I decided to find out if animals were easier to skin after they had cooled down. My theory being that the fat that is so hard to remove from the skin would stay with the body rather than on the skin. I also thought that there was a possibility that using an air hose to blow up the critter would then allow the skin to actually separate from the flesh. This I found to be untrue, however it will compress the bladder enough that you can get a urine sample without even trying. The last experiment was to see if the fleshing was easier if the skin was a bit dryer. The fur buyers like to have the skins coated in Boraxo after fleshing. This drys the skin out until it sounds like newspaper when shook.
I asked the only expert that I know. A relative of the guy's at the Ranch. The only problem is, since he is a hard core desert rancher, he is not inclined to be lazy and put anything off, he didn't know. Well, after careful observation, I have come to the conclusion that "There is no good chain gang", or a better way to do this stuff other than that already in practice. Sigh!
The skinning wasn't all that big of a deal. It would have been better if I had done it the first evening, but if there is one thing that I have, it is time, and answering questions is a good thing anyway. I have long ago stopped being surprised at being wrong on occasion. Its good for your humility. Hell nobody likes to be around anyone who is perfect. Of course I could be over qualified on the less than perfect part.
After getting it skinned I covered it up in Boraxo and left it until the next day to start fleshing.
Of course there were some really tough spots around the head. The layers of meat there just will not succumb to a fleshing knife. Using a razor was bound to create some thin sports. No biggie, I have sewn up mistakes and bullet holes before.
After it was as good as I could get it, I mixed the brine to pickle the skin. It consists of 4 oz of pickling acid and two pounds of salt to two gallons of water. You let it soak for 24 hours stirring it occasionally.
After 24 hours the white color shows that it is done. You then rinse it out, and put it in a bath of one gallon of water with a cup of baking soda to stop the pickling acid. It is then put on a stretcher and partially dried. Then about a cup of "Liqui-tan" rubbed into the flesh side of the hide, rolled up fur side out, and left overnight.
Then of course a rinse and shampoo to get all the stuff out, and the hair clean. Now I will have to soften the skin as it dries over the rest of the time that it takes to fully dry.
As I said earlier, I don't have any problem working for free, and he will be worth more than $25.00 to me.
Jessie and Yogi seem to think that Badger tastes a lot better than Coyote. There just isn't much meat on them, and no fat at all on this one. Hard doings in this desert this year for sure. I only got about 11 meals off the guy. We have done our share however, we are using everything except the growl.
The hide has dried enough to begin the process of "breaking" the hide. I was surprised to find how thin the skin on their belly is. It is almost translucent. Here is the new guy beside one that I have had since the 70's.
In the early 70"s, a new arrival in Oregon, I killed this Badger at some cliffs where I was looking at Prairie Falcons. I never really thought about it, but it was apparently just a youngster. A fella I knew tanned the hide for me. I have actually seen Badgers that were a bit bigger than the new one.
Here is the finished product. The small one was taken in the spring. This one has his full winter coat. I like him much more than the $25. bucks the fur buyer offered.
Winter seems to have finally arrived here. We have had it pretty easy so far. We got 4.5 inches of snow a couple of days ago. (rare here) and this morning it was 10.5 degrees below zero.
