Road Kill Sporrans?

[wildrover]

I suspect this is the only way my girlfriend would ever let me get away with wearing a full mask, or even any fur, sporran.

Any suggestions on how to go about getting my hands on a flattened raccoon/beaver/fox/skunk/possum/coyote/etc. other than "shovel & gloves"?

Does anyone know of a place that searches them out for sporrans as opposed to trapping or farming sources? Tyger, if you happen to see this, got anything "fresh off the pavement"? ...I did read your thread, BTW.

Anyone else done this?

Any help would be appreciated. I suspect in the end I'm looking more for someone who makes sporrans and occasionally comes across a good raven flapjack and would be willing to turn it in to a sporran for me, as I can imagine my neighbors' reactions if I collected a carcass myself...

"What's that horrible stinky thing on your porch?"
"I'm pickling a fox I found on Route 93."
"You're WHAT?"

Yeah...

Thanks,
Sean

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Well with the winter coming up, collecting a specimen yourself shouldn't be so bad as the cold weather will slow decomposition. You want to get as freshly dead as possible otherwise the fur will start to fall out.

You are going to have to skin it though....or talk someone else into doing it. And then get a tanning kit.


--Chelsea McMurdo--

[tyger]

I suspect this is the only way my girlfriend would ever let me get away with wearing a full mask, or even any fur, sporran.

Let you?????

Tyger, if you happen to see this, got anything "fresh off the pavement"?

Wait until winter for pelts, and only pick up freshly killed animals that have been bumped or rolled, not mangled.

If you don't really want to get into the details (including the expenses) that are required of proper skin selection, and the actual skinning, fleshing, and tanning, then it would be best to buy a sporran.

I would personally recommend a sporran-maker for the look, feel, and longevity that is inherent to hand-made items, such as Turpin at Thorfinn Custom Sporrans http://www.thorfinnsporrans.com/ or David and Sten at Freelander Sporranshttp://www.freelandersporrans.com/cms/index.php, or Britt's sporrans at the Scottish Tartans Museum http://giftshop.scottishtartans.org/sporran_fb.html.

Good luck in your hunt.

[St. Amish]

I was on a long drive with two other guys in the company truck the other day, when a large raccoon ran under the truck. The first thing I thought of was "Full mask sporran!" We ended up missing the raccoon somehow.

[wildrover]

Yeah, "let"...she barely tolerates the rabbit fur sporrans. It's not like she's vegan or something, just that they're furry woodland critters. I could probably weasel a mustelid in to the house, but she's a foxy one, and would likely find it and badger me no end about it.

I'm sure in all honesty if I got one, she wouldn't disappear...but she probably wouldn't be seen in public with me while wearing it, unless I had a good story to back it up .

Amish, that's exactly how I been thinking..."hey, there's a full mask sporran about to jump across the road!"

I wouldn't have any problem taking care of the skin & carcass. Unfortunately, I don't have a yard either, and would end up doing it in the garage.

Probably it'll just be one of those things I want to do, but won't get around to doing...

-S

[tyger]

A word about fur, and those who squirm about it.
Animals die. It is nature's way. Wearing the feathers, teeth, horns, and fur from a dead animal has been the proud custom of people who show their honor of, and respect for animals by doing so. This has been our custom since the dawn of time. If the woman in your life wears cosmetics, she should have respect for the animal products that she is wearing on her face, around her lips, and in her mouth.

Lipsticks and Fish Scales
Maybe not all ladies (and gentlemen) know that lipsticks and other cosmetics contain fish scales and other animal ingredients. It might be surprising to most of us, but fish scales have been used for makeup products since antiquity. The first lipsticks, made thousands of years ago, consisted in a mixture of crushed coffee beans. The powder obtained through this process was applied to the lips and even around the eyes.

Soon enough our ancestors realized that adding fish scales to the mixture gave their products a shimmer effect. This is thanks to a substance known as pearlescence or pearl essence, which can be found in the rigid scales that grow out of the skin of fish to provide protection.

Pearl essence is still used in cosmetics, and not only in lipsticks, but also in nail polishes, blush, and eye shadows. This substance makes these products shimmery. Pearlescence is used for decorative purposes not only for cosmetics, but also for products such as ceramic glazes, car paints, industrial coatings, and so on. Usually it is obtained from herring, but it can be found on almost all kinds of fish. Unfortunately, pearl essence is not the only animal-derived ingredient present in cosmetics. Some companies use other substances obtained from animals which are far more dangerous and disgusting than fish scales.

