Everything about Animal Hides totally explained
Hides are
skins obtained from animals for human use. Examples of animal hide sources are
deer and
cattle typically used for producing
leather,
alligator skins,
snake skins for shoes and fashion accessories and wild
cats,
minks and
bears, whose skins are primarily sought for their fur. In
India leather is produced from cattle hides at home/ small scale but most
leather making is done on a large scale. Various
tannins are used for this purpose.
Leather from processed hides finds a variety of uses from shoes and clothing to furniture and sometimes wall or surface coverings.
History
Anthropologists believe that animal hides provided an important source of
clothing for prehistoric humans. Animal hides were also frequently believed to be used for
shelter by primordial peoples.
Many
American Indians used animal hides to build houses such is
tepees and
wigwams. The Arctic Indians also used this material for waterproof clothes and
kayaks as well as for their houses.
Animal hides have always been used as a status symbol. Fur was used to demonstrate wealth, both by ancient kings and modern people. Natural leather is used in many expensive products, including limousines and designer mobiles phones.
Production
Animal hides are stretched, dried and tanned. It is more cost-effective today to raise animals in captivity and then kill them. Large farms exists raising mink and rabbit for fur while much fox,
lynx,
wolf and other animals are
trapped for fur.
Sable fur is produced in
Russia and is one of the most expensive.
Use
Fur and hides find their main use today as clothing, particularly
coats. They are valued for their warmth, and as a status symbol.
Ermine fur was historically popular in ceremonial clothes of European
monarchs. The black-tipped tails were arranged around the edges of robes, producing the familiar pattern of black diamonds on a white field. Because of this use, "ermine" became a term in
heraldry, to mean a white field strewn with small bell-shaped designs called ermine-spots.
Hides have also been used to build
canoes and tents, as simple window panes, and as material for writing. For example, many
medieval books were written on
vellum parchment.
The
fur trade led to the opening of the interior of the
North American continent. In particular, the popularity of
beaver hats in Europe in the 17th and 18th century led to displacement of native tribes, several inter-tribal wars and the eventual near-eradication of the beaver.
Rabbit fur is a popular material to make hats, coats and glove linings.
Controversy
Animal rights activists protest use of animal hides in clothing. They use a variety of tactics from persuasion (a campaign with celebrities posing naked with a slogan "I would rather go naked than wear fur") to coercion (spraying people wearing fur clothes with paint, typically red in imitation of blood).
There are many artificial replacements for animal hides, including artificial fur and artificial leather. Their quality and the quality of other replacements is considered comparable to that of the natural product.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Animal Hides'.
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