When You lose Your Hair, You Cover Your Head with Hare! Unique Fur Hats From Arizona

A couple of years ago I embarked upon using hare, rabbit and coyote hides in a way that no artist in town or the region was using. While many Native American artist paint on dear or buffalo hide, they purchase the hides tanned and all prepared. And no artist I know uses hare hide because they are wild animals and few hunters go after these 40 mile/hour speeding demons!

So, I decided to get own hide. I had to learn taxidermy and hide preservation which was a wonderful departure from everything I have done in my life before. And, the hare and rabbit meat expanded my culinary exploration boundaries of healthy and abundant “organic” meat.

Ok, in addition to painting on hare skin (I have many entries of such work on this blog); I also attempted a new design of fur hats. I just could not let the hare hide and fur go unnoticed.

To date, I have made four hats. Each is unique in the shape and materials I use which consist of: coyote face and tail, fox face and tail, hare hide, rabbit hide, and occasional raccoon face. None of these animals have been trapped, but taken via hunting.

Here are two of the previous hats. I built a stand made of wood I find in the desert as well as an old deer antler. I “dressed” the stand with squirrel and hare tails.

The hat on the left has a raccoon face, hare fur ring around a cotton tail rabbit top. The tail is from a snow fox. The hat on the left has a coyote face, all hare fur ring and top, and a snow fox tail.

My latest addition to this style is in the middle of the stand below. I wanted to have the coyote ears up, used a gray winter rabbit fur for top, hare fur for the ring and a red fox tail. 

In addition, since the gray rabbit was a big one, I did not trim its hide around the ring but made a neck-cover flap for additional warmth.  My sizing stitches can be seen inside the top.

So, now I have a trifecta of very warm hats each unique in their materials and looks.

And all made from hide of fur of animals from the high desert of Arizona.

February 3, 2019

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2019