After hearing a bit about home made fly tying materials, when I came upon a small indigenous mammal fallen victim to roadkill, I couldn’t resist the opportunity of adding its fur to my fly tying collection.

Driving along a main road that borders the unfenced Table Mountain National Park, squinting between mist rain and wiper blades I spotted a recently flattened furry mammal on the tarmac. I immediately pulled over and jumped out the car, brushing my pocket to make sure I still had my Leatherman clipped in. An adult cape genet had fallen victim to roadkill, squished at 80km/h. I examined the indigenous mammal, feeling really sorry for the poor creature. It was properly dead; two dimensional in places where the tyres had gone over.

HARVESTING ROAD KILL

My primary objective was to show the dead animal some respect by moving it out of the road. I grabbed him by the least bloodied part, noticing how much of his body, including his paws and tail, was still intact. Because of how secretive they are, we’re never allowed the chance to get up close to these creatures, so I took a moment to study his anatomy and say a small farewell.

After a rather comedic pause, and trying not to breathe through my nose, I pulled out my Leatherman, flicked out the sharp knife and got to work dissecting the genet, removed its tail and gracefully disposed of the carcass into bushes from whence it came.

FLAYING THE TAIL FOR PRESERVATION

Not knowing where to go from here, I called my friend to ask for some tips. If anyone was weird enough to also collect dead animal skins, it was the Feather Mechanic AKA Gordan van der Spuy. “Where the tail is thin it will dry like biltong, but at the thicker part of the tail, you need to cut away the meaty part.” Following his instructions I got to work slicing down the length of the tail through the skin layer, removing the muscle/bone part of the tail, and sliding the skin off like a sock.  

My only previous experience with such a thing being a biology class rat dissection, this was somewhat agricultural, looking like a scene from Netflix’s Dahmer series. Working with a wild animal’s parts in this way gave me a newfound respect for both the creature, and the people that have to process our meat (for eating) and fly tying materials behind the scenes. TOP TIP: I could’ve picked a better time of day to do this though, as it was nearing dinner time and my appetite was soon as dead as the genet.

All that was left to do was to lay the tail flat and cure/tan it with a “50-50 mixture of salt and borax” according to Gordon. The salt absorbs moisture while the borax (sodium borate), commonly a household detergent, open the skins pores for better drying. Before being able to work with the tail material, the skin needs to have all the moisture removed, until it becomes drier than hard biltong. This also prevents rotting.

Once cured, I intended to use this tail in the same way you’d use calf tail. Genet tail is surprisingly stiff, but soft enough to have a lot of movement. It works well for the tail and wing of shrimp patterns. I have also been making brushes out of the genet tail, for use in shrimps and baitfish patterns. I don’t think the use of this unique material will revolutionise any corner of fly tying, but it is damn cool to work with a genet tail.

TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR OWN FLY TYING MATERIAL

If you come across a dead/roadkill animal that you wish to give a second life, here are some tips to make it an easier experience.

• Dissect using a really sharp blade, but try not to pierce the subcutaneous layer – just cut the skin.
• Once dissected, try washing the fur/feathers using a mild detergent. I used dog shampoo.

• The salt/borax mixture absorbs moisture out of the hide but also from the humid air, so it’s best to do this in a dry area/room. 
• The salty mixture holds the moisture and thus needs to be replaced with new dry salt/borax mix after each day or two. Keep going until the hide is stiff. Sunlight and ventilation help a ton.

• Pieter Snyders of Stream and Sea says that there’s a method using glycerine which results in a soft leather – like that of rabbit zonker strips. I am yet to investigate this.

Later that week, we spotted a dead squirrel in a nearby park with no obvious injuries. What I thought was a once-off genet tail harvest is quickly turning into a hobby. In less than a week, I’ve transformed from the cool uncle to the uncle who keeps dead animals and harvests their skin… but still cool right?