Skins or Pelts or Furs

[Meadcrafter]

Here is another link for preserving pelts with the fur left on.

[Mikewood]

Good to see you are going to have fun with it and not after the almighty dollar or pound. If you plan to "drive the roads" please first confirm with the local police and game wardens it's legal. Then drive a road daily and either collect daily or mark the older road kill as hides can sour in less than 24 hours. In freezing conditions hides can last months. Deer and sheep are much smaller and vats can be as little as 5 gal. Your local donut, restaurant or home provemet store can be a resource. Chemicals for taxidermy can be readily found as can heavy duty suit hangers. A sheep hide is about 6-8 square feet and can be cleaned on a large table.
I think you will find it fun to do one or two. You might be able to find calf or sheep brains and when pulverized will make a "tannin" for a salted hide. The old saw goes An animal as enough brain to ran it's own hide. So you scrape, salt stretch on a "square rack" like a picture frame an then apply the brain mix to "tan" it. You can learn a lot more from aborigional websites.

[AKScott]

We did a steer hide on the farm when I was a a kid - once.

Took all summer, we used an old bathtub for a soaking tank.

What a pain in the neck, with no idea at all what the fam spent on tanning chemicals.

I have a really good taxidermist about 2.18 miles from here...

[davidlpope]

Because you don't have the brains.

Literally! Most hunter-gatherers brain-tanned their leather!

[Ryan Ross]

Literally! Most hunter-gatherers brain-tanned their leather!

Thanks, David.

...I was hoping someone would pick up on that, otherwise, I would have just seemed like a jerk.

[tyger]

I encourage you to get a Lutan-F kit from VanDykes or McKenzie, and do small skins yourself. It is fairly hard work to flesh the skin, but the rest is easy enough, and it is rewarding work.

Here are sporrans-in-waiting: whitetail fawn, river otter, opossum, racoon, red fox, and armadillo.



The whitetail skull was done with washing soda.


I would avoid road kills more than 2 hours old (maybe a little longer if temperatures are below freezing), and look out for vermin. A search for my other posts regarding road kill skins will provide more information.

[Mickey]

Because you don't have the brains.

Very, very nice


I used to trap and did some of my own tanning the "old fashioned" way. Not an easy task. Modern chemical tanning makes it easier, but it still involves some work. There are a lot of taxidermy supply websites where you can get what you need. The cost and effort doesn't really save you much cash, but you do get the satisfaction of DIY.

I have a bunch of chipmunks in the freezer that are destined for the tanning crock to hopefully be made into a sporran. Just have to figure out which way I want to tan them.

[Ryan Ross]

Those are absolutely BEAUTIFUL pelts, Mark! The masks are unreal- you should talk to Turpin about full-maskifying that 'coon and river otter. ;)

[tyger]

Those are absolutely BEAUTIFUL pelts, Mark! The masks are unreal- you should talk to Turpin about full-maskifying that 'coon and river otter. ;)

Yep, I have the glass eyes for them, but at the rate I am going I should get Turpin to finish the job. Carol got so fond of the armadillo that I am seeking another for the sporran job. Man, I have got to get that done!

[Tartan Hiker]

Hey Tyger,

Tell me more about the washing soda technique you used on that skull.