I was looking in the archives and came up with only a few posts on actual gland removal. I'm hoping to create a post with pictioral and videos as well as written paragraphs about gland removal for trappers who have limited experience finding and removing glands from fox/coyote/bobcat/rat/beaver...etc I would encourage all to throw in their 2 cents on this one. I'll start...
I start skinning a rat by drying it out and then opening it up from foot to foot like this as well as cutting off both front feet right away.


I then cut around each leg and around the back of the tail and pull down a bit.


On spring rats like this one there are engorged glands on the stomach that I remove, bottle and use in my lures.



I like to clean skin my rats as best as possible. As I pull the fur down I cut off as much fat and muscle as I can all except the saddle. Once down to the legs cut carefully and use mostly pulling to remove around the front legs.

I tend to go slower around the head and eyes because the skin is clingier to the neck and skull. Make sure you don't cut the eye holes too big.


Here's a skinned out rat. As I put it on the stretcher I cut off all excess fat and muscle with great care.




There! A finished rat ready to dry.

so they don't have that much for glands in the fall and also not so much on muskrats but on other critters i have a hard time cutting the eye holes out does it come with practice since i'm inexperienced or do i need to do something different thanks jd

I run my blade along the skull, not the pelt when cutting the eyes. Cutting a skull no problem, cutting too big of eyeholes one swift kick in the arse.

witrapper ... Thank You!
Have never done much in glands 'cept for castors/sacs. Have really wanted to do more this year, and have thought about a post like this. Hopefully it works out.

ya i hear ya there i kicked myself in the butt plenty of times this year mostly fleshin but ya live and ya learn i guess do you just slide your knife or do you swipe it

I slide it with the blade pretty much perpendicular to the skull.

hey witrapper, how do you preserve the gland after removal, lets say to market them. Approximately how many rats to get a pound of fresh gland?

i'll give that a try next year thanks witrapper can you do one on coyotes next that would be great

Skratmandoo-It depends on my market. If it's to a big-time lure maker then I freeze dry. If it's to fellow trappers then I dehydrate and freeze. I usually just freeze mine until I make some lures and dry them out for 3 days before grinding.

how do you freeze dry em

I have a mini freeze drying machine. Bought it from a chemistry materials supplier magazine.

I just sold my 2 full quart jars of Red Fox glands to a lure maker for $50. All I did was freeze them.

Can I get one of the mods to sticky this to the top?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4mv91_national-outdoor-show--muskrat-skin_events

A couple of years ago I changed the way I skin I pull the pelt over the head first the pull it down the belly from the head I rarely ever tear the belly open these days kina like the young lady does in the vid HTH

and heres a guy that does it the way I used to do it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sS_A-jjg1w

I save Weasel glands for lure use. While they are tiny and it takