CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 



SKINNING, CURING AND SHIPPING FURS 



When a trapper has succeeded in taking an animal 

 in his trap the next operations are the preparation 

 of the skin so that it can be handled by the fur 

 trade; namely, the skinning the pelt off the carcass; its 

 drying, so that it may be properly "cured;" and the pack- 

 ing and shipping of the collection of skins that the trapper 

 may have accumulated by his endeavors in the woods and 

 marshes. 



There are two ways of skinning and curing a fur animal, 

 depending on the species. It is either dried "open" or 

 "cased". The raccoon, beaver and bear should always have 

 their skins taken off the body open, that is, so the entire 

 skin can be stretched flat on a board. 



The alternate way is to case the skin. All skins of the 

 muskrat, mink, otter, weasel, opossum and skunks should 

 be cased and placed on stretchers, with the pelt side out 

 and the pelage or fur inside. In other words, the animal's 

 skin is turned inside out for this operation. While the 

 skins of the fox, wildcat and wolf are also cased, they 

 should be dried on a stretcher with the fur on the outside. 



The accompanying illustrations of the different Louisi- 

 ana skins will show the proper methods of curing or drying 

 better than written words. 



How to Prepare an Open Pelt 



To take the skin off a raccoon open, the trapper 

 should cut the skin down the belly, down the back of the 

 hind legs, and then on the inside of the fore legs. Aided 

 by a sharp knife, the skin should be torn from the flesh, 

 working from the belly to the back, removing the tail bone 

 from its covering, cutting the skin on the lower side if 

 necessary. Care should be exercised in skinning the head 

 skin, which should never be cut off, as it depreciates the 

 value of the pelt. 



