How to Skin a Squirrel

Skinning a squrrel is easy. Removing the hair is a little tougher.

Learn how to skin squirrels like a professional, once the squirrel hunt is over. The skinning is probably the easiest part of the process. Removing the hair will take a little extra time, but there is a secret to help you with this removal process.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic bag
• Cooler
• Ice
• Sharp knife
• Sticky-tape roller

Instructions

1. Keep your squirrel in a cold place until you are ready to begin the skinning process, such as sealed plastic bag on some ice in a cooler. Try to keep the squirrel as flat as possible.

2. Place the squirrel on a hard surface, belly down. Get behind the squirrel, placing your knee or foot on its back legs. Hold the tail up with one hand.

3. Take a sharp knife with the other hand. Cut upward from under the tailbone area, cutting through the skin until the tail is almost off. Keep a strip attached from the body to the top of the tail. Hold the tail up. Then take your knife underneath, pulling and cutting the tail up the back. This brings the tail and a strip up the back of the squirrel toward the head.

4. Insert the knife between the meat and the skin of the squirrel at the top part of the diamond shape of raw meat. Avoid the side tissue. Cut a couple of inches forward, moving the knife from side to side. Cut again on the other side of the diamond or square corner of the meat.

5. Lay knife aside. Hold the tail and piece of skin loosely, pulling up on the back legs. When you do this, part of the back and stomach begin to show under the skin. Next you can pull the front legs off the skin and cut at the joint of the squirrel's feet. Grasp the bit of skin left on the belly between your knife and thumb, and pull up. The front legs will be history.

6. Turn the squirrel over. Skin should be hanging on both ends. Remove the internal organs before cutting off the head and back feet. Once the organs and genitals are out, make a deep cut between the back legs. Pull the legs backward, breaking the pelvic area apart. Remove the anal intestine. Put your two fingers in the deep cut you made. Hold it up so the body cavity remains open. Cut from the belly to the rib cage with your knife. Pull out all vital organs. Cut off both back feet and the head, and you're done.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a sticky-tape roller to keep hair off the meat. Or, boil the meat in water.

• Another way to skin a squirrel is to make slits across the back.

• Do not begin by cutting the squirrel's tail completely off.

• Don't let hair get on the meat.