Once you Skin the Roadkill Raccoon, how do you Prepare the Fur ?

[gunDriller]

I'll do a web search on the tanning of hides, but I thought I'd ask you guys because you know almost everything. :)


I have a fresh roadkill raccoon that is in deep freeze that I am planning on skinning. (The skunk was a get-around-to-it-project that I never got around to.)

The basics of skinning I am slightly experienced at.

But once I have the hide, hopefully in one piece, how do I prepare it so that I can make a hat out of it ?

I saved some of the larger pieces of hide, from last year's cow-butchering, and they are stiff as a board.

How do you take a stiff dry piece of hide, with hair, and get it to be all supple & nice like commercial suede leather or a lady's fur stole ?


This will be such a conversation opener (or stopper) on the chair lift.

"Where'd you get that hat ?"

"Made it".

"Where'd you get the fur ?"

"Roadkill Raccoon." (That's the part where they jump off the lift.)


Anyway, this animal has a beautiful fur coat that I refuse to see go to waste.

As for the meat - Kentucky Fried Raccoon, perhaps ? I had KFC for lunch yesterday, it was good.

[Celtic Rogue]

Salt the back side of the hide. Cover it ib salt roll it up and put in a paper bag for a week. Check it to see if it is dried thoroughly. If you do not want the fur you have to scrape it off with a sharp knife... careful you dont cut the hide. Soak in warm water for a minute or two to make supple and stretch the hide on a frame. Let the hide dry again. Then I use Hand lotion to soften the hide. Make the hide smell nice. I am sure there are commercial applications for other tanning methods but this is what I used. This method was shown me by an 80 year old native american guy I have known all my life. Use your own do diligence.

[chad]

when i did it, i used to just clean it really well and then keep rubbing it with cooking oil every few days for a week. the i would just leave it.

[Celtic Rogue]

Here is a better complete method.

Ojibwa women have been tanning hides for centuries. Buckskin is good material for clothing because it is warm and durable. Different thicknesses of hides can be used for different purposes, and tanning is not too difficult to do yourself.



Edit (http://www.wikihow.com/index.php?title=Tan-a-Hide&action=edit&section=1) Steps

1
Clean the flesh side of the hide by scraping it with a blade. Bone fleshers were once used for this purpose. You want to remove all the flesh and blood stains.

http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/8/8b/Tan-a-Hide-Step-1.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-1.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-1.jpg)


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2
Soak the fleshed hide in clean water for three days and three nights. If you want a plain skin rather than a fur, de-hair it: wring the hide out and fasten one end of it to a fence or tree, and scrape the hide to remove the hair. If the hair is really long, cut it first. Go against the grain of the hair, and scrape away from yourself.

http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/a/ac/Tan-a-Hide-Step-2.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-2.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-2.jpg)



3
Soak the fleshed and de-haired hide in a mixture of brains and water. Every animal has just enough brains to tan its hide. Simmer the brains in water with a little fat in it, then rub the mixture onto both sides. Rub it in well until it is almost absorbed. If the hide is dry, get it wet and soft before rubbing on the brain mixture. Now sprinkle the hide with warm water and roll it up tightly. Let it set overnight.

http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/5/56/Tan-a-Hide-Step-3.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-3.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-3.jpg)




There are also more convenient chemical tanning methods.


4
Loop the hide over a stout stick, then take the two ends and twist the hide into a thick rope. Roll the sides up toward the middle first. Use another stout stick at the other end and overlap the ends. Grab hold of the ends and the stick and wring the moisture out of the hide. This also stretches it. Place the hide on a big piece of wood and scrape it again on both sides to remove any remaining little scraps of flesh, hair, or liquid. Now you need to stretch the hide back to its original size.

http://pad1.whstatic.com/images/thumb/9/93/Tan-a-Hide-Step-4.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-4.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-4.jpg)



5
Hold onto the hide tightly and use your hands and feet to stretch it as much as you can. Make a rough wooden frame larger than the original hide. Punch holes all around the edges of the hide, about 3 inches (7.6 cm) apart. Use leather thongs or waterproof cord to attach the hide to the frame, making the hide taut.

http://pad1.whstatic.com/images/thumb/0/0a/Tan-a-Hide-Step-5.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-5.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-5.jpg)



6
Turn to the hair side and work the hide with your hands and a tool to soften the hide and stretch it. In the old days people used a bone or antler with a stone lashed to it, but later on people used a tool like a small hoe. Guide the scraper with your left hand and use your right hand to press hard to break the hide down and soften it. You'll have to tighten up the cords now and then to keep it taut.

