making use of roakill -"tanning" hides

[crampicide]

*** first and foremost, i would like to say i am strongly AGAINST killing animals for fur, killing animals in any inhumane way for ANY reason. i have learned skinning techniques from my "native" father, who is a respectable man that thanks his animal friends before they feed him and his family, and uses every part of the animal he has killed- he does this because it is his way of staying healthy without contributing to the slaughter houses and mass produced, inhumane meat industry.***


I get sad when i see smashed up critters... it is a shame to see their life force wasted on the side of a road without respect.

so..if youve got a tough stomach, and if the corpse is fresh (you cant do this if the animal is rotten or is over a day dead!) id say even 10 hours is pushing it... make sure you avoid touching any of your mucus membranes, and wear gloves or wash your hands and nails *really* well after handling, or you can pick up some fun diseases.

to get its hide:

you need:
-ashes (from a fire obviously) or lye..ashes are better
-a skinning knife
-a dull knife
-fire
-a pot big enough for the hide
-rope
-borax (optional, i recommend it tho)

1. to skin the animal, with sharp skinning knife cut desired amount- to get the full hide make incisions as if you were drawing a stick figure in the shape of the animal, on the animal. usually, the shape of a christian cross works, but it is helpful to add another diagonal cross from its backlegs, over the groin, to its other leg. it is a bit tough, dont be alarmed. pull the skin and fur off.

(give this animals body burial rites as soon as you have finished, if you want to thank it.)

2. once you have managed to pull off the skin and fur, poke 4 holes symmetrically in 4 "corners" of hide, stretch the hide between anything that will support/stretch it (trees, poles, whatever) use the more dull knife to scrape off remnants that have clung to tissue. once it is cleaned, have a boiling pot of water ready. throw in a good amount of ashes ..lots! (several handfuls) and boil the hide until the fur has fallen off.

3. remove hide from water, wash it again with borax (natural cleaning agent available pretty much anywhere. you dont have to do this, but it makes the hide more stretchy if you want to make moccasins or something)

4. stretch hide out again to dry. pull and tug at it, work it with your hands to help soften it. now you have hard earned, guilt free leather that you can use for just about anything, and you paying some respect to the animal that needlessly died.



you can also remove claws and teeth, you can make jewelry or buttons and stuff with them.



i hope this post doesn't offend anybody, and if anyone tries it out let me know how it went for you. again, it is too late to use this technique on a rotten corpse.

hope it helps, leather can be useful.

also if you have better skinning technology please share, because this is pretty bare bones primitive, but it works
..

 

[Pickles]

Interesting. I thought this process would be much more complicated. I'm inspired, I'm definitely gonna start keeping an eye out for roadkill to try this out. Thanks for the detailed post!

 

[Gudj]

Usefull information.

Interesting. I thought this process would be much more complicated. I'm inspired, I'm definitely gonna start keeping an eye out for roadkill to try this out. Thanks for the detailed post!

Actually Pickles, it can be even easier than this.

My very basic way is to
A) Skin the animal "sock style", with the fur being cut around each paw, then one big cut from the inside of the right rear paw to the inside of the left rear paw (also cut around the anus) and then just pull the skin of like a sock.

B) Take all remaining flesh and fat off of the skin by scraping (VERY IMPORTANT)

B) Cut the back of the skull and remove all brain matter

C) Warm up some water and mix it with brains to make a light goop.

D) stretch the skin good, and rub the goop into the inside of it really good. Let it dry, and repeat until the brain soup is gone.

E) Keep it stretched while it's drying and play with it and stuff, then smoke it over some rotting wood, and you got yrself a skin.


...I guess that isn't really simpler than Crampicides way. There are a hundred different ways to do this, and alot of different tanning agents (brains, bark, acorns, lye, shit you buy, ect.).
So try it all and see what works best for you. This is a good thing to learn I think, and although I haven't eaten meat in close to 10 years, I think it's good to get over all the "icky" animal stuff on my terms before I am faced with it in a survival situation.

