First let me say that I"m not an experienced taxidermist, I"m just trying to mount a few deer of mine to see how they turn out. I sent a cape off to be fleshed and tanned since I"m not very familiar with the tanning process. I just received it back and mounted the deer this evening when I noticed something that I know isn"t good. Around one of the ears there are bald white spots where the hair is missing, and if rubbed on more will fall off. The rest of the cape seems to be in ok shape, other than the numerous holes they put in it when they fleshed it. Is there something I can do to make this look better, or more importantly to stop it from loosing any more hair? Thanks for any help.
-Brandon
Return to Tanning Category Menu
Hair that is slipping cannot be stopped. "Stop Slip" or "Stop Rot" are products to use on questionable hides BEFORE they start slipping. Your experience is a prime reason you should never attempt to do taxidermy without understanding the concepts and be able to perform basic methods required of taxidermists. Having someone else do your tanning and fleshing doesn't cut it. You should learn those on those "practice" hides before you ever started. Sure, you'll have some holes and some tears and maybe some slipping, but you'll darn well understand how they came about and how to correct it from happening again. Most anyone can pull a skin over a preformed mannikin, but taxidermists learn quickly that there's a whole lot more involved than the gravy work.
All you can do is allow it to dry and use dyes to fill in missing hair patches..dyes are used a lot in rug making
Many taxidermists learned how to swear working behind a fleshing machine
nothing can be done but sew them holes up and get er mounted and drying before any more hair falls off
Thanks for the responses. What could cause this? I did everything right before it went to the tannery...could it be something they did? I searched the archives and sent the cape to a tannery that seemed to be reputable...I had 2 capes done and one was done good and the other is the one that is slipping.
George,
I'm curious as to what I could ahve done to prevent this from happening. Do some taxidermists not send their hides off for tanning? I sent the hide green and frozen solid, so what could I have done differently?
-Brandon
It should have been fleshed and salted and DRY before it was shipped. The only capes that I have ever had a problem with were capes that I knew were questionable before I sent them. But I have also had a lot of "questionable" capes come back in good shape too. Slipping is very seldom the tanner's fault, it is all in the handeling before they get them. And in a lot of cases, before we even get them in.
...BEFORE it goes to the tanner. Slipping is seldom the tanners fault. It happens before they get it from the taxidermist and in a lot of cases, before the taxidermist gets the skin in. The only problems that I have had were from capes that I knew were questionable before I sent them. But at the same time, my tanner has saved "questionable" capes for me too.
By sending your raw frozen cape you were taking a big risk, and in this case, it cost you the cape.
I was trying to answer both your posts to make sure you got the message. You don't usually need to repost something that you put in the wrong category. Most of us just use the RECENT button(just above SEARCH) and get everything current. I's sure that this won't be my last screw up either!
The tannery I sent them to offers a full service tan that included fleshing and tanning. I was instructed to send them green frozen overnight and they would handle the rest. I caped the deer out immediately after the kill and had it frozen right away. I then shipped it to them in an ice chest frozen solid just as I was told to do.
That way the only one responsible for the holes is you. It is usually very easy to tell the difference between holes that were put in while fleshing and those that are done on the shaving machine by the tanner. As for your cape, there are three possible answers.
1. When you froze the cape immediatly, you didn't let it cool first and trapped some heat that caused some slippage.
2. It thawed too much in transit.
3. Your "full service" tanner didn't get to the cape as soon as they should have.
There were good replys above,however "slipping"causation usually begins before the taxidermist receives it.many people transport the head in a black plastic bag in the back of a pickup. even frozen or on ice the "greenhouse effect" heats the bag up.the thinness of the ears allow them to thaw and warm,and even heat up.the ears are usually the highest point and heat rises.i tell my customers to keep heads in the shade,cold,and dry. it took awhile to figure this out.fill a black and a white or silver bag with air on a cold day,put them in the sun for 1 hour,you'll be amazed at temp. differential.
Go to the search. Somewhere there is a thread where George suggest cotton with clear rtv silicone to replace ear hair. Fleshing holes are normal from the tannery. Just sew em up before mounting . I also strongly suggest Epo-Grip if you're using ear liners.
Hope this helps. Peace- Jeff F.
Before you mess with the hair anymore. While the mount is drying, the hair follicles will snug up on the hair roots. This will prevent the hair from slipping as easily. Once dry, then groom.
HH