Every yr I get these skins which the hunter has taken on himself to get to my studio intact. Like getting a caribou cape into a brine solution, (salt and water solution) for x number of days ( ride back home) before it gets to me! Needless to say, that cape will be thrown away, for the rot!

Or salting an unfleshed bear skin, that still has lots of flesh and all the fat still on it. It weights 140lbs! Almost impossible to flesh now. Guy says that is the way xx taxidermy did it!

Or salting a cape or bears skin and putting it in the freezer!!!! salt don't freeze, that is why the lay it on icy roads! So the cape is in limbo, does it or does it not slip!

Or the always classic, "It is cut past the brisket." Yea right up to the chin!!!!

Or the head shot mount to be has head i frozen inside the skin, fur in! Gee!!!!

And what is best is that most of these folks know others that do exactly this and they had no problems si why do I?

Yes, it can be frustrating.

The salting and immediate freezing of capes is a big problem here.
When I try to explain they they have done a 'no no' they look at me like 'I' am crazy.
Then i go on to explain to knock all salt off if freezing.

And salting boar hides with the shields still intact. No attempt to thin them or score them so the salt can penetrate.

"But 'so n so' takes them like that"
"Well, yeah, so why are you here?"

Unfortunately this is not restricted to private individuals. I just visited my taxidermist, who showed me velvet bou horns and some capes. The velvet was rotting off the horns, and the capes were slipping. And these came from a big outfitter in the Yukon, where the guides are supposed to know how to take care of trophies. Of course we don't know what happened to them, just the end result.

Frans

Gents,

would you have any advice as to what one should do with skins/hides/skulls etc after taking an animal in the field?

Thanks,

Paul.

Depends on where you are, and what you have available...

If you have all the amenities.... cape it, and freeze it. Let the taxidermist deal with it.

If you have plenty of salt... cape it, flesh it, do the lips and ears, salt it, role it up, put it upright so it can drain (lots of fluids will still come out). After 24 hours take the old salt off, put new on. All the usual applies like getting it into the creases, the split lips, ears, etc...

If you have no salt... cape it, and flesh it as best you can. Try to wind dry it a bit, in the shadow. Some folks have even smoke-cured it over a little fire. Get the heck back home....

Skulls, if you have a stream nearby, get most of the meat off, and put it in the creek to help wash out the blood. Dried up meat/tissue and blood are harder to get rid of later.

Frans

quote:

Originally posted by Exit31:
Or salting a cape or bears skin and putting it in the freezer!!!!

Does it matter if the cape doesn't freeze? As I understand it, the process of rotting is due to bactertia breaking down the hide essentially as it feeds and multiply's.

In food processing, to stop that we can do a number of things such as:

a) Increase the acidity ie pickling
b) Salt it
c) Chill or freeze it.

With the latter, we are simply lowering the temperature below the point that the bacteria can function...if we lower it enough, ie deep freeze them, it may actually kill them.

In the case you mention, although the salt may prevent the water content from "freezing solid" it doesn't make any difference to the temperature ie its still too cold for the bacteria to function...the fact they are now in a saline enviroment, is a further hinderence to their chances of survival...

So unless "freezing solid" is a requirement for some other reason, surely the hides treated this way will be OK????

If your practical expirience says otherwise, any idea what process is damaging the hides?

Regards,

Pete

The problem is with time. Although all the factors you mention are correct for reducing bacteria damage, bacteria does grow in salt itself, and a heavy bear skin with partially salted flesh, and fat sometimes inches thick and weigthing sometimes close to a hundred lbs, still holding the liquids expelled by the salt just does not freeze quickly or worst thaws very slowly! Some areas are frozen some not. Not good.

Bears are in my view pigs with thick fur and full of bacteria on their epidermis, especially face, ears and brisket. These area's have shallow hair roots and are easy slippage areas. It usually takes 36 hrs for raw unsalted or partly salted hides to thaw. Lots of time for bacteria to act. Remember lots of bears are frozen with skull inside cape! Pile that up ontop of the rest of the skin and you got a big Ice ball with salt in some parts of it!

In my view salted skins do ok frozen if they have been fleshed and drained of H2O prior to freezing. In other words salt has been applied to the skin not the flesh or the fat.

Here in Canada they put salt on the roads in winter to thaw ice and snow. Auto traction is good, however the undercarriages of our vehicles rot a lot faster and the undercarriages of vehicles in the southern US state of Florida for example where salt is not required.

I have personally dumped tons of food industry salt at municipal dump because of it was infested with living bacteria and tainted foods.

Salting bacteria filled hides, unfleshed and not drained of H2O and freezing them is like having a wine taster's convention at uncle William's funeral. Somehow it don't fit, for me. Although a beer and whisky wake might.

Salting does more than just drain H2O it drains sugars. Sugars that drain on fur itself is just mana for bacteria I think. Acids alone do not rid sugars in the hide. Acid alone hides (skins) slip hair.

This is ideal in my view for storage prior to tanning. Flesh and freeze or flesh and salt (and drain), then freeze or dry. In this way bacteria is checked sufficient for tanning.

I might add that it is very difficult to flesh a salted skin that has been salted with flesh and fat still on that skin, expecially bear. The fat and flesh is generally welded to the skin by dehydration, the skin is shrivelled (shrunk)and knife holes are almost a given. To rehydrate the flesh and fat in order to flesh more effectively is to invite bacteria to a rot concert.



Exit 31