I have a old roommate now living in another state that is getting ready to slaughter 4 pigs this year sometime after Thanksgiving. He knows I a big collector and user of all types of fur and feather and he has asked me if there is any of the skin or fur I want off the pigs. I remember seeing in Eric Leiser's book Fly Tying Material that the belly fur is useful for fly tying but I do not remember him saying any where in the book for what. Keep in mind these are just your standard farm pink little pigs and not wild boars.
Funny thing is since I have not really looked at a pig since I was young and I was not into fly fishing back then I really was not sure if any of the fur would be useful and what the use might be. I wonder if any one get enlighten me on uses from the pig for fly tying. To be fair I do have a small piece of wild boar bristles in my stash that is fairly long and black that make good antenna and legs but when I showed him a piece when he was in town from another state he stated his pigs did not have any fur that long or like that.
So was Eric right and I should have him send me some of the belly fur? Will I need him to keep it on the skin like wild boar bristles or is the fur more of a dubbing material and it can just be shaved off?
If left on the skin can I cure it like I would deer or elk?
I would like some idea of what to tell my buddy on if I can make use of this free material? Can any one of you help me out?