Jill, the best way to skin a squirrel is to pinch up some of the skin on the back, take your knife, or in your case your piece of flint and slice that pinch about an inch across. then you dig your fore and middle finger of each hand under the skin so you get hold of it, then you pull your arms apart - hold that little rascal up close to your chest and pull your arms apart hard - that opens the skin across the back and down onto the belly, leaving another strip on the bottom that you cut. then you pull some more, you get the skin off enough so you can grab it with your hands then keep peeling it off, about like peeling off a tight sock. The skin comes all the way off, up to the neck and paws on the front, to the tail and hind paws on the back. Break them little joints bending them backwards, cut them off, the tail and the head. You can do stuff with squirrel skin but who wants to fool with such a tiny bit? Throw that off for the coyotes and possums and bugs, or you could keep the tail for decoration. Then you lay that little feller on a log and open him up from the rectum all the way up to his neck and scoop out the guts, saving what internal organs you want. Hot sauce on a fresh squirrel heart is mighty tasty by the way. Once opened, you can if you want dig your 2 fingers in at the top of the ribs, grip his little shoulders and make a snapping motion hard and fast out and away from you, slinging the guts out for the coyotes that way, but you have to be strong so I suggest you scoop the guts. If you are going to act like ancestors, you wont gut him, you'll take him him, chop him up guts and all and then into the cook pot. Personally, I use a steel knife and wouldn't mess around with sharp rocks but to each his own. I hope this helps - some say lemon juice on raw heart meat is good too, but I've never tried it. Bon appetit!
