In Chapter 10, “How a Door Came to Me,” Sam gets a “gift” of a dead deer that a poacher kills and doesn’t find. Sam wants to tan the hide in order to make a door for his tree-house. At the beginning of Chapter 11, “In Which Frightful Learns Her ABC’s,” he describes how he decides to process the deer hide. He knows that he needs tannic acid, which is produced naturally in oak trees. He also needs some kind of container to hold the hide as it soaks. So he cuts down an oak tree, burns a bowl-like depression into the stump, fills it with water, and lets the hide soak in it for five days. Then he has to work the leather by chewing, rubbing, and jumping on it to make it soft. It’s a lengthy procedure, but it works. Later, he gets a few more deer during deer season, when other hunters cannot find the animals they’ve injured. Sam uses these opportunities not only to cut, store, and eat the venison meat, but also to process the hides to create deerskin clothing. He has outgrown his original clothes.