<div dir="ltr">Hi Beth,<div>We have many standard study skins of young bears. There is no need to tan the hides. Skin them as you would a squirrel or vole. Wash the skin with dish soap to remove grease, then towel dry. We use bamboo skewers or wooden dowels instead of wire, for large skins. Blow out the hair with lab compressed air to push any water out of it and to fluff it up. After pinning the skin, insert the compressed air into the mouth and a hind foot to push some air through the skin while it dries. We have done this with skins as large as adult lynx, coyotes, beaver, and wolf. </div><div><img src="cid:ii_l9oryfsh0" alt="IMG_0828.jpeg" width="562" height="310"><br></div><img src="cid:ii_l9oryme31" alt="IMG_0829.jpeg" width="562" height="322"><br><div>Good luck,</div><div>Aren</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Oct 25, 2022 at 12:40 PM Elizabeth Wommack <<a href="mailto:ewommack@uwyo.edu">ewommack@uwyo.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-8924915456369267623">
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Hello everyone,</div>
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The UWYMV has 4 young bear cubs (~30-50lbs) we will be prepping, and I'm a bit unsure on the best preservation method to use. </div>
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They are too large for our fluid collection, which is what I normally do for developing animals.</div>
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Typically for bears we preserve a pelt and partial skeleton. With something this young though, I wasn't sure how the tanning process may go. They are small enough that we could make rounds of them as well, but I've never seen a round of a bear that isn't a
taxidermy mount. We have space in our collection to take either type of prep.</div>
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Does anyone have any experience working with tanned hides of developing animals? Are there considerations we should make? </div>
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Does anyone have any examples of rounds of bear cubs they could share?</div>
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And of course, if anyone has any thoughts or ideas they would be greatly appreciated.</div>
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<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">Cheers,</span><br>
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Beth Wommack</div>
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<div style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;text-align:start">
Elizabeth Wommack, PhD<br>
Curator and Collections Manager of Vertebrates<br>
University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates
<div>Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center
<div>University of Wyoming,<br>
Laramie, WY 82071<br>
<a href="mailto:ewommack@berkeley.edu" target="_blank">ewommack@</a><a href="http://uwyo.edu/" target="_blank">uwyo.edu</a></div>
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</div></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Aren Gunderson<br>Mammal Collection Manager<div><a href="http://www.uaf.edu/museum" target="_blank">University of Alaska Museum of the North</a></div><div>1962 Yukon Drive</div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px">Fairbanks, AK 99775</span></div><div><a href="mailto:amgunderson@alaska.edu" target="_blank">amgunderson@alaska.edu</a><br>907-474-6947<br><span> </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>