Drying Squirrel tail

[Warm Water Fly Fisher]

i have a tail in the freezer and was wondering if their is a quick way to dry it? its been rainy cloudy and foggy for a while now and this week is gonna be about the same so i can't dry it in the sun. I refuse to put it in the microwave like i did to kill some bugs, because it made an indescribable odor that filled the house. And i can't leave it in the shed or garage because we have a bunch of mice and i had one tail in their that they started to eat and rip apart to make nests. Can anyone help?

Thanks
WWFF

[ducksterman]

Mice aren't the only critters...don't do what I did...laid a couple on the patio chair after I washed out some blood..forgot and left them out overnight and not only did I lose the tails but the coon, skunk, possum or whatever it was tore the chair cushion climbing up.

Anyway drying squirrel tails isn't a big deal...they hardly need any....just lay them some where in the house...like utility room .

[Warm Water Fly Fisher]

hmm duck we don't have a utility room

[ducksterman]

I was wondering ...but anyway I wouldn't hesitate to put them anywhere in the house as long as it didn't tick my wife off.... window sill whatever....I cut my tails off just a little way from the butt so there's almost nothing to dry....I wouldn't put them immediately in an air tight container so I do wait awhile.

[dixieangler]

I would dry them out soon if I were you. I didn't get some dried out soon enough and the hair fell out of the tails. Ruined. Needless to say I was upset. I would dry the tails before putting them in any air-tight container. I would get some clothes pins and hang them up high somewhere inside.

[Warm Water Fly Fisher]

what caused them to do that? anybody know?

[dixieangler]

Yes. The skin didn't tighten like it does when they dry so the hair fell out. That would be my guess.

[ducksterman]

I had that happen some time ago to some I'd had for some time and I thought it was some critters that got in from a duck skin I had brought into the area...not my tying area...
Are you sure about your cause ,Robert?

[ducksterman]

We're over lapping here

[dixieangler]

Pretty sure, Phil. Both times I had that happen to me, the skin had not dried on the tails. Never had a problem with that after the tails were dry.