I've lost 2 bobcats now in the tanning process. I've tanned alot of my capes (elk, deer, sheep, coyotes, etc.) and never had a problem. The first 'cat I lost when I went to put the skin on the mannikin, large clumps of hair came off. I used Lutan F and followed the instructions exactly; I live in the Southwest so I don't have problems with humidity. I bought a replacement skin that had already been tanned. I then soaked that hide for about 45 minutes, then put it in a bag in the fridge at about 10:00 p.m. and got it out of the fridge the next morning at about 7:00 a.m., and it just fell apart in my hands; the feet fell off and so did one of the ears, but the hide looked good before I soaked it. What am I doing wrong? Is there a special trick to bobcats? I now have a third bobcat skin in the freezer, in a raw stat. I want to tan it, but before I do, I need to solve this problem.
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Just wondering....did you get the cats from the same place? If that is the case, I'm wondering if maybe the problem is the hides aren't being salted properly (rock hard) not allowing the hair to set properly. As for legs and ears falling off....seems like there could be another problem but I'm betting on something that's happening in the early stages (ie skinning, salting process)
If you didn't get them from the same place and you had a professionally tanned cat and a cat you tanned with Lutan F do the same thing.....well we are down to the soaking procedure. What EXACTLY did you soak them in....just plain water, water and salt etc?
I guess I have more questions than answers.....but one of my biggest questions would be....did the third cat come from the same place as the first two?
Mark
In the first case and we're not real sure here but it could be the cay had some bacteria growth on it and it sliped from that or the soaking was to long and the epidermis got way to wet and that will casue you some slippage.
The other hide sounds like acid swell. This is caused by a hide having to much acid it and was not neturlized properly. To prevent this from happing add a handful 4oz of salt to a gallon of water. This usually stops all acid swell.
Now for the thrid cat if it's skinned out get everything turned fleshed and salted. Then shake off the next day and resalt. Becareful with the ears they are the worst part and like to slip just by looking at them sometimes. Always wear gloves when skinning and turning the ears.
I like all my hides to be rock hard before I do anything else. To rehydrate I use Rittels ultra soft for this. After the hide is rehydrated it may only take an hour or more to rehydrate a cat. Drain it and place it in saftee-acid for three days. Maintain a PH of 2 or less. Take out drain for 15-30 min and shave the thick spots. Usually the back and the face of the cat needs this.
After all is done place back in the pickle for another day take out drain for 30 min and then place the hide in a bath of water to which you add 5oz of baking soda to 5 gallons of water. Neturlize it in the solution for about 15-20 min. Drain for thrity min and tan it.
The tans I use mainly is Liqua-tan or Rittels EZ-100. Both are great tans and if you like another use it. From there (liqua-tan )you can either wash the hide in tide, era detergent and mount it or freeze till you are ready.
If your using EZ-100 oil the hide let it sit overnight and do the same as above.
After I wash the hide let it drain for about 30 min I then throw it in the dryer NO HEAT with some towels in to take most of the moisture out of the hair. This will also fluff the hair up some and make a nicer mount. Hope this helps out some.
When I re-hydrate tanned skins, I use a pound of salt per gallon of water and a little dash of ProWash. All three cats from different sources. The cat I have now has been skinned and then frozen until I can get a handle on this problem. Thanks for the help.
TJT