Last night my boss brought me in two gallon bags of squirrel tails and a grouse skin that his brother was going to throw away. With that many tails I thought I would try dying some. I 'm not sure what colors will take readily on the hair which seems to mostly fox squirrels tails. Does anyone have any experience with this. I think I’ll try to use kool-ade. Also these tails are boned but not dried, just frozen. Should I dry them before dying ?
Jim
While I don’t have an answer for you, I have been eyeing this book with hopes of learning some tricks to use my own materials. It MIGHT have something in it to help you along.
http://www.amazon.com/Field-Fly-Tiers-SkinningPreserving/dp/1571882057
If you can find the book from one of our sponsors that would probably be better, but this is just a link to the title and a description.
Rick
rainbow:
I don’t THINK you need to dry the tails first since you’ll have to dry them after dying and the skin may actually end up softer if you don’t.
I have successfully dyed plain old grey squirrel tails with Rit fabric dye. Wash the tails thoroughly in a decreasing dishwashing detergent like Dawn first and into the dye bath after that. The dye should be hot but not boiling. Using an eyedropper full of acetic acid available from a photography shop or about an ounce of plain white vinegar will help set the color.
The amount of time you need to keep the tail in the bath will depend on the color desired but it will look a LOT darker when wet. What I do if I want to check my results is to quickly dry off a section with a hair dryer. If it is too light, back it goes into the dye. Rinse completely with plain cold water when you are satisfied with the results.
The results with grey squirrel were pretty good but of course with the natural color being a combo of black & grey; only the lightest hair shows any color.
BTW - Look for the book suggested by Normand or the “revised edition”.
Have fun!
Since you mention using Koolaid, this site will offer you a lot of useful information:
http://www.thepiper.com/fiberart/koolaid/
I can tell you that the results will be better if the material is clean and free of fat. So you may want to air dry it completely first. Then wash the tail, or just about any material for that matter, in a liquid dish detergent like Dawn. That will clean it and get out the residue natural oils. Shampoo and condition if you like to give it additional softness. After that you do not have to re-dry the material. With feathers you must be careful about the temperature of the dye (oh, it’s dyeing, not dying) bath. With hair the bath can be somewhat hotter. Also, dye the lighter colors first. This way if the result is too light you can repeat the process. If the results are too dark you can go to the next darker color you wanted. Since you have many tails you can cut one down and test dye a piece to see if the color you get is what you wanted. If yes, then proceed. If no, alter the color or the time in the bath.
Deezel
“Suggestions for dying squirrel tails needed”
In my opinion, you should wait until they’re all the way dead before you start using their tails.
I’m sorry. Carry on.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/tyingtips/part285.php
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/dyingmaterial/index.php
Hi Jim,
The advise above is very good. Just a couple of thoughts to reinforce the ideas above. I also use my wife’s blow drier to check the color as the dying progresses. You can’t tell the dried color from it’s appearence wet, it will appear much darker than it will be.
I have seen the advise to use vinigar to set the dye, but I would advise against that. Some of the time it may be fine, but I have seen it radically change to color of the dye. Some dyes are pH color sensitive, and those that are can be radically changed by the vinigar. If you want to use the vinigar, take a small amount of the mixed dye, put it in a small container, and then add a few drops of vinigar to check for color fastness.
The importance of getting the hair grease and oil free is extremely important. Use plenty of soap and hot water. Soak it quite a while if there is any concern that it is oily. After the soak, rinse out the soap well with hot water.
Regards,
Gandolf
Thank you all , gentlemen. I think they will be my next rainy weekend project. Unless of course I find an exceptionably good book which can even trump fishing at times.
I felt something was off about you, but now I know - you are not right. 
It’s all about the fishing.