98 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



" Now turn the skin back and carefully pull it off the body. 

 Use a knife to start the skin if it does not come off easily, but be 

 careful not to cut the pelt. Skin so that as little flesh and fat 

 adhere to the skin as possible. When the front legs are reached, 

 skin around them near the body and then push them backward 

 out of the skin — turn them inside out, as we might say. Skin out 

 the legs to the paws in the case of mink, keeping them on the skin; 

 for the other animals cut off the legs at the first joint. Skin care- 

 fully around the head, pushing the skull back through the skin 

 until the ears are reached; these should be cut off as near the skull 

 as possible, so that they remain attached to the skin. Then care- 

 fully skin around the eyes, not cutting the eyelids, and when the 

 mouth and nose are reached use care also. Do not pull the skin 

 off the head, but remove carefully, for the heads of some animals are 

 used in manufacturing the furs, and all skins have a better ap- 

 pearance if the head is skinned out with care." 



Skunks and raccoons present some special problems. They fatten 

 in the fall and go to their dens in cold weather. Therefore, those de- 

 signed for slaughter must be segregated from the breeders before cold 

 weather sets in or they cannot be captured without disturbing the nest. 

 After skinning, also, a large quantity of fat adheres to the skin. This 

 must be scraped off or it may heat and decompose the skin. Skunk 

 fat should be kept and rendered into oil. In baled shipments, also, 

 the grease of these skins is liable to injure other skins in the same 

 pack. They should be specially wrapped in burlap and, because of their 

 odour, it may be advisable to box the skunk skins separately. 



The flesh and fat are removed from skins by a dull knife or hatchet. 

 The skin is slipped on a fleshing board with dulled corners, having one 

 end in a grease pan and the other against the skinner's chest. The fat 

 is pushed off the skin towards the tail. Much scraping of the skin 

 is injurious, it being necessary to remove only the fat and loose flesh. 

 The tail may give trouble if it is not split and scraped. Sometimes 

 salt is dropped into it to prevent decomposition, but in no case is salt, 

 nor any other preservative, applied to any other part of the skin. Often 

 the tip of the tail is cut off to allow circulation of air inside and to 

 drain out the fat. 



Open skinning presents no difficulty. The legs are cut off at 

 the first joint and split up the inside to the slit wliich is cut along the 

 belly from the lower jaw to the vent. The tail is cut open to extract 

 the bone. 



The cased skins are stretched on a wedge-shaped board, fur 



Stretching side inwards. The edges of the stretching board are along 



the sides of the pelt, the dorsal surface of the pelt being 



