snake skins-Help!

[Postman]

I have a recently completed osage selfbow 3 weeks old, maybe 200 arrows shot.. with 5 coats of tung oil on it. (my first-actually a decent shooter, don't want to ruin it) Found 2 copperheads trying to hibernate in my wall yesterday -  any chance of getting thier skins on the bow with out ruining the tiller?  I assume i just skin, clean and tack the hides, then titebond them on?  Any special treatment before/after for the skin?
Thanks for any advice.

[Pat B]

Just skin, clean and degrease and glue them down green with TB glue. You may want to degrease the back of the bow with acetone or alcohol since you used tung oil on it first. You can add a sizing of TB first and when it is cured (about 24hrs)add more and put the skins down. By adding the TB first you put up a moisture barrier so the moisture in the skins and glue don't go into the wood.
   With copperhead skins you shouldn't need to wrap the skins after gluing. They are thin enough that they should just drape over the limbs with no assistance. Before the glue dries completely, you can trim the excess skin from the edges with a sharp knife or razor.   Pat