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Description
This is Silas, my rescued coyote skin rug.

It's a bit of a story if you're willing to listen. We have a thrift store near our house that is a "thrift & antique" store so they usually have some pretty interesting/ancient furniture and stuff in there. They also regularly have some sort of taxidermy pieces, though they are rarely in very good condition and whether they are in good condition or not, the taxidermy along with all the other antique stuff is more often then not, incredibly overpriced, especially for it being in the condition it's in.

Anyway, the first time I saw Silas, I was drawn to him because of his beautiful coloration and because his face looked quite decent compared to a lot of the coyote taxidermy I've seen. He was also so very, very soft. When I saw his $450 price tag, I completely wrote off the idea of ever owning him. To make matters worse, he's an older piece and his skin under all the fur had become all dried out and brittle, leaving him literally falling apart. Someone had tried to fix him with some kind of cheap glue and extra fabric at one point but the areas where they had done this were falling apart even worse. I could not imagine anyone would hand over $450 for something in his condition so I expected to see him there for some time to come.

Sure enough, every time I visited that store, I'd seek him out and stroke his head and fuss over his poor body that was becoming more and more worn and tattered each time I saw him. Finally, one of the times I visited, his price tag was no longer present. Being the optimist that I am, I decided to try for a bargain. I inquired as to his price and was told he was on sale and the price was only $100 now. Still too much, I thought for something that I might be unable to fix. I wanted him for $75 so I told them that he was in such bad condition and I would only take him for $50. They did exactly what I wanted and said, "Well, we can't let him go for that low but you can have him for $75." Bingo.

I gathered him up, collected the bits of him that were lying around the glass case that they had dumped him in, and took home my old/new coyote. I was really worried at first that I had just wasted $75 and I wouldn't be able to restore him but I contacted *Zhon and she gave me all the information I needed to fix him myself. He's now the centerpiece on my bedroom floor and I love him dearly.

I had a little trouble naming him. My favorite way of naming things is to let them "name themselves". Meaning, I look at them for awhile and the first name that surfaces in my mind is what they should be called. Usually, when this happens, it's very easy and the name just kind of "manifests", but Silas was different because I "misheard it" the first few times I tried this. I'd stare at him and I knew the perfect name was right in front of me but all I could get was "Cyrus" which sounds nice but after calling him by that for a little while, I knew I had gotten it wrong. Eventually, the name Silas came through and I knew that that was the name that had been eluding me for so long. So Silas it is.

Disclaimer: I did not kill this animal and disagree with the killing of animals for sport or fashion. If you do not like what you see, don't look at it! Also, don't bother wasting your time leaving rude or pointless comments here, they will be ignored.

Description
This is Silas, my rescued coyote skin rug.

It's a bit of a story if you're willing to listen. We have a thrift store near our house that is a "thrift & antique" store so they usually have some pretty interesting/ancient furniture and stuff in there. They also regularly have some sort of taxidermy pieces, though they are rarely in very good condition and whether they are in good condition or not, the taxidermy along with all the other antique stuff is more often then not, incredibly overpriced, especially for it being in the condition it's in.

Anyway, the first time I saw Silas, I was drawn to him because of his beautiful coloration and because his face looked quite decent compared to a lot of the coyote taxidermy I've seen. He was also so very, very soft. When I saw his $450 price tag, I completely wrote off the idea of ever owning him. To make matters worse, he's an older piece and his skin under all the fur had become all dried out and brittle, leaving him literally falling apart. Someone had tried to fix him with some kind of cheap glue and extra fabric at one point but the areas where they had done this were falling apart even worse. I could not imagine anyone would hand over $450 for something in his condition so I expected to see him there for some time to come.

Sure enough, every time I visited that store, I'd seek him out and stroke his head and fuss over his poor body that was becoming more and more worn and tattered each time I saw him. Finally, one of the times I visited, his price tag was no longer present. Being the optimist that I am, I decided to try for a bargain. I inquired as to his price and was told he was on sale and the price was only $100 now. Still too much, I thought for something that I might be unable to fix. I wanted him for $75 so I told them that he was in such bad condition and I would only take him for $50. They did exactly what I wanted and said, "Well, we can't let him go for that low but you can have him for $75." Bingo.

I gathered him up, collected the bits of him that were lying around the glass case that they had dumped him in, and took home my old/new coyote. I was really worried at first that I had just wasted $75 and I wouldn't be able to restore him but I contacted *Zhon and she gave me all the information I needed to fix him myself. He's now the centerpiece on my bedroom floor and I love him dearly.

I had a little trouble naming him. My favorite way of naming things is to let them "name themselves". Meaning, I look at them for awhile and the first name that surfaces in my mind is what they should be called. Usually, when this happens, it's very easy and the name just kind of "manifests", but Silas was different because I "misheard it" the first few times I tried this. I'd stare at him and I knew the perfect name was right in front of me but all I could get was "Cyrus" which sounds nice but after calling him by that for a little while, I knew I had gotten it wrong. Eventually, the name Silas came through and I knew that that was the name that had been eluding me for so long. So Silas it is.

Disclaimer: I did not kill this animal and disagree with the killing of animals for sport or fashion. If you do not like what you see, don't look at it! Also, don't bother wasting your time leaving rude or pointless comments here, they will be ignored.