Rabbit Butcher

Today was yet another learning experience here on the farm. I learned how to kill, skin and gut a rabbit, then cook the meat AND I'm in the process of tanning the hide with methods used by Native Americans.

 This is me holding the rabbit's head with Matt Hess the educational director here at the farm. Matt held the rabbit up by it's back legs then karate chopped the back of it's neck, killing it instantly. It was seriously cool. Then he guided me through the rest. The skin pulled off like a glove. Then we broke open the skull and collected the brains for the hide. We put the feet and tail on top of the green house to dry out. Anyone want a rabbit's foot key chain?

This is the rabbit brain we took out. The Native American way of tanning a hide is scraping the hide of all the fleshy parts as the first step. Then you boil the brains, put them in a blender with some warm water and blend. You take that solution and scrub it into the skin. Wait an hour and do it again. Then you roll it up and place some where cool but make sure it won't dry out. Then the next day you scrub the brain solution on it again and then smoke it over a fire and ta-da you have a nice animal hide without any use of chemicals.

I made a frame out of some 12 gage wire and slipped the rabbit hide over it. Then I spent a long time scrapping and scrapping. Right now, I've scrubbed the brain solution on twice and it's rolled up in a bag in my room for the night. We will see tomorrow how everything else goes.

I'm really excited I get to learn how to do this. This is what I love about this farm. You just say hey, I want to learn how to do this and some one says, ok, let's do it! They really want you to learn what you want to. It's awesome! I'll keep you all posted on how it turns out!