Also, be warned... the first time I did this, it was a rabbit and I had a much stronger-than-expected emotional reaction during the skinning stage. It might just have been me, but be prepared for that.

Oh, also be aware that picking up roadkill is illegal in most places[that i've looked into].

 

[finn]

Oh, also be aware that picking up roadkill is illegal in most places[that i've looked into].

In practice, this generally only extends to deer, just in case you have a psycho who hunts via ramming. (I guess this has happened?) I have not heard of anyone getting in trouble with smaller animals like foxes, raccoons, rabbits, etc.

 

[Pickles]

That seems simple enough. A sock. I'll remember that.

In practice, this generally only extends to deer, just in case you have a psycho who hunts via ramming. (I guess this has happened?) I have not heard of anyone getting in trouble with smaller animals like foxes, raccoons, rabbits, etc.

Good to know. How do you normally carry the animal back to your camp? I would assume a trash bag but has anyone ever been without one and had to improvise?

Also, how does the fur fare through this ordeal?

 

[hobogirl]

ok this thread is grossing me out. I was hungry but I just lost my appetite

 

[Gudj]

That seems simple enough. A sock. I'll remember that.



Good to know. How do you normally carry the animal back to your camp? I would assume a trash bag but has anyone ever been without one and had to improvise?

Also, how does the fur fare through this ordeal?

If you do it my way, and don't get the brain on the hair side, then you will have a pelt.
You can shave it if you want.
I think crampicides way makes the hair fall out.


Edit: I would also like to add here that I am a total novice at this. It seems better to use crampicides method of submerging the skin in tanning agent to tan it from both sides at once, even if loses the hair.

 

[MiztressWinter]

No way in hell could I do this. I mean sure I COULD if it were a matter of life and death. But otherwise...

 

[Wolfeyes]

Used both techniques numerous times. If you would rather not use the brain tanning method, you can substitute egg whites(fry up the yolks for a tasty lunch) in place of the gray matter.

You can actually avoid poking holes in the corners by using a rock. Place the rock on the hide, wrap a bit of hide around it, then tie your stretching rope around it so that the bulge acts like a stopper. Less waste that way.

The tighter you stretch the hide while it's drying the faster it will dry. Remember to stretch from the middle too.

On the legality of picking up roadkill. It's pretty much only illegal to pick up endangered species. Even in areas where you can't legally pick up game animals, usually if a cop/warden/wildlife officer catches you, if you can show that you didn't kill the critter, they'll let you cart it off. Wardens/wildlife officers especially. 90% of those guys would rather see somebody put that animal to good use as opposed to incinerating it. That's just based on my experience though.

 

[oldmanLee]

Doesn't offend,it gives me heart that folks still take some thing seriously.
In the matter of the woodash version:be carefull.what you are doing with the ash is leaching out lye(the stuff they use in lye soap and other cleaners).it is effective,but can cause chemical burns to your skin,so either have a tough old hide like mine or use a stick to work the hide into the solution.It will strip the hair,and if you dont do the borax,you have made rawhide that is suitable for drumheads.Also rinse with plenty of clean water after.
As to brain tanning:the one thing that you might want to try is to cook up the brains,mash fine,and let it sit a day or so until it goes "off".To prevent bugs from ruining the hide,salt and roll it up,flesh side to flesh side.rinse,and work in the sour brains.After it cures the hide.rinse,strech and dry.Then start working the leather to soften.a nice color and scent can be acheaved by smoking the hide over a cedar smudge if you like.

 

[Pickles]

All very good advice guys. I'm actually going to print out this thread and bring it with me so I don't forget anything. I really appreciate all the useful information. Now whenever I see roadkill in the city, I think of this and look to see if the hide is salvageable. Haven't seen any intact hides yet. Also, I don't believe my roommate would appreciate me bringing dead squirrels into the apartment. Does make me think though.

