Deep within the recesses of rural Tennessee, where plumbing, heat, and electricity are obsolete, I have been spending a substantial amount of time with a young couple I met on the road. At a glance their property seems abandoned. A tornado hit the land in late February, leaving the earth surrounding their one-room shack brutally uprooted, tangled, and devoured by gnarled brambles. However my friends do more than just survive in the backwoods. They brew their own beer, build new structures, and are self-taught taxidermists. Most of their skills derive from a library left behind by previous residents, and are applied to naturally available materials.

For preserving hides, a white PVC pipe is secured around a log and used as a fleshing station. Here the hide lays interior side up to be scraped clean. There is a cable wire nailed to a nearby tree, which is meant for rubbing against the hide for softening. Like I was told in North Carolina, the hide needs to be worked until it’s completely dry. Brains are a popular option for tanning. I saw a few finished examples, including a muskrat pelt.