Part 2 (2/2)
Before skinning an animal, examine the carca.s.s and make sure that the fur is clean and free from foreign matter. When an animal is bespattered with dried mud, proceed to remove the same by thoroughly brus.h.i.+ng the fur; fresh mud and blood stains can be removed by rubbing and rinsing the carca.s.s in cold water. Burs and other foreign matter should also be combed and brushed out. When this has been accomplished, we are ready to skin the animal.
There are two methods employed in skinning the various fur-bearers, namely, ”open” and ”cased.” The former method is used on the larger animals, such as bear, wolverine, mountain lion, etc. The latter method is used on the smaller animals, which include our friend the muskrat. The blade of the skinning knife should possess a very keen edge at all times, so that there will be no ragged edges on the pelts. It is much easier and more agreeable to skin an animal right after it is killed, while the body heat is still retained. Never allow an animal to lay unskinned for more than twenty-four hours, as it is liable to taint, which has a tendency to cause the fur to slip.
Such pelts would have little or no value.
To skin the muskrat, cut the skin loose around the hind legs near the feet where the fur ends, then rip down the back of the hind legs to the root of the tail and loosen the fur around the same. Do not skin the tail of the muskrat, as this has no fur value. Now lay the knife aside and peel the skin with your fingers by drawing it down towards the head. You will find that it will peel very readily, with a little flesh here and there threatening to adhere to the skin; most of this can be held back by pus.h.i.+ng the fingers of one hand against it, while pulling the skin with the other. To loosen the skin at the front legs, work the thumb of your right hand between the skin and the flesh on the underside of the main joint of the leg, and pull; the skin will come off very easily. The knife comes into play again when the ears are reached. These must be cut off at the base, close to the head. When cutting the skin loose around the eyes, care must be exercised to avoid dilating the apertures. Now peel down to the nose and jaws, and with the knife a.s.sist in peeling the skin from these members. The job of skinning is now complete and we have what is termed a cased pelt with the fur side in.
It is a deplorable fact that a large percentage of trappers do not use the knife when removing the skin from the head of the muskrat.
They simply pull it off by sheer force, with the result that the skin generally tears off right back of the ears, which leaves a badly damaged pelt. Such pelts when marketed are thrown into the lower grades and sell for about 40 per cent less.
When the pelt is ready for fles.h.i.+ng, it is placed on the fles.h.i.+ng board. This board should be made of one-half-inch material about thirty inches long, four and one-half inches wide at the base and three and one-half inches wide at the shoulders. The upper end of the board should taper to a rounded point. The edges should be rounded and sandpapered, so there may be nothing to injure the fur. A mink fur stretcher makes an ideal fles.h.i.+ng board for muskrats, because it is just about the size and shape required.
Place the skin on the board fur side in, and with a dull knife proceed to remove all loose fat and flesh. An old table knife is a very handy tool for this purpose. When using a jackknife, care must be taken not to score or tear the pelt. The skin should be held taut with the left hand, while manipulating the knife with the right.
Sc.r.a.pe by working from the head towards the base, or vice versa, being careful not to sc.r.a.pe the muscles behind the shoulders too close, because the ends of these are firmly attached to the skin.
When all superfluous fat and flesh have been removed, the pelt is ready for the stretcher.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 3]
There are various makes of steel and wire fur stretchers on the market, which can be purchased at a reasonable figure; but for the accommodation of muskrat pelts, I know of none better or cheaper than the common plain board stretchers which are made of dry goods boxes or similar material. These boards should be made of one-quarter-inch material, about thirty inches in length, six inches wide at the base and five and one-half inches wide at the shoulders. From the shoulders to the tip of the nose they should rapidly taper, coming to a point. This point should be rounded so as to fit the head snugly (See Fig. 3). The edges of the board should be nicely rounded and smoothly sandpapered. When boards are made of one-half-inch material, they should be beveled down to one-eighth of an inch at the edges. A quarter-inch hole should be drilled in each board near the base, so the pelts may be hung up when drying.
It will be remembered, as stated elsewhere in this work, that muskrats vary greatly in size in various parts of the country. This fact makes it impractical to quote exact dimensions for stretchers.
The above dimensions are an approximate average for standard skins and are given to serve as an ill.u.s.tration for the guidance of the novice.
