83 
will not spoil the skin for a specimen, and will usually cut the spinal cord 
or paralyze the hind quarters so that no scent will be ejected. Any faint 
skunk odour will disappear from the skin in a few days, but if badly 
saturated the skin should be scraped and washed in gasoline, which 
removes the grease from the skin at the same time. A mild solution 
of vinegar (j? cup to 1 quart of water) is helpful in removing skunk odour 
from skins, clothing, and dogs. 
PELTING SKINS (FOR THE FUR TRADE) 
Cased Skins 
All skins of weasel, ermine, mink, marten, otter, muskrat, opossum, 
and skunk should be cased and dried on stretchers with the pelt side out 
and the fur inside. Fur buyers and game officials usually judge whether 
a skin is “prime," that is, taken in open season, by looking at the flesh 
side of the skin. If “prime" and the hair fully grown, the flesh side of 
the skin is a light creamy, whitish, or parchment colour, while “unprime” 
skins, taken out of season, show dark reddish, brownish, or blackish areas 
over the whole or part of the skin, due to blood and pigment cells at the 
roots of the new growing hair. The details of removing the skin for casing 
have been described on page 67. 
Skins of the fox, wild cat, lynx, and wolf are also cased and dried on 
stretchers (Figure 11), but before the skin has become too hard and stiff 
it should be turned so that the fur is on the outside. Sometimes part of 
the skin will need to be softened slightly with wet fingers or a damp cloth 
and worked and twisted a bit before it can be turned right side out. The 
skin should be hung up for a while to dry this superficial dampness before 
packing it away. Many northern trappers improve the appearance of 
their fox furs by suspending them by the head from a strong line at a 
safe height from the ground for a month or so during March, April, and 
May. The strong winds drive snow and sleet particles into the fur and 
remove particles of blood and dirt, and the frequent periods of bright sun- 
shine and snow glare have a cleansing and bleaching effect. The trapper 
should be careful to split the tail sheath of all skins that are hung up 
exposed to snow, as the snow in melting may run down into the sheath and 
cause the hair to fall out. Any furs that have become mussed by baling, 
packing in bags, or otherwise, may usually be freshened and fluffed out by 
hanging in the wind for a few hours. 
Some fur trappers mistakenly overstretch the skin of a fur animal 
trying to make a large skin out of a medium or small one. This trick 
does more damage than good as an overstretched skin becomes thin and 
the fur less dense, causing reduction in sale price. On the other hand, if 
the skin is allowed to wrinkle, it will not dry properly and the hair is apt 
to slip off in the creases. 
Open Skins, or Flat Skins 
Bear, beaver, raccoon, wolverine, and seal should have the skins 
removed by opening so that the entire skin may be stretched flat on a 
board or on the ground. 
To prepare an open pelt, cut the skin down the abdomen, from the 
lower lip to the tip of the tail, and from the feet cut up the back of the hind 
legs, and on the inside of the fore legs to join the median cut. In cold 
