Rawhide is more susceptible to water than leather, and it quickly softens and stretches if left wet unless well waterproofed.
The skin from buffalo, deer, elk or cattle from which most rawhide originates is prepared by removing all fur, meat and fat.
It is often used for objects such as whips, drumheads or lampshades, and more recently[citation needed] chew toys for dogs.
[1][2] Wet rawhide has been used by some earlier cultures as a means of torture or execution, gradually biting into or squeezing the flesh of body parts it encloses as it dries.
On the other hand, it has also been used in the context of medicine by First Nations peoples, and other groups such as the Sioux Nation: wet rawhide would be wrapped around a long bone fracture and it would dry, slowly setting the bone;[3] the dried rawhide then served to support the fracture, similar to how a plaster cast does today.