Skinning is an excellent skill to learn at a low level as it gives an extra xp bonus once you have killed an enemy. It seems to be quite difficult to raise on occasion, but this is not the case, all you need to know shall be revealed.
First off you can learn the skill from Kaelia Kaka at Springlade (31,59 KV) upon doing so you will receive 5 skill, you won`t be able to skin much with this but the level 1 cows found directly north of Springlade are a good start, you can even stretch to a level 2 if you feel the need to.
You may get confused with which level to skin, well heres the equation I use, Skinning/5 + 1 = Max level to skin. So if your Skinning skill is 25 then 25/5 + 1 = 6 meaning you can skin a level 6 without any problems.
So you know which animals to skin and how to find out what level to skin, however finding the correct level can be quite difficult, I advise starting close to Springlade and simply working your way outwards when you need a higher level spawn.
You`ll also notice that you`re skinning a level 4 cat but getting raw hides, this is because when skinning a monster you get a skin that has a resource level close to that of the dead creature. i.e skinning a level 5 creature will gain you either a level 1 hide or a level 5 hide - Raw Hide or Bird Hide.
As you can see you`ll most likely always be Skinning below your level, so if you do intend to Skin then it is probably better to do it as early as possible (Level 5). Hope this helps someone.