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Dedicated to Keeping New Zealand Cleaner and Greener!
Skinning and Tanning
Now with streaming video!
- contains graphic images of dead and mutilated possum carcasses!
Okay - here's the truth :-)
Logan shot this massive possum, but we couldn't skin it for a few days. So - I stuck it in the freezer - which would be okay, but Logan turned up one night ready to film the skinning technique, meaning I had to take 'Bettsey' down to the church and try to thaw her out under the hot water boiler!
It gets worse. Actually - Logan and I decided to officially label the following videos BLOOPERS!
Notice how her paw on the right is still frozen solid! (I can still smell the stench of boiled possum :-)
Left: Preparing and cutting prior to skinning Right: How not to skin an Opossum :-)
Step One - Five Minutes:
Make sure the possum is cold before skinning, preferably left overnight. String the possum up by the rear legs, like in the photo above, and cut from one foot to the other - cutting also around each rear paw. Where the cut intersects the anus, cut up the length of the tail (use your fingers to get under the skin of the tail by the anus, and carefully strip the skin off the length of the tail. Now pull the skin down the possum towards the head, like a sock! Just pull it right down to the head, and when you reach the front paws, cut around them too, and pull the skin right off the head - you'll need to trim away where the ears are attached to the head.
What you have left is a tube of skin inside out. Using a marker pen - draw a line right up the center of the body and out along the front legs, and cut with scissors. Note: If you skin a possum but can't strip/tan it immediately, just put it in the tanning solution and then strip (water blast) the fatty layer away when you are ready!
Step Two - Fifteen Minutes:
Lay the skin on a concrete drive and using a water blaster, remove the layer of fatty tissue. Finally, turn the skin over and give the fur a light wash with the blaster.
Step Three - Five Days:
Put the skin immediately in tanning solution. I bought mine from serious Shooters for around $24. Mix 50mls with 3.5 liters of water, mixing in a couple of large spoonfuls of salt. Leave to soak for around five days, remove skins and wash thoroughly in clean water/detergent - then lay out in a cool dry place to dry. I reuse the tanning solution for up to 10 skins.
Don't skin a warm animal, the fur pulls out.
Don't wash a batch of skins in the family clothes washing machine (and get caught!)
Don't dry the skin in the sun, it will go stiff.
