Softening tanned coyote face?

[WolfGirl]

I got a coyote face a while back with a kit I ordered (came with the face, tail, skull, feet bones, claws, teeth) the issue is, the ears and some parts of the face are hard and stiff. I've seen some suggestions about soaking it in water, but I'd think that would ruin the fur? I'm wanting to soften it up some and be able to have the ears kind of floppy, I dislike them all folded up against the face. Any suggestions that wouldn't harm the fur would be nice, it still has the nose skin as well, so it has to be safe for the nose too. I'm only used to working with skulls so I have no experience at all with tanning.

[WolfGirl]

Here's a picture of what I'm dealing with.

Close up of the folded ears


So is this a lost cause? I was thinking of trying to soak it in water+salt then put in some kind of form in the ears (such as cardboard) as it dries and see if they will set that way, but I have no idea how I could get the muzzle to stay straight and not all shriveled. Any help or advise would be appreciated. I'm not mounting it or anything, it's just a wall hanging.

[Keith Daniels]

You're just going to have to soak it, then you should be able to shape it when it dries again. Just cut some poster board and use big paper clips. Sandwich the ears between poster board and hold it together with the clips, you should be able to shape them doing that.

[cyclone]

Don't forget to put salt in that water. 

[WolfGirl]

Thanks for the advise, I'll try it. How long should I soak it in the salt water?

[PLTannery]

The ears will never be Soft and Floppy.  Cartilage will NEVER dry soft.  best you can hope for is that the most likely unturned ears on that face soak up enough so that you can reshape them and make them more upright.  Faces are hard to soften... and older garment tanned faces are even harder. But yes you should be able to soak and reshape the whole face. It may dry stiffer than it is right now though..

[WolfGirl]

Thanks for all the advise. The cardboard thing worked great and I'm pleased with the results

I used to cardboard form to keep the ears up and made a form type thing out of cloth and stuffing for the nose to make it dry shaped normal.
Btw what exactly does the salt do?

[Keith Daniels]

It just keeps the skin from swelling and possibly getting rubbery.

[gavinm95]

Soak in 8 oz. of common salt per gallon of water. Don't leave it in for more than a day.