As for the emotional thing, I used to have a huge problem with seeing dead animals (was actually a vegetarian for a time) but in Ghana, I saw a good number of slaughterings (chickens, goats, sheep, cows, etc.) and it really doesn't bother me anymore. I liked that there, they really did use every bit of the animal. They would sell the hides to leatherworkers for drum heads and such, cook the heads and eat the meat from them, eat all parts of the meat (liver, kidneys, intestines... and not just the poor, everyone would), eat the skin, eat the shells of crabs and prawns, even eat some bones, especially chicken bones, which are softer and fairly easy to eat. I picked up quite a few of these habits and continue to do these things when I can. Waste not!

 

[hobogirl]

I stumbled upon this article last week and was fascinated. Since then I found a racoon near the place I'm staying at and have made a hide out of it. haha coonskin cap here I come.

 

[Pickles]

Props to you, girl, that's awesome! Which method did you use?

 

[carlylanea]

wow I'm definitely gonna suck up my girlyness and try this! Thank you!

 

[xmaggotx]

when doing the method described originally in this thread (i have never used this exact method, but have some experience in making buckskin), you need to scrape off both all membrane from the inside of the animal skin (in addition to any fat and flesh left on) as well as the epidermis layer on the outside of the animal. both of these layers will prevent brain fat from penetrating the hide (another step that is ESSENTIAL to making a proper buckskin, that was left out) membrane and apidermis also tend to stiffen more when dry. also, ALWAYS smoke the hide with punky wood dry rot) when you have completed the rest of the steps. this will ensure that insects and various fungi and bacteria do not eat your hide.


the skining method gudj mentioned-tube skinning- is good for small animals IE squirrels, coons, opossums, etc. do not use the wood ash method when you are dealing with that type of animal. the skin on these animals is very thin, and if you remove the hair and membrane as well as the epidermis (how you are supposed to make buckskin) you will end up with a paper thin, translucent skin filled with holes. useless. so you need to free the anus, skin the animal (tube skinning may or may not be preferred depending on what you are making-just visualize how the pelt will come out depending on how you cut it.), wet scrape the hide, often you have to dry scrape the hide as well, then you have to brain it, stretch it CONSTANTLY until it is completely dry, and then smoke it. this process is not as easy as it sounds, and a lot can go wrong. that said, most problems can be fixed. instead of going into even greater detail about this, here are some great links.

www.primitiveways.com
http://dynamiteskills.blogspot.com/
www.urbanscout.org

also, for your first animal (it obviously depends on what you find), i do NOT recommend raccoons, or for that matter house cats, or opossums. coons in particular as well as opossums have an absurd amount of fat, and this makes it exceedingly tedious to flesh the hide. house cats are by far the most difficult animal to flesh that i've encountered. i have a good amount of experience in this area, so if anyone has specific questions, feel free to ask. i can also help you out with field dressing and butchering road kill.

 

[Pickles]

Thanks maggot! Printing that too.

 

[xmaggotx]

i would strongly suggest that you dont bother printing this thread out, as it does not provide adequate information for you to utilize, and end up with a usable/desirable end product. there are many things, like what type of scraping tool to use, how to properly skin an animal while leaving the membrane layer intact, etc, that are not covered here. instead i suggest printing out something from one of the links i posted above

 

[sprout]

Spent today skinning a roadkill raccoon with my friend. Surprisingly was mostly salvageable. Collected tons of bones, four paws, tail, skull, and a full hide.

 

[xmaggotx]

its such a bitch to peel the skin off the tail. some friends and i put on a primitive skillshare, and showed people (amongst other things) how to field dress, and skin a raccoon. we had two people holding the (mostly separated, all except the tail) skin, and two holding the actual body, and it was slipping all over the place haha but it came out good. biggest fucking coon i ever seen. good eatin. did you take the penis bone? i love that coons have penis bones. i want to shove one through my septum some day but gotta fucking pierce it first...also opossums their testicles in the same area that humans do, but their penises are behind the ass hole...wierd shit

 

[rusty]

ok this thread is grossing me out. I was hungry but I just lost my appetite

had the opposite effect on me, defiantly hungry now.