Here's the problem I just caught a fox in a snare and he's frozen. I have two questions. 1) the best way to thaw him to prevent bacteria growth as much as possible before skinning. I will probably send it to a tanner once it's skinned. 2) Any special tricks to strip the tail once it thaws. Last tail I did (maybe wasn't totally thawed) it ripped. Thanks in advance.
If you know the fox is fresh, you should be able to set it out one evening, and skin it the next morning without trouble.
order a Tail stripper -- they work great. (you can also use 2 sticks/pencils/screwdrivers/etc.)
good luck
Dave
The way I skin most of my mammel tails is by placing the butt-end of the tail in a vise. With the tail hanging down, I then place the rounded section of the pliers around the tail and then push down on the pliers with gentle pressure. This has worked great for me.
I use ordinary wire strippers on tails.
That's the problem. I used a tail stripper and the tail ripped. I have successfully stripped two since then but I don't want a repeat performance of the bad one. I don't know if the tail was a little frozen still or if it was damaged in some way.