How to preserve a rabbits foot

So I was at a butcher the other day and I saw that they were selling whole rabbits with the fur still attached to the feet. I enjoy the process of cleaning and preparing rabbit and I very much enjoy the meat and the broth you can make form the bones, so I decided to buy it and learn how to preserve the feet to make charms. I have done extensive research on this and have now tried on a couple different rabbits so I am confident in my method.

It is important to note that I will explain two methods that are very similar. One of them involves the use of borax. This is the recommended method but I do not have borax where I live so i replaced it with salt and achieved perfect results (though it took a bit more waiting).

Materials

- Rabbit

- 1 Glass jar

- 1 Glass cup (or another jar if you have borax)

- Either borax or a lot of table salt

- 70% isopropyl alcohol

Step 1: 

First when you get the rabbit you need to skin it (except for the feet of course) and remove the feet by either twisting just below the ankle or at the ankle. It is also possible to use a saw or strong scissors if thats what you have. Dont worry about getting it perfect because we will saw it off to the perfect size later. Once the bones are snapped you can use a sharp nice to carefully cut the tendons. Its also worth noting that at this stage you can rotate the head until it snaps off and cut the remaining tendons if you would also like to preserve the skull.

Step 2:

Put the two rabbits feet in the jar and fill it with 70% isopropyl alcohol until the feet are covered and close the jar. you want to leave the feet in here for 48 hours. This is so that the alcohol displaces the water molecules in the feet. Any less than 48 hours and there will still be water but much more than 48 and its not the best for the foot. Tip: keep the alcohol jar for next time so you dont have to buy new alcohol.

Step 3:

Gently pat the feet down dry with paper towels until they are dry enough. This is where the two methods deviate. if you have access to borax, you want to make a borax solution of about 15 parts warm water to 1 part borax and submerge the feet in a jar with this solution for 24 hours. no more than 24 hours.

If you dont have access to borax, you can use salt. This is the method I use since salt is cheap and I cannot find borax here and cannot be bothered to order it online. our about 5 cm of table salt in a cup and place the feet on top of the salt layer, and then fill the rest of the cup with salt until the feet are covered. Bonus points if you carefully fluff up the fur first so the alcohol can evaporate. Leave the feet alone for 2-3 weeks occasionally changing the salt whenever it clumps from the moisture.

And thats it... theres not much else to it as its quite simple. after the salt or borax you just leave it alone for a day or so and then you can use a thin saw (in my case a steak knife) to saw the bone that sticks out to the desired size. Now you can use these feet to make charms or give them as good luck gifts.