Buzztail Alert
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Bull81 now me last night right at dark. I just finished peeling some shrimp for the grill and flipped the flood lights on in the front of my shop for a little extra light. My wife was sitting at our happy hour table outside oblivious to the world (messing with her phone checking work e-mails) and I walked in the shop to retrieve my beer and boom, there it was. Slithered up on the slab about fifteen feet from us. I said hey, look at that %@#^$&^%*(&^# rattlesnake! It was in the high eighties yesterday down here on the coast and we have a front coming sometime today so I guess they are moving. The barometer is falling like a rock too, maybe that's natures trigger mechanism to make snakes move. It's already pushing eighty this morning but the weatherman promises a temperature drop. My wife said well I guess I will go watch The Wheel, bye. One lick from a hoe sent this thing to snake heaven.
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That's a sizable buzz worm.
His head appears to be in the correct configuration. :)
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You gonna skin it?
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@norcal_in_az
It's in the freezer, my wife wasn't too keen on that. Kind of looks like a big link of sausage. I had a coral snake hide tanned last year but I might donate this one to a taxidermy shop down here. I still haven't done anything with the coral snake.
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Rattlesnake hide is really easy to tan. Start by splitting the belly scales down to the cloaca. Go around both sides of the cloaca with a really sharp knife then continue to the base of the rattle. If you want the rattle to stay attached, cut away as much of the tail meat as possible, otherwise just cut around the base of the rattleto free the hide. The preservation step is done by covering the flesh side with 40 Mule Team Borax laundry powder until all the moisture is removed. For a wall hanging use stapler brads to attach the hide to a scrap board with the flesh side up and the pattern straight. If you’re making a belt you can just roll the hide with the borax inside. When you’re ready to finish, dust off the borax and wipe with wet sponge, brush the flesh side with neatsfoot oil while it is flexible. There is a layer of skin over the scales that has to be removed by rubbing with a damp sponge an fingers. Finish the descaled side with several coats of NeatLac.
You get your length and pattern width set when you stretch the raw hide so don’t overdo it if you’re making a belt. 1.5” is about max if you’re making a 2” belt because you will need allowance for edge lacing.
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He’s a good snake now! Glad you and your wife didn’t get bit
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@rr2241tx thanks for the tanning tips
