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How to Dry Falcon Skin

Institutions such as museums, universities and bird observatories often find it useful to preserve the skins of birds for study purposes. To prevent the skin from rotting or attracting insects, it is very important to dry the skin properly. This is done using both chemical and mechanical methods, used in combination to remove every trace of flesh and to take all the moisture out of the skin. However, anyone wishing to keep the parts of any dead bird, including falcons, is required to hold a state wildlife collection license as well as a federal salvage permit.

Things You'll Need

Bird skin
Scissors
Scalpel
Borax
Fleshing wheel
Dishwashing detergent

Instructions

- 1
  Take the bird skin and turn it inside out through the incision you made when skinning the bird.
- 2
  Sprinkle Borax laundry detergent, which is often used to degrease and dry animal skins, onto the skin to make it easier to grip and cut with the scissors.
- 3
  Cut away the fat attached to the skin using the scissors, being careful not to cut through the skin itself. A scalpel can be a good tool to use here as well, as it can be used to scrape the fat off the skin instead of cutting it.
- 4
  Flesh the bird using the fleshing wheel once most of the fat has been removed. Hold the inside of the skin against the wire brush of the fleshing wheel as it spins, to scrape the rest of the flesh off.
- 5
  Rub Borax into the skin to remove any last small pieces of fat.

Animals & Science