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You are correct fishkrane, if you salt a hide, let it dry, THEN you can store it in a freezer if you want till you can send it to be tanned or try to tan it yourself. Otherwise, just flesh the skin, and freeze it as is in a plastic bag till you are ready to tan it yourself or whatever your plans are.
Tundragriz, I'd suggest not debating with Paul C! He is a seasoned, well known, well thought of, taxidermist. I am sure he does or has done game from all over the world ( and not just birds!). And I have to agree with him, since I too am a taxidermist, though with only half his years of experience.
North American hides- I've seen it plenty of times when I leave something up into may in my back salting room- the native dermestids and their larvae, and fur moths, get into stuff. They like air dried the most, but they also attack salted hides with glee. It is always my personal stuff left late like this, so not to worry about customer hides being messed up- by that time all customer hides are at a tannery, back from a tannery, or I've tanned it myself and the wet tanned hide is in a freezer. My spare foxes and customer's unwanted elk backhides and whatnot are last on the list.
What I do, is store the salted and dried skins in a freezer if I cannot start tanning on them by may. I also have alot of borax sprinkled around the workshop!
African skins- ask any taxidermist who has ever dealt with african skins, and they will tell you how bad many of them are. Shipments come in after a year stored in some hot african warehouse by a not so good prepping company or taxidermy "factory", and hides are riddled with bug damages, aren't prepped properly, are missing ears and hooves ( chewed off by rodents or plain cut off by careless skinners), and may also be grease burned. Even the best prepped hides, stored properly, and shipped in a more timely manner, often have some bug damage. Each crate has to be disinfected and bug sprayed for a reason after clearing customs. For a taxidermist to directly recieve crates from customs/brokers, they must be USDA lisc'd with a proper facility. Many taxidermist just have the cleared crates shipped from the port of entry to a USDA lisc'd tannery, which then does the disinfection/bug spray process, and also tans the hides.
tanneries: Reputable ones have large cold storage facilities to store the hundreds to thousands of hides before any tanning processing can be started on them. Mainly these coolers operate in the warmer months, or year round if the tannery is located in someplace like TX or FL. The purpose of these coolers is to PREVENT BUG DAMAGE to dry salted hides( bugs don't like such cold), keep rodents away( mice and rats also prefer it warmer), and to keep greasy hides like bears from getting grease burnt.
It is true a salted dried hide can keep indefinatly IF you keep bugs and rodents away from it.
For anyone who wishes to clean their own turkey/grouse/etc tails and fan them out to dry, to preserve a deer tail,etc:
bird tails: clean as much meat and fat off as possible, I mean really pick it clean, but leave the connective tissues instact. Wash the tails if dirty, and allow the feathers to dry and preen them with your fingers. Apply borax liberally to the tissues and end quills, stake the tail out spread open on cardboard or styrofoam sheets, and allow to dry.
deer, fox/coyote, squirrel tails: tails must be skinned out, split the entire way. Deer often have some fat and meat at the top, so this needs scraped off. Squirrel tails also need to be split, at least partway, and with a pinhole made at the end. Fox/coyote tails need split all the way to the end. Coyote tails usually have some fat at the top, also grey foxes may have fat there. This needs to be fully removed. Tails should be washed, then fluffed out to be dry to mostly dry. Apply borax liberally to the flesh side, and with squirrels use a wire to push borax down through the whole tail down to the pinhole. Pin out the tails to cardboard etc to dry. Fluff some borax into the fur as well, getting it down to the base of the fur, then shake the tail lightly.
20 Mule Team borax can be bought at most grocery stores, and is usually found in the laundry section.
If you are unsure how to do these items properly, then take them to a reputable taxidermist.
Also NEVER air dry deer or other feet thinking they will hold up. Bugs plain love air dried feet. Professional mounting or freeze drying is recommended. In my case I freeze dry them, and they are prepepd by being soaked in a borax solution, and they also have dried borax fluffed into the underfur.
Bugs hate borax! It dries them out to dead, or kills them if they eat any of it.
Tundragriz, I'd suggest not debating with Paul C! He is a seasoned, well known, well thought of, taxidermist. I am sure he does or has done game from all over the world ( and not just birds!). And I have to agree with him, since I too am a taxidermist, though with only half his years of experience.
North American hides- I've seen it plenty of times when I leave something up into may in my back salting room- the native dermestids and their larvae, and fur moths, get into stuff. They like air dried the most, but they also attack salted hides with glee. It is always my personal stuff left late like this, so not to worry about customer hides being messed up- by that time all customer hides are at a tannery, back from a tannery, or I've tanned it myself and the wet tanned hide is in a freezer. My spare foxes and customer's unwanted elk backhides and whatnot are last on the list.
What I do, is store the salted and dried skins in a freezer if I cannot start tanning on them by may. I also have alot of borax sprinkled around the workshop!
African skins- ask any taxidermist who has ever dealt with african skins, and they will tell you how bad many of them are. Shipments come in after a year stored in some hot african warehouse by a not so good prepping company or taxidermy "factory", and hides are riddled with bug damages, aren't prepped properly, are missing ears and hooves ( chewed off by rodents or plain cut off by careless skinners), and may also be grease burned. Even the best prepped hides, stored properly, and shipped in a more timely manner, often have some bug damage. Each crate has to be disinfected and bug sprayed for a reason after clearing customs. For a taxidermist to directly recieve crates from customs/brokers, they must be USDA lisc'd with a proper facility. Many taxidermist just have the cleared crates shipped from the port of entry to a USDA lisc'd tannery, which then does the disinfection/bug spray process, and also tans the hides.
tanneries: Reputable ones have large cold storage facilities to store the hundreds to thousands of hides before any tanning processing can be started on them. Mainly these coolers operate in the warmer months, or year round if the tannery is located in someplace like TX or FL. The purpose of these coolers is to PREVENT BUG DAMAGE to dry salted hides( bugs don't like such cold), keep rodents away( mice and rats also prefer it warmer), and to keep greasy hides like bears from getting grease burnt.
It is true a salted dried hide can keep indefinatly IF you keep bugs and rodents away from it.
For anyone who wishes to clean their own turkey/grouse/etc tails and fan them out to dry, to preserve a deer tail,etc:
bird tails: clean as much meat and fat off as possible, I mean really pick it clean, but leave the connective tissues instact. Wash the tails if dirty, and allow the feathers to dry and preen them with your fingers. Apply borax liberally to the tissues and end quills, stake the tail out spread open on cardboard or styrofoam sheets, and allow to dry.
deer, fox/coyote, squirrel tails: tails must be skinned out, split the entire way. Deer often have some fat and meat at the top, so this needs scraped off. Squirrel tails also need to be split, at least partway, and with a pinhole made at the end. Fox/coyote tails need split all the way to the end. Coyote tails usually have some fat at the top, also grey foxes may have fat there. This needs to be fully removed. Tails should be washed, then fluffed out to be dry to mostly dry. Apply borax liberally to the flesh side, and with squirrels use a wire to push borax down through the whole tail down to the pinhole. Pin out the tails to cardboard etc to dry. Fluff some borax into the fur as well, getting it down to the base of the fur, then shake the tail lightly.
20 Mule Team borax can be bought at most grocery stores, and is usually found in the laundry section.
If you are unsure how to do these items properly, then take them to a reputable taxidermist.
Also NEVER air dry deer or other feet thinking they will hold up. Bugs plain love air dried feet. Professional mounting or freeze drying is recommended. In my case I freeze dry them, and they are prepepd by being soaked in a borax solution, and they also have dried borax fluffed into the underfur.
Bugs hate borax! It dries them out to dead, or kills them if they eat any of it.
