A Secret To Success...Maybe?

I read and hear alot about hair slippage on the inner ears of Fox,Yotes and many small mammals, Well I had that problem on a Yote I tanned last year.

I dont know about the rest of you but if I am going to mount a Yote or Fox etc. I prefer to skin the animal to my likings, therefore the animal is brought to me whole,I will usually inspect the animals condition then tag, bag and freeze before I do anything else.

Now Common sense will tell you, The ear is very thin and its going to thaw and sweat and of course warm up before any other area on the animal, right? This got the wheels turning and the Smoke rolling,("THATS A SCARY THOUGHT") what precautionary measures can I take to prevent the ears from slipping. I had several ideas and found this to work best so far: Heres a list of what you need.

Paint thinner or acetone, Ace Bandage, Clean Rag, 2 1-gallon size zip lock baggies or 2 large ice packs THAWED, and water if using baggies.

Now for my procedure:

1. With a clean rag wipe the inner ears down with the Thinner or Acetone. (Removes Moisture)
2. Fill Baggies 1/3 full of water(unless using Ice packs).
3. Lay the Thawed packs or baggies on the ears.
4. Wrap the bandage around the head and packs to hold them in Place
5. Bag and Freeze.

Now when your ready to skin ,you can skin everything out but save the head for last, remove the wrap and Ice Packs and the ears will still be frozen, skin head out turn and salt.

I have used this Method on my last 4 Yotes and Had no problems with the ears slipping yet, But it may not be the Method I used it may also be the Saftee-Acid....Maybe?

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It'll Be More Simple Just to Use

STOP-ROT

IMO

You are far better off skinning the animal and turning the ears right away and salting and drying. No need to take up all that precious freezer space. If the ears seem iffy , use Stop Rot as reccomended above. I have'nt lost ears in so long I cant remember . If someone brings me animals that were frozen too long , I send them to the next guy as I know they need the problems and I don't. That being said - Thanks for sharing your ideas and keep experimenting , you never know ? b.bishop

Rick, you'd better put that car in reverse

You're ASKING for your ears to slip with all that. Do as Brad suggested and skin them out immediately. The Stop Rot will help, but the less you mess around with those ears, the better your chances of success.

The biggest problem

a taxidermist faces is " procrastination " wether it be by the customer or the taxidermist . When you are talking about animals and preservation , procrastination will be your downfall. Your motto should be - " there is no time like the present" and get it done and off your mind.

you guys are gonna LOVE this one...I should charge you

Brad and george are 100% correct, no matter what, skin them. Thats a no-brainer, even with part-timers, a speciamn is perishable, even if you have to get up for work in the am.

But hes going to freeze it anyway, we know this. So, the logic suggests that the ears will thaw first, right? Rick is correct here. BUT...the ears are the FIRST thing to freeze when he puts it in the freezer. So, what I do is, if I feel I have an ear that might slip? Take the animal out of the freezer to thaw, and stick its head into a bucket of pickle solution. Those ears thaw first, well give em a shot of pickle almost like an astringent. I prefer to skin right away like Brad noted, but this is a good alternative.

Bill, I owe you a beer

Thanks for the info. I've got a grey fox in the freezer now,just waiting to slip! But I will skin my next dogs as they come in! Thanks a 12 pack. (What's your brand?)

the only thing you forgot Bill

was the saying " there is STILL no guarantees !" LOL

skin

Skin turn rough flesh and krowtann2000. It will save most questionable skins. I recently had a grey that already was slipping on hind leg and the krowtann saved it.