Gator scutes?

[vilePossum]

nice bird you got there omega i can understand that your wife was pissed.

as for the grizzly things... man, this is such a bad idea on so many levels. don't get me wrong, i am not an environmentalist or something, and i love all my gadgets and toys of modern life, but this is just such a piss poor idea.
mankind has a really bad track record when messing with complex eco systems. besides renaturing still existing species (be it animal or plant) we more often than not make matters worse than not. oh, and as for "we know what we are doing"... i kinda doubt that, i guess the next big thing to prove that fact will be deep sea mining.
also the bear is extinct. the ecosystem has moved on and the situation has changed a plenty. leave it be. you don't just reintroduce an apex predator. wolves went extinct in germany some time ago. now they are moving back in from the east. kinda nice, the lynx is also repopulating. still, it is a major concern for the sheep herders in eastern germany. so far they have resortet to fencing and protector dogs (you know, those huge fluffy herding dogs who can stay outside all year). not sure that's the last part of this.
the last brown bear which wandered into germany was later shot because he took a calf.
sorry, if i am on the fence about this. like i said, i am not eco nut/tree hugger, but i firmly believe in the general stupidity of mankind in general.

btw, omega's right, the "showfloor" is kinda strange...

 

[kaizo]

Anthony, let see the pics when you're done. Where did you get your gator? I've seen it on ebay, but wasn't sure if I should buy it from a reputable dealer.

Paul's,
Beautiful sheaths as always. Where do you recommend getting your gator?

David

I made a trade with my buddy kaizo. He mentioned in another thread where he purchased it, but I cannot remember.

Will do with the pics.

It's a girl bird. My wife was soooo pissed that I was "flirting". I barely touched its butt feathers!

Hi chaps! I've bought mine from a company in Thailand called Pelgio:

http://www.pelgio.com/

I bought their croc and stingray and I'm pretty pleased with what I got. The one I am eyeing up at the moment is a light green stingray that looks a great deal like natural G10 aka ghost green. Once I get my hands on a nice folder with them I'll make a sheath for it out of those stingray

As Omega mentioned we did a trade and he sent me a really nice piece of black shark and python. Great guy, great hide, best trade ever!

 

[David Bates]

Thanks for the info.

what size piece should I look for or will scraps do the job for skin inlays?

What vendors do you like to purchase your skins from?

 

[Horsewright]

Oh wow I'd not heard that there was talk of reintroducing the griz in Cali. The only thing that would prove is that a person in their right mind with the authority to do so is not in their right mind. Might make sense from an anaylytical standpoint from an easy chair next to the fireplace in San Francisco or from an overstuffed chair behind a desk in Sacramento but not in the real world. The reason the griz in Cali was hunted to extinction is they and people simply can't coexist in populated areas. It doesn't work. I love debating history so here goes. I would take the position that the Mexican Vaqueros here in Cali, they preferred the term Californio, did not drive the griz to extinction. I would base this on several factors. Fact 1: The griz went extinct 76 years after the Anglos took over Cali (1846 was when the Anglos took over last griz killed in 1922). Hard to blame that one on the Californios just based on the time frame. (2)The Californios had very few firearms capable of killing a grizzly. This is confirmed through many first person accounts that I've read and have in my book collection. Further evideneced by the fact that when the Californios fought the invading US Army Dragoons under Genral Kearney at the battle of San Pasqual in 1846 they had almost no firearms. Their principal weapons were lances, (really knives tied to sticks) and their reatas. It was an interesting battle btw, one of those where both sides won depending on how you looked at it. Gen Kearney retained possesion of the battle field. However the Californios had 2 killed while killing 18 of the 100 dragoons involved. (3) Total population of Cali in 1840 was 8,000. I would propose the ideal that in fact the griz proliferated and bloomed under the Californios. Their entire economy was based on cattle. But not for meat as today but for the hides and tallow. In fact a cow hide was called a Californian Dollar because that was what they were worth to the Boston traders that came looking for them. Hundreds of cattle were driven to a "killing field" away from the population. Here the vaqueros would ride through the herd and slaughter the cattle with their punals. A quck simple thrust at the base of the skull from above and the cow was instantly dead before it hit the ground. Once the slaughtering was done the carcasses were quickly skinned, the tallow rendered and transported in cartas down to the coast for trade. Then you got away cause the griz was coming to feast on all the meat left on the ground. This is why the Cali grizs got to such huge sizes, they had plenty to eat. The Boston traders took the hides back east in their ships or to China. The hides of course were used for leather and the tallow for all the candles necessary in those pre lightbulb days. They brought silks, furniture and many luxuries of life that simply were not avaialbe in Cali until they came. (4) The Californios did rope grizs for sport but based on population figures this was not enough to make a dent in the griz population. I've never roped a 2,000 lb griz but I have roped a 2,000 lb bull. That can get very real very quickly. I can imagine that roping a griz COULD GET VERY REAL VERY QUICKLY. Anyhoo enough my assertation is that the griz flourished under teh Californios not vice a versa.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I sure would like to see you make a few changes to the wiki on the subject! I think you have to be a contributing member, but I don't know for sure.

Just goes to show, just because it's on the net, it probably makes it untrue... or something like that.

Dave, you got any links to further reading about California? I just started reading about the Native American Plains tribes. Whole different can of worms and probably much more convoluted depending on where you get the information. I really wish I could do school all over again. Who knew you'd give a crap someday?