Cerebrosides are an egregious example of such ingredients. These are important components in animal nerve cell membranes and muscle. It is still unclear what kind of effect cerebrosides can have on human beings. Fortunately, nowadays chemists who work for makeup companies tend to replace animal-derived ingredients with substances obtained from plants and vegetables, or even with synthetic substitutes.
This new tendency is in response to the growing awareness of customers. Many people who support animal rights condemn the use of substances such as pearlescence and cerebrosides. Also, there are many vegetarians and vegans who refuse to buy products made with animal ingredients. In the majority of Western countries the law forces companies to print a full list of ingredients on their products, and this helps customers to make a learned choice when they purchase something.

There are still some lipsticks which contain fish scales, or other animal-derived substances. This is why it is highly recommended to read the list of ingredients of the product we intend to buy. If the list is not available, the alternative is to research the internet for information. In this way we can be sure not we will not end up putting on our face things we would not even like to touch.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...in-fish-scales

A word about hair loss from skins.
I was asked "What causes loss of hair on some hides?"

Hair loss can be a common problem, caused by bacteria. Proper salting and pickling will result in a hair hide that will not bald:

1. The skin must be fresh. At an ambient temperature of 60F, fresh means 1 hour or less. At 32F, fresh means 4 hours or less. The skin must be removed from the carcass immediately, and excess fat and meat must be removed from the skin.
2. The skin must be salted immediately after 1 above (see my earlier post).
3. After salting, the skin must be pickled. The pH of the pickle must be 1-2 before you add the skin. Keep the skin in the pickle for72 hours. I stir the skin every 24 hours.
4. Neutralize the hide in NaHCO2 (sodium bicarbonate) for 20 minutes.
5. Procede with tanning, etc.........

Some finished hair hides wear better than others. Deer hair is hollow in the middle of the hair shaft (insulation!), and is easily broken. So, a deer hair hide doesn't wear as well as most other hairs. For a dressy sporran, this really isn't a big deal. If it were a sporran worn every day, eventual wear would become visible, and thus an issue.

An asside: If you are given a skin, consider: how long was it from the time that the animal was killed, to holding the skin in your hand? I suspect some folks get a skin 6 to 24 hours after the animal was killed. One can expect a lot of hair loss on a skin like this!

[vipermcgee]

...but she probably wouldn't be seen in public with me while wearing it, unless I had a good story to back it up .

Well,
I was going to offer to send you a "fresh" pelt and a nice "roadkill story", but I read some of the other posts and I couldn't possibly get a pelt to you fast enough. Too bad. Hunting season opens soon and there will be a menagerie of pelts dumped across the state! I hate to see them wasted!

Robert

[wildrover]

I wish I could've recorded yesterday's conversation with my g/f about full mask sporrans, and what I'd need to do in order to secure and properly venerate an animal which had met an untimely end. It was hilarious...there was a lot of shrieking. She's now been thoroughly convinced that the easiest way for me to get a fur or full mask sporran is not roadkill, and certainly not for me to take care of it at home. I thought she was either gonna faint, or go for the rolling pin when I said "foxen are small, I could probably fit two in the freezer, between the ice cream and the frozen vegetables!"

But the happy and planned result of the conversation about tanning, brine, and making a beautiful tribute to a poor animal whose life ended on a lonely road somewhere was that she is accepting of a full mask sporran, probably badger, as long as I don't do it at home , and as long as it isn't a furry woodland critter (I guess badgers don't count...thank goodness Disney never threw them in a cartoon).

-Sean

[Brother Falldown]

This starts me wondering. Somewhere around here I have a bobcat hide that I took some forty years ago. It was professionally tanned by a reputable taxadernist, and has been kept indoors at a comfortable 70 degrees farenheit and in Airzona's very low humidity for the last forty years. It has never shown any signs of hair loss. Is this a suitable candiate for a full mask sporran, or would I be risking destroying it?

[Smayniac]

Another source you (and she) might look into is the thrift store. Another Xmarker steered me into a head on badger stole that became two sporrans, a full mask for me:



and a hunter style for Scooby(he'll grow into it):



I too have been tempted by road kill, but I don't even have a garage to skin in. Antiques are frequently in fine shape and would otherwise sit on a shelf or somesuch. Mine was in an online auction, no one bid against me; I got it for a minimum bid and the shipping was more than the fur itself and the total was around $15.


Bob