I need to send a badger to a tannery to get tanned for a rug mount. Does anyone know of a good place? The lips are split but the ears aren't turned. It's been rough fleshed and salted and is frozen now. I need to know of a good place, if they'll turn the ears for me, and are reasonably priced. Any info will help. Thanks.
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I sure hope you didn't freeze a salted hide. If you did, it isnt'. Get it out of there and let the salt work.
You shouldn't freeze a salted hide, because it will not freeze solid with the salt on it and you will actually run into some problems with hair slippage. It works better to skin, freeze the green capes / skins, then thaw when ready to prep for tanning. Only salt after everything has been fleshed, split, and turned.
Have you turned ears before? Just go ahead and do it yourself and do it slowly. If you don't know how to turn the ears, this might not be a specimen that you want to send to a tannery anyway, so give it a try.
As far as tanneries go for future reference, I would recommend the Wildlife Gallery, as the work they do is second to none!
Regarding your comment about reasonably priced Easton, just keep in mind that the old saying, "you get what you pay for" applies to all products and services, taxidermy and tanning included.
I see we were typing at the same time..lol Your post wasn't here when I was writing mine.
To expect a tannery to do extra work, and do it cheaply is a bit unrealistic. Tanneries that have to do extra fleshing, and turning charge for it. and they are very proud of their time. About 45.00 an hour. oh by the way. They don't rush it.
The thing is I rough fleshed it first, salted it, shook of most of the salt and then froze it.
That's a very big taboo in handling furs and hides.
Will stop rot help it from slipping?
galcier fur dressings...(406)755-8121 is a great place to send your hides. they are in montana and do excellent work. you can call them and they will give you all the advice you need in caring for your hides and will give you an estimated price for the extra work you want them to do. now..in most cases they charge 55.00 per hour..but they will tell you the time spent and the estimated total cost for turning the ears and tanning the hide. hope this helps.
as for turning the ears...it's not difficult and will save the hair on the ears from slipping if turned and salted. to do this..simply begin seperating the hide from the cartilage very slowly with a small knife. now the blade does not need to be extremely sharp! just sharp enough to assist in the seperation. work the skin slow and easy. feel with your fngers as you move along. when you get to the seam where the hide and cartilage come together..you should see a grey to black colored line. feel with your fingers carefully as you work. if you get a small hole in the ear..no problem..continue unitll the ears have been turned and salt dry the hide. once yu get the hde back from the tannery..simply sew the holes up..i use unwaxed dental floss then color th floss with a majic marker to conceal the material. agan i hope this helps. jim
It's been said time and time again. Good Luck Dan Hudzik