9 replies to this topic

[Chris Miller]

So I brought home a couple of semi-dried coyote furs from my hunt. We skinned, fleshed, and stretched them and hung them to dry. I was leaving a couple days later so we had to pull them down early and I brought them home that way. Now they are still a little wet in some spots, pretty stinky, and i'm wondering what I can do. For the most part, they are dry. REALLY dry in fact... its like handling a brown paper bag. I plan to get them tanned but i'm just wondering what I can do to get me to that point. Right now they are fur side out, and seem to be shrinking down fast.

Should I try to stretch them back over something? Is that even possible now that they are so dry? Can I try to turn them fur side in without tearing them up? Can they be re-stretched during tanning to make them bigger again? They shrunk quite a bit from pulling them off the stretchers too soon.

Anyway, I thought this would be good conversation out here on PT. I'd appreciate any / all tips. Sorry for all the questions tied into one. I should probably just look for a good book or DVD on fur handling since I haven't messed with it before. When I was a kid we would just collect tails or whatever and throw salt on them.

Thanks!

[FLTaxidermist]

I received an air-dried coyote to tan once, but it had gotten slightly damp in the package. But it was still mostly dry, kind of like how your describing. Just the head/neck area had kind of rehydrated a bit. But what I did was, I bent out a wire clothes hanger and put it down inside the neck area where it was damp, to stretch it so it would dry more evenly. Then I hung the skin up by the nose and left it hanging until was thorougly dry. Then after it was dried, I just stored it with the rest of my dried hides until I was ready to tan it, and it turned out just fine.

[catcapper]

The stinky smell isn't a good sign. Wet or damp hides being transported in room or warm temps increased microbe action in the hide--decomposition. Hides have to be treated the same as you would treat wild game meat after you harvest it. You wouldn't leave an Elk out in 70 degree weather with its hide on or it would spoil. Take a 1" X 4" and stick it inside the hide to open the hide. Then place a fan at the rear of the hide so the air flows out the mouth and store it in a cool place to speed up the drying process. I hope you didn't ask Tony so many questions on the hunt HA-HA

[tjc1230]

Catcapper has it right. You need to let the air in. A piece of corraged cardboard is all you really need. Either way get it opened up ASAP. Tom

[FLTaxidermist]

If the smell is a rotten odor, the hide may not be good any more for tanning. But if it just smells more like a "coyote" smell you should still be able to save it. My coyote that got damp just had a coyote smell when I took it out of the box, and after I re-dried it, I had no problems with it when I tanned it a month later.

[hassell]

all the replies were right on the money, i hurried once on a wolf that i was shipping to the auction house with the rest of my furs and i guess it was still a little damp around the ears and neck, some of the hair slipped, lost 50% on the value, a costly learning experiance!

hassell

[snoman]

If the hair hasn't started to slip, then you have another alternative. Re-hydrate the skin and start over. After the hide is soaked through enough to knead it with no crackling of the skin you can re-stretch it and let it dry naturally. Just a thought.

[catcapper]

The hides we are talking about may have some damage to the hair follicles. It sounds like the hides are 3/4 dried already---they need to be dried the rest of the way for shipping. Who ever is going to tan the hides will rehydrate them. Chris---if you think that you have to rehydrate the hides,they must be rehydrated completely. To do this,use 1 lbs.of salt to every gal. of water and make sure the hide is completely submerged. The salt will extract the glycosaminoglycans and open the collagen structure. Since your hides had a bad smell to them I would also add a bactericide to kill any bacteria that may be present. When the hide is rehydrated,remove it and rinse it in clean water. Squeeze most of the water out of the hide (Don't twist or ring)and put it back on a strecher to dry. Once its dry you can ship it to the tannery. Happy Trails

[On a call]

Great comment Catcapper I may not know too much inregard to rehydration...but I would say you hit the nail dead on

[shaker77]

I put up some furs but did not flesh or stretch while salting and drying, any tips on how to proceed with finishing the furs myself?