Today the collie -Seobhag fìorghlan na h-ealtainn- did his job & chased down a big spring rabbit. When his turbo kicks in, that dug can shift - he took it down fair & square in open ground. Primal grunt. Today, tea was an easy process of skinning & preparation. These are the quiet bonuses of distant island life. Food is out there in many forms, if you look & have the basic skills to utilize it. From knowing your seaweeds, walking up to a wild goose without it seeing you [easy] & crustacean surgery. These are the dying skills of a thousand generations & being able to matter-of-factly live like this on remote solo kayaking trips, can be a life saver, & ordinarily, a simple lunch stop. The Coop is merely for beer, when you eventually wander briefly back into village life. I've left out the gutting process to preserve the mental welfare of those with a more squeamish constitution. I'll likely dry some of this meat into jerky for long kayak crossings in a mixed bag of Guga, dried in the same fashion. Natures glucose in it's fashion. This life is about walking barefoot at every opportunity, about feeling each stone & root underfoot, getting in, getting dirty, & getting levelled - Inuit or Hebridean. They dug & me...we love it. We're a team of sorts - even if he does fart inside the bivvy way to often...

1]Remove the feet first - always at the knee joint. Rabbit bones splinter into sharp shards.
2]Make a surgical cut along the underbelly. Remove all internal organs.
3]Pull the skin outward toward the flanks & over the rear feet. A bit like pulling a sock off. You should end up with a handbag. Remove tail.
4]Strip skin backward to the head, leaving it on as a grip. Everything should come off in one piece, ergo, preserving the pelt. Severe head under the skin. Optional: Remove rear tendons to bind as fishing line, boot lace or Taqqat etc.
5] Wipe clean with damp cloth. De-bone.
6]Go forth & make pie.

The remainder of Freds furry side will make a groovy glove puppet :o)
Next week, how to sauté a seal.