to hide it in the back yard.

Is there anything I can do with the skin, apart from discarding it? I wouldn’t mind having a nice furry rabbit pelt to use as a doily or something. Do I have to treat it to prevent decomposition? Can I just put it in the oven on low heat to dry it out? Or is this project something that requires the services of a professional tanner?

2

Tanning rabbit skins at home is possible, but it’s a bit more complex than drying them out. There is what looks to be quite a comprehensive set of instructions here:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/1983-01-01/How-To-Tan-Rabbit-Hides.aspx

3

A dead rabbit is worth 4 quid? :eek: Bloody hell! If I knew that, I wouldn’t use the ones I shoot as dog food…

While we’re here, I don’t suppose anyone knows how to tan a fox skin, do they? It might be interesting to have a small foxskin mat or something.

My fiancee has told me that under no circumstances am I to attempt to make a foxskin hat. :smiley:

4

What to do with rabbit skin----why, wrap your baby Bunting in. :slight_smile:
*Bye, baby Bunting.
Daddy’s gone a hunting,
To get a little rabbit skin
To wrap his baby Bunting in. *

5

Careful, one more of those and you’ll turn into Dr Seuss.

Instructions for tanning fox skins are going to be pretty similar to the rabbit instructions linked above, I should think.

6

Should you decide to follow the excellent instruction given in Mangetout’s link,I suggest obtaining a cabinetmaker’s card scraper to be used in lieu of the knife during fleshing.
A card scraper is simply a rectangular piece of moderately tempered steel ~1mm thick which has a burred edge and lessens inadvertent nicking.

7

Or, you could use a kitchen scraper. They generally have a wooden or synthetic handle, and build the same way as the card scraper listed above.

Like this, for instance (just an example)
http://www.mjsales.info/servlet/the-12597/ScraperKitchen-Cutlery-cln-Victorinox40597/Detail

8

Hang it in your garden on a little cross, as a warning to all the other crop-eatin’ varmints out there! And that little blue coat and pair of shoes with it!

9

Make sure it’s an “X” cross, not a “t”, otherwise people will get some screwy impressions when easter rolls around.

10

Won’t that just make people get screwy impressions once 30 November rolls around?

11

What is 30 November? The referance dosn"t readily connect with us over here in the states.

12

You really mean it?

13

Australia needs to start exporting rabbit meat, canned, with noodles & veggies.

And a disingenuous name, of course.

14

Yes, I believe that this is a modern day version of what he is referring to.

15

You could make parchment from it - a friend has one of Oriane’s black/purple rabbitskin scrolls - too cool.

16

Oh, you need a fox hat just in case you ever visit Auchtermuchty

17

Saint Andrews Day, the national day of Scotland (Saint Andrew was killed by crucifixion on an X-shaped cross.)

18

And here I thought most people threw out baby bunting with the dirty diaper.

19

If you managed to get it tanned rabbit skins make excellent bicycle seat covers. Or you can make the skin into two tails and hang them from the same bicycle handles.

20

Is it rabbit season? I could have swore it was duck season…