Eve, thanks for your nice note. Yes, my apparent curmudgeonliness is
entirely motivated by my desire to see students and anybody else who gets
into this, be successful.

Since you asked for help with skinning: you can skin just as well with a
no. 11 X-Acto blade as with a scalpel, and I like the X-Acto blades better
as you can re-sharpen them if you have a grinder fitted with a sharpening
wheel. Buy a handle and a box of a dozen blades and you're set for the
next year.

To begin skinning, you make a lengthwise split right down the center of
the animal's belly. Pick up a pinch of skin/fur between thumb and
forefinger, and snip this with a scissors. Then insert the knife into the
slit while holding the skin up, i.e. stretching it away from the body.
This will allow you to get the tip of the knife into the skin and
immediate subdermal layers without cutting the intestinal tube.

Open the specimen all the way from where you palpate the sternum to where
you palpate the pubis. Then cut a crosswise flap to either side -- you can
pick any point to do this; on a small animal I usually go right in the
middle. This will create a nice big opening through which you then insert
your gloved hand and pull the intestines out as far as possible onto the
table.

All mammals' intestinal tube is supported by the mesenteries, which are
connected upward like a bunched curtain to a small spot somewhere near the
top of the arch of the backbone, obviously on the ventral side of the
backbone. Once the intestines have been pulled out as far as possible, you
can feel your way upwards to this point (even if you cannot see it), and
cut across the bunched drapery. This will allow the intestines to come
almost completely free.

You then only have to cut the gut tube off at the bottom of the esophagus
and at the other end as far down toward the anus as you can get. This is
the most stink-free way of degutting. Pick the now-entirely-free gut tube
up by either end and dispose, or, alternatively, spread it out on a
plastic sheet and spread the mesenteries out flat and take pictures of the
circulatory pattern and architecture.

Now you will also want to take photos of the rear side of the diaphragm.
For this you'll need a couple of flashlights -- your flash won't work, as
you will soon find out. You may also want to document position of kidneys
and/or reproductive organs, assuming you didn't inadvertently remove them
with the intestines.

Another important item is the iliopsoas muscle complex, which roots just
behind the diaphragm and goes down to the pelvis and inner aspect of
femur.

Now you remove the diaphram by cutting around the ribs to which it is
attached, and then it will be easy to go into the chest cavity to remove
heart and lungs. You may also want to lay these out on a table and take
photos, and/or open the heart, split the kidneys open, split the lungs
open, and so forth. These are rare shots so would be useful to other
people, even some on this list perhaps.

After that, I leave the muscular dissection to you; you've probably got a
cat dissector or a dog dissector and that'll likely be close enough. If
somebody knows of a marmot dissector you might let us know!

Cheers -- Dr. Deb