[jskeen]

I posted before I went on vacation about my first slingshot kill, and mentioned that I was going to have to figure out how to do something useful with the carcass, as it's just not pukka to bust some poor innocent critter in the noggin with a steel ball, and then just toss it in the tip. So, I went ahead and peeled it, and pinned the bark out to cure.

After I got back from vacation, I had to actually do something with it, and this is what I managed to come up with.

I laminated the cured snake skin onto some black garment weight leather I had salvaged from some homey's leather pimp coat I picked up for a few bucks at a hock shop.

I cut it into 3 tapered sections and stitched them into a rough cylinder, added a round bottom of some heavier leather I had laying about, and then added a top cuff of the plain black leather. A couple of holes, a bit of leather lace, a couple of hand turned beads from the lathe (ivory and gemsbok horn), and a lanyard knot later, It's ready to fill.

It's a bit smaller than I had originally planned, but heck, I didn't have a dedicated bb pouch anyway, so I guess it worked out after all.

What do you think? Backyard hazard to ammo storage, Does that count as recycling?

 

[Sean]

Fantastic, that is one really nice, original ammo bag, well done!

 

[lightgeoduck]

Man that's the nicest snake ballsack I have ever seen!

I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that!..... errrr wait... umm that didn't sound right

Great job James

LGD

 

[kingmurphy]

rolfl but its a lovley pouch,well done

Alexander .s. Howson

 

[akmslingshots]

brilliant James, good idea and good read

 

[Dayhiker]

Well it's a splendid job, James, but: Something in the back of my head keeps saying, "it's a good thing animals haven't figured out a way to make stuff out of humans yet."

 

[WILD BILL]

Very nice job. Did you cure the skin with anything?

Bill

 

[lightgeoduck]

Well it's a splendid job, James, but: Something in the back of my head keeps saying, "it's a good thing animals haven't figured out a way to make stuff out of humans yet."

The scary thing is in the past there were people that did that to humans

Of course nothing turned out as nice as James's pouch did

LGD

 

[Dayhiker]

... and if that snake ever had a need for an ammo pouch... just think of what he could find on James.

 

[Btoon84]

James that is wonderful! good job. that is A+ recycling right there!

 

[Jakerock]

Much respect to your craftsmanship, and to your ethics.

 

[capnjoe]

Oh yeah, the eco-crusaders would love your take on recycling...
I think its aces.

 

[jskeen]

Oh yeah, the eco-crusaders would love your take on recycling...
I think its aces.

Yes, unfortunately, the PETA crowd seem to have a bit of an issue with my definition. But, to paraphrase the Bard, "Rape'em if they can't take a joke"

 

[Sheila]

You killed a snake? Nooooooooo!!!!!!!

Very pretty though...copperhead?

 

[jskeen]

You killed a snake? Nooooooooo!!!!!!!

Very pretty though...copperhead?

Well. yes, in this situation, I did. Copperheads are common around here, and can get aggressive this time of year. It was in my yard and my kids run around there. I wouldn't have in other circumstances. I used to have a pair of royal pythons, and made a pretty serious try at breeding them, but even with the lights in their room computer controlled to simulate the right time of year, I couldn't get the temp control to jive just right. They are notoriously hard to convince to lay eggs anyway. I ended up having to give them to a high school bio dept when I moved, but I'm by no means an ophiophobe.
It did make a nice ammo pouch though.

James

 

[Sheila]

I figured it must've been something like that once I saw what type of snake skin it looked like in the pic.

 

[capnjoe]

PETA can go jump in the gator pond. The Bard was right, only some of them might like it.
In fact, I do believe William himself was slightly inclined toward an exploratory lifestyle.
"It takes all kinds." As my momma used to say.

 

[Setarip]

Dude that's awesome! You took him out with a steel ball, then you filled him with them....hehe.

 

[mckee]

That's awesome! Didn't think snake skin would be very tough

 

[jskeen]

That's awesome! Didn't think snake skin would be very tough

Actually, it's really not. That's why I glued it to the garment leather substrate to give it some strength and elasticity. Some larger snakeskins are fairly tough, but still, in life they rely on their scales and scutes for protection, which are like our fingernails, they don't stay attached to the skin. There are two basic way to preserve snake skins, the one I use involves a dry powdered preservative, which causes the scales to come loose (I usually remove them with compressed air) and dries the actual skin to a stiff, almost tissue paper consistency. the other involves glycerine and alcohol and leaves the skin a little more elastic, but never really dries out.