History of seal skin sporrans

[Woodsheal]

A couple of days ago I drove past a dead red-fox on a two-lane highway, and not too mangled either. I SHOULD have stopped and grabbed it...!

[DWFII]

A couple of days ago I drove past a dead red-fox on a two-lane highway, and not too mangled either. I SHOULD have stopped and grabbed it...!

Some years back...I can't remember if it was in late fall or early spring...we drove past a coyote that had been hit. We stopped and went back. It smelled a bit...although there must have been a breeze...but didn't look mangled at all. So I grabbed a big plastic bag out of the trunk and slid it into the bag.

Soon as we got home I went to skin it. I don't believe I've ever smelled anything ranker in my life. It was bad! Just thinking about it makes my nose wrinkle. Nevertheless, I swallowed my gorge and finished the job, hastily dumping the carcass into an even hastier grave. The head had been crushed.

We had the pelt tanned at a local taxidermy and it ended up being one of the finest, thickest, silkiest furs I've ever seen. I believe my wife made a collar for a coat out of it.

just a curious anecdote...