Skinning
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Skinning is the act of
skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...
removal. The process is done by
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
s to
animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s, mainly as a means to prepare the
meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
beneath for
cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...
and
consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
, or to harvest the skin for making
fur clothing Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific i ...
or
tanning Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...
it to make
leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...
. The skin may also be used as a trophy or
taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...
, sold on the fur market, or, in the case of a declared pest, used as proof of kill to obtain a
bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...
from a government health, agricultural, or game agency. Two common methods of skinning are open skinning and case skinning. Typically, large animals are open skinned and smaller animals are case skinned. Skinning, when it is performed on live humans as a form of
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
,
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
or
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
, is referred to as ''
flaying Flaying, also known colloquially as skinning, is a method of slow and painful execution in which skin is removed from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact. Scope A dead animal may be flayed when pr ...
''.


Skinning methods

''Case skinning'' is a method where the skin is peeled from the animal like a sock. This method is usually used if the animal is going to be stretched out or put in dry storage. Many smaller animals are case skinned, leaving the skin mostly undamaged in the shape of a tube. Although the methods of case skinning individual animals vary slightly, the general steps remain the same. To case skin an animal, it is hung upside down by its feet. A cut is made in one foot, and continued up the leg, around the anus and down the other leg. From there the skin is pulled down the animal as though removing a sweater. ''Open skinning'' is a method where the skin is removed from the animal like a jacket. This method is generally used if the skin is going to be tanned immediately or frozen for storage. A skin removed by the open method can be used for wall hangings or rugs. Larger animals are often skinned using the open method. To open skin an animal, the body is placed on a flat surface. A cut is made from the anus to the lower lip, and up the legs of the animal. The skin is then opened and removed from the animal. The final step is to scrape the excess fat and flesh from the inside of the skin with a blunt stone or bone tool. ''Dorsal skinning'' is very similar to open skinning, however instead of making a cut up the stomach of the animal, the cut is made along the spine. This method of skinning is very popular among
taxidermists Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...
, as the backbone is easier to access and cleaner than the stomach and between the legs. A dorsal incision is made by laying the animal on its abdomen and making a single cut from the base of the tail to the shoulder region. The animal’s skin is easier to remove if the animal has been freshly killed. ''Cape skinning'' is the process of removing the shoulder, neck and head skin for the purpose of displaying the animal as a trophy.


Animal skins and Native Americans

Native Americans used skins for many purposes other than decoration, clothing and blankets. Animal skin was a staple in the Native Americans' daily lives. It was used to make tents, to build boats, to make bags, to create musical instruments such as drums, and to make
quiver A quiver is a container for holding arrows, bolts, ammo, projectiles, darts, or javelins. It can be carried on an archer's body, the bow, or the ground, depending on the type of shooting and the archer's personal preference. Quivers were trad ...
s. Since Native Americans were practiced in the means of acquiring and manipulating animal skin,
fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...
developed from contact between them and Europeans in the 16th century. Animal skin was a valuable currency which the Native Americans had in excess and would trade for things such as iron-based tools and tobacco which were common in the more developed European areas. Beaver hats became very popular towards the end of the 16th century, and skinning beavers was necessary to acquire their wool. In this time, the beaver skin drastically rose in demand and in value. However, the high number of beavers being harvested for their
pelts Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket ...
led to a depletion of beavers, and the industry had to slow down.


See also

* Animal trapping methods: Skinning animals *
Scalping Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the tak ...
*
Physically based rendering Physically based rendering (PBR) is a computer graphics approach that seeks to render images in a way that models the flow of light in the real world. Many PBR pipelines aim to achieve photorealism. Feasible and quick approximations of the b ...


Notes

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References

* Burch, Monte. ''The Ultimate Guide to Skinning and Tanning: A Complete Guide to Working With Pelts, Furs and Leathers''. Guilford: The Lyons Press, 2002. Print. * James E. Churchill. ''The Complete Book of Tanning Skins and Furs''. Mecanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 1983. Print. * Pritzer, Barry. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print. * Triplett, Todd. Big-Game Taxidermy: A Complete Guide to Deer, Antelope and Elk. United States of America: The Lyons Press, 2006. Print. Animals and humans Corporal punishments Capital punishment