When stretching the fur, draw the pelts on to the stretcher, fur side in, in such a manner that the back squarely covers one side of the board (as ill.u.s.trated), while the underside covers the other. Never stretch a pelt so carelessly that parts of both the back and underside appear on each side of the board. Draw the skin down firmly and fasten to the board by driving tacks all around the base. A tack should also be driven into the tip of nose and lower jaw to hold them in place.
The pelts should be hung up to cure in a cool, airy place; dampness causes mildew, which ruins them. Never dry furs in the sun or too near a fire, as this is liable to cause considerable damage. Never use salt or any other chemicals in curing pelts; allow them to dry by the natural process of evaporation. Be sure that they are held secure against mice and other pests.
Large quant.i.ties of the cheaper fur are made up and sold under fict.i.tious names by the manufacturing furriers, such as ”Hudson seal, river mink, coney, nutria,” and others too numerous to mention.
Hudson seal is the fur of muskrat, which is sheared, plucked, dyed and beautifully blended to imitate the fur seal. River mink is also the fur of muskrat prepared and dyed to a rich, deep brown to imitate the more valuable mink. Coney is a species of European rabbit, somewhat resembling our native cottontail, but the pelt of the former is firm and tough, which renders it fit for manufacturing purposes.
Nutria is the commercial term for the fur of the South American coypou. These fancy names have been adopted, no doubt, so that the goods may sell better. For instance, that beautiful new ”black sable”
cloak, which is so soft and silky, and which Mrs. Brown is showing with so much pride to her neighbor Mrs. Smith, is in reality nothing more than the unadulterated fur of that despised animal, the skunk.
Nevertheless, with the exception of the rare black fox, the skunk supplies the most beautiful and most durable natural black fur of North America. In the making up of this article, the white stripes in the fur are eliminated, as this is hair and not fur, as some people erroneously believe.
Select specimens of the cheaper fur, such as muskrat, opossum, etc., are prepared by skilled furriers to imitate the finer and more valuable furs; and when these craftsmen are through with their process of fixing, it would require the skill of an expert to distinguish the finished product from the genuine article which it imitates.
Though the manufacturing end of the business is of little interest to the trapper and small dealer in raw furs, I merely record the above statements to give the average reader an idea of how a large percentage of furs are skillfully camouflaged to improve their appearance and thus promote their sale.
In the following lines I shall endeavor to delineate, in an abridged form, the fundamentals and principles of ”fur grading”; this, for the guidance of the reader, who, I shall presume, knows nothing about the art of grading and a.s.sorting raw furs. Be it remembered that in this, like in any other art or craft, the past master of that art or craft has from long experience acquired, unconsciously or otherwise, a certain ”knack,” the absence of which forms the main obstacle in the path of the novice. This fact again calls to mind the truth of that age old maxim, ”Experience is the best teacher.” What I am about to set forth here on the subject is done with the view in mind of a.s.sisting the amateur muskrat trapper (in whose interest this is written) to know and determine the value of his fur, which will enable him to realize more money on his catch and to find a better market for his goods. In my own days of adolescence as an amateur mink and muskrat trapper, it has been my privilege to handle and examine the pelts of hundreds of muskrats. This study and experience, alone, have been invaluable to me in buying and selling raw furs.
PELT: The inspection of the pelt or flesh side of a piece of fur is generally the first thing the fur buyer does, for the reason that the furs of most of the different animals are stretched and s.h.i.+pped to market pelt side out. The degree of primeness of any piece of fur is largely determined by the appearance of the pelt. To pa.s.s as No. 1, a pelt must possess a white, pink or flesh color. When blue spots are apparent on the pelts, they are termed blue-pelts or unprime. The value of these depends on the amount of blue showing on the pelts.
When a pelt is possessed of but a few streaks or spots of blue, it is termed good unprime and goes into grade No. 2. The No. 3, or poor unprime, are those where the degree of primeness covers 40 per cent or more of the pelt. Any peltries below this plane of primeness are of little or no value.
With the exception of the muskrat and one or two others, the pelts of fur bearers are generally strictly prime during the latter part of November and the months of December, January and February, though occasionally an animal is caught during the latter part of November or early December whose pelt is not strictly prime, but these are exceptions. From this it can be readily seen that the appearance of blue-pelts in a trapper's collection of furs is due to early and late trapping. This trapping out of season should not be encouraged, and is now illegal in most states.
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