Beaver hide

[TSAMP]

Been scrapping my own hides this season and the learning curve hasn't been too bad. Have about 5 at the moment and noticed a darkish spot on two of them. On the fur side the hair appears matted and doesn't fluff like the surrounding area. It isnt all that noticeable but if u run ur fingers through it you can find it.

At first I thought it may have been knotted and damp when I put it on the board. I've noticed some guard hair missing in those areas also. What say you?

 

[kcruz]

First thing I thought about when I read the matted fur part was that it was set on the board wet. I have only done a few, but when I was reading up on it that's one of the things a lot of people said gave them issues. I don't have any reasoning for the dark spots though. I have heard that depending on the time of year the beaver was trapped will affect the color of the leather, but since its just in some spots I'm not really sure. Curious to see what others say.

 

[WCB]

Looks like unprimed fur to me. When did you catch it? I would rule out bites or similar since they are so large. One thing also and this is just my experience. If that white is all left on Borax get it off. Not the greatest for tanning and if you send it for sale might lesson the grade.

For any thing I have put up Coyote, Fox, coons, rats, beaver, skunks etc I have never used borax on the leather side. If you need to soak up some moisture or need it for grip use saw dust. get as much as you can. Only time I have used borax is spot treatment of getting blood out of fur and I make sure I wash it all out.

 

[TSAMP]

These were caught in the last month in the Midwest.

The white is from a course salt. I've experimented using it on the face area to help dry out quicker around the lips and whiskers that are more difficult to flesh. None of these will be sold off.

I don't know that its a big deal, just was more curious is all.

 

[wytx]

No need to salt if you get them fleshed correctly.
Put them on a board to dry after fleshing with the hide pulled out on the nails , away from the board, hair down.
Beavers sold well this year at FHA auction.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I never found much of that in Feb but by march I would start to find injuries from beaver fights during breeding.

The worst I ever saw was a super blanket that was very prime. Everything was fine when I fleshed and stretched it but as it dried the pelt shredded. It had been caught by a Mtn Lion and shredded from its front legs to its butt. As it dried the pelt shrunk and it ripped along scar tissue lines. I went from wooppee to scrap in three days. Biggest beaver I ever caught and had to throw it out.

 

[TSAMP]

Put a few more up this weekend. Ive just been eyeballing them and recently got the stencil to mark up sizes on the boards. Sure look alot better this way.

 

[Trapper330]

Could be a rub, spot where they rub against den entrance coming and going. usually on back of neck or on their back somewhere.

 

[TSAMP]

Thought I'd update this as I got a few pelts back. No issues with the coloration mentioned above. I did not notice any color differences initially but one pelt really stood out after tanning.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Over the years of trapping Montana, I discovered quite a variance in pelt color and texture. Some in northern Washington are nearly black and curly. Idaho and western mt look like your dark one. In eastern montana they look like coffee creamer.

 

[wytx]

They turned out nice, good job.
If you want you can spritz them with water and block them out flat to dry again, it is supposed to take the curl out of the edges.

 

[TSAMP]

I got a few more back that I had professionally tanned. They turned out much softer.

 

[TSAMP]

I also got a 70 lber that's almost bigger than a bear I killed.

 

[jmez]

Grease burn and hair slipped over that spot.

Sent from my moto g power 5G - 2023 using Tapatalk

 

[Smtn10pt]

Was the beaver with the dark spots caught in a bodygrip trap? The marks may be from fighting the trap.

 

[musty]

Nice job. It's always exciting getting fur back from the tannery. Are you planning on using them for a project or garment, or just as wall hangers?