Just thought I'd pass along a little information. Sometimes when you are used to doing something you think that everybody knows how to do it too. Well, I had a guy bring a rattlesnake to me to mount flat out on a board. They make a pretty display and you can put them on a board with just a little felt showing about 1/2 to 3/4 inch around the outline of the skin and it looks pretty nice in red or green or gold, whatever, and then put it all on a nice varnished pine board or on a piece of rough cut cypress with the edges beveled...looks sharp. Well, anyway, I took out this snake to do it this morning and this thing was so tore up, it is not mountable. I feel bad for this guy. He has seen a couple of snakes on my office wall and really wanted one...so I need to tell him what to do next time he gets the opportunity. First...be dxmned careful of the snake...This guy drives an 18 wheeler and was chasing this snake all over I-95 and picked it up alive to kill it nicely over on the side of the highway. Unfortunately, after all that, he tears it up past saving and I know he's going to be disappointed. So here is what he could have done...After you kill the snake, if you want to make a nice mount on a board, just use a knife or scissors and make a nice smooth cut from one end to the other just through the skin, and stay right in the middle of the belly, like when you use a gut hook on a deer...try not to cut into the meat. Then just grab the meat and pull it away from the skin...99 percent of it will come clean as a whistle. I should say right now...be careful...again...and either cut the head off first or be real careful because a rattlesnake doesn't have to be alive to kill you. If you poke those fangs into your hand you are going to be in bad shape even if he is dead. Ok...so now you have the meat out and the skin is pretty clean....you may need to cut a little bit of bone out down by the rattles, just be careful and dont cut the rattles off. Wrap it in a plastic bag and freeze it....keeps a pretty good while like this. When you get home, thaw it out, and using thumb tacks, tack him down with the pretty side down on a board...dont over stretch it, but spread him out so he looks good and put the thumbtacks nice and even and not too many, just where they need to hold him good about every two to three inches because these are going to leave holes and they will be the same holes you will use to put him on the finished board later with nice brass or antiqued thumb tacks. Ok...so now that he is spread out on the board, you can use plain old borax powder and cover every inch of him and keep doing it until you soak all the blood and liquid whatever until he stays nice and dry and leave him there for a couple of weeks until he dries good...do it under a covered patio or garage out of the weather, but not in the house....there might be a little odor at first but it goes away. Once he is dried...carefully undo the tacks and pick him up and gently shake and wipe off the borax....Then all you have to do is cut out a nice board like 1X12 pine and stain and varnish or cedar or whatever and tack him back up on it and hang on the wall....the felt is optional. These make a real pretty mount for almost nothing and don't forget that rattlesnake meat is pretty tasty when fresh and splash fried kinda like gator, just not as chewy, but once again, be careful of these guys...they are faster and can strike further than most people think.
Good hunting,
Dave
Good stuff, Dave! Is there a way to preserve the head and keep it attached to the hide, then mount it with the fangs bared?
I used to do them the same way, Dave. Until I learned a different method years back from a magazine article that actually preserves the skin to where it is soft and pliable as opposed to stiff. Plus my method keeps the color better. I will find the magazine article and post it later
For sure you can use lots of stuff, but for a good inexpensive job the borax works fine and as long as they are inside, the color should be pretty good too. I personally use a dry preserve for taxidermists that works very well,,,,and costs more....but would like to hear other methods....
Good stuff, Dave! Is there a way to preserve the head and keep it attached to the hide, then mount it with the fangs bared?
Absolutely, but a whole nother matter skinning out the head, removing (carefully) the fangs, cleaning the fangs, using a head and mouth insert and reattaching the fangs. For this you would probably also mount the whole snake, not just flattened on a board....much more involved and for that the skin would need to be tanned, not just preserved....etc. etc...but to answer the question....yes...just a little more time, work, expense...
What I want to do some time when I get a real nice one for myself is mount the whole thing draped as if alive and semi-coiled over a set of antlers on a wall plaque....makes an awesome looking combination.