http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/c/cf/Tan-a-Hide-Step-6.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-6.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-6.jpg)



7
Note that once the skin is soft, pliable, and dry it is ready to be smoked. Stitch up any holes in the hide, then sew it up the sides of the hide to make a bag. Close one end so it is pretty tight - tight enough to hold the smoke. Invert the skin bag over a hole about a foot across and half that deep. Use sticks to make a rough frame to hold the skin bag open, and you can tie the closed end to a tree or use another long stick to keep it up.

http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/2/25/Tan-a-Hide-Step-7.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-7.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-7.jpg)



8
Make a small smoky fire built in the hole to smoke the skin. Once the little fire has a coal bed built up, start adding smoke chips to it and peg the skin around the hole. A little channel tunneled out to one side will allow you to keep the fire supplied. Once the inside is smoked, turn the bag inside out and smoke the other side. The smoking doesn't take very long. A very thin hide might be done in ten minutes (one side). Thick moccasin hide might take an hour.

http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/c/c7/Tan-a-Hide-Step-8.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-8.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-8.jpg)



9
Note that smoking the hides gives them color. This color can range from cream to brown. Also, a smoked hide that has gotten wet can be carefully dried out so it stays soft and smooth. Unsmoked hides will stiffen up after getting wet.

http://pad1.whstatic.com/images/thumb/8/8d/Tan-a-Hide-Step-9.jpg/550px-Tan-a-Hide-Step-9.jpg (http://www.wikihow.com/Image:Tan-a-Hide-Step-9.jpg)

[osoab]

What about brain tanning?

I would use the meat in a stew gunDriller.

[BabushkaLady]

GD, I've been wanting a skunk hat for a long time! If you perfect this let me know.

I found a book Home Book of Taxidermy and Tanning by Gerald J. Grantz, copyright 1969 in my travels. I can't tell what I have in my freezer, but when I gather up all the supplies, I'm going to stuff "good" specimen #1, then on to "great" specimen #2.

The last three chapters cover tanning. An interesting tidbit was about mothproofing your tanned pelt:
Many a fine pelt has been ruined by damage caused by common house moth larvae. Fur skins and rugs can be protected from the ravages of these pests by hanging them in wind and sun periodically, after which they should be sprayed with any of the excellent commercial moth-repellent sprays now available.

Many taxidermists and naturalists recommend soaking tanned hides and furs in a borax-water solution made by adding enough powdered borax (about a quarter-pound to the gallon) to warm water to make a saturate solution. Let soak for about an hour, stirring and squeezing the skins occasionally. Then hang up in an airy place to dry. Skins treated thusly will be moth-proofed for a long period of time.


Most people seem creeped out when I stop and pick up dead things. (I always have a black trash bag with me now.)

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with a road kill curiosity.

[hoarder]

Old trappers dunked their skunk hides in gasoline as soon as they got them off the skunk. I never tried it. You go first and report back.

[gunDriller]

http://www.tn.gov/twra/pdfs/tanninghides.pdf

Tennessee to the Rescue ?!

"Because preserving hides and furs is an ancient art,
many successful preservation methods have been
developed through the years. Native Americans
used wood ashes to remove the hair and used brain
matter as a tanning agent. Native Americans also
chewed the hides to produce soft buckskin, but few
modern hobby tanners are willing to try these
methods."

yeah, especially the chewing part !

"I. PRELIMINARY PREPARATIONS2
Materials:
• Sharp knife
• Large flat working surface such as an old work
bench or a sheet of plywood
• Technical grade salt or non-iodized salt"

"Salt curing aids in the breakdown of globular proteins, helping the hide to
accept tanning agents later on."


"II. SOAKING AND CLEANING
Before tanning, the hide must be softened and
cleaned thoroughly so it is free of flesh and grease.
Materials:
• 5- to 10-gallon nonmetallic container such
as a wooden barrel, plastic garbage can or
earthen crock
• Large smooth board
• Scraping tool such as an old hacksaw blade
• Baking soda or Borax–available at local
grocery stores
• Dishwashing soap (optional)
• Stirring paddle
• Single-edged knife"

"III. HAIR REMOVAL (OPTIONAL)"

"IV. TANNING
The best results for home tanning can probably be
achieved by using tanning agents that are available
commercially in home tanning kits. For those
wishing to make their own tanning solutions, three
procedures are given below. Salt and alum tanning
is the least expensive method and probably the
most common of the three. Alcohol and turpentine
tanning is a simple but less common method best
suited for small fur skins. Brain tanning offers a
simple old-fashioned process for those who are
more adventurous."