Fox skin prep

[charlieboy-shooter]

Hi,

Hmm, So, possibly a bit late to ask. But whilst skinning a fox for the 1st time yesterday, the clip of jasper carrot and the mole clip popped in to my head. No, not that I hadn't fired a 12 bore before. But here I was and thought I was ok and knew what to do. When I didn't actually know what I needed to really do ( Although I do have White tan pack and Salt).

So I would appreciate help on what I should do or how to remedy what I have done so far. which is listed below.


Have skinned the fox and retained the pads and nose. I was not sure what to do round the ears but have managed to turn them pretty much inside out. Not sure if can keep the pads / nose.
I pulled the tail bone out but have NOT go the tail inside-out exposing the skin.
Have covered the skin with salt which immediately went wet which I removed and replaced with more salt
Pushed salt down inside the tail and made a hole in the end.
Have folded so the the fur is on the outside. So guessing I have a wet mass inside which now can't drain. which probably isn't ideal ??

I thought, would salt it for approx 48hrs, lay it out and scrap off the excess to leave the skin as clean as possible and then follow the instructions in the tanning pack.
I'm now not so sure.

I guess opening the White tan pack and looking for instructions would not be a bad place to start.

But what to do with the skin between now and placing the skin in the solution ?? and hopefully not in the bin.

Thanks

 

[T.eddie]

Ive used one of those kits for a fallow hide, the instructions are pretty good to be honest so worth a look. I would have thought that providing you can get the salt / solution into the tail cavity then it should be okay

 

[User00036]

Alum for foxes tail.

 

[Border]

Split the tail and salt. The cartilage can be removed when the ears are tunneled. If you google the subject there are quite a few videos on it. Fur bearers should be "case" skinned ie not with an incision along the belly but rather turned inside out starting from the rear.

 

[Foxyboy43]

First one is always the worst one!
Very many years ago I skinned my first fox, a beautiful dog, and once the dry-retching subsided making what I thought was an incredible job of it - so much so that when I showed it to a pal such was its splendour that he recommended that I got a local tannery to finish it. Sooo off it went and a long three weeks later I picked it up at lunchtime and just couldn't wait to get it home to inspect it. So of course I gave into temptation and proudly unfurled the rolled skin from the bag to show it off in all it’s glory to the assembled girls in the office. With a flourish out of the bag it came - nose first. “Gasp!” the girls certainly did; the crinkly mess that had been the nose was an unfortunate portent of what was to follow, which of course was the head - which intriguingly was missing an ear on one side and mysteriously all the whiskers on the other. “Oooohhh“ the girls shrieked cried in harmony as I continued (what else could I do chaps?) to slowly withdraw my pride and joy from the bag. Unerringly, two legs flopped out which to my utter consternation clearly had parted company from the paws. “Oooer” the same girls cried as inevitably the back legs, one, ahem, noticeably shorter than the other appeared - again missing anything even remotely paw-like. “Holy sh**” they all cried in delightful harmony as they, as one, fled the office when finally the piece de resistance appeared. This left yer eejit man standing alone holding aloft his prized possession - the nigh-on earless, semi-whiskerless and definitely totally pawless but on a positive note, beautifully preserved, three and a bit-legged skin. Oh silly me, I nearly forgot - the piece de resistance was the tail, well to be more precise, the tail bone because of fur there was no sign, not a hair, nada. In fact it was the nearest thing to a foot-long rat’s tail I have ever seen.
On gentle enquiry with the tannery I was advised that several times through their destruction processing the skin is “rollered” which may have caused some “tearing”…..
So the lesson to be garnered from this sorry tail tale is that even with professionals, occasionally tanning can go wrong but do not lose heart - another fox will surely be along in a minute…..

PS
I was just trying to date when this all happened and reckon it was 1974. Forty eight years later the same skin still adorns my man cave armchair, the only minor modification was a “donor tail” (hastily sewn on before Mrs FB saw the original) in place of the slightly off-putting rat shaped one. Like your author that skin has developed much character but nowhere near as many scars in the intervening years.

 

[charlieboy-shooter]

First one is always the worst one!

Well, that's the politest way of telling me that I have already ruined it.

Enjoyed your write up. thanks

 

[blueeyes]

It will be fine salt will stop any slippage plenty here https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=preparing+a+hide+for+white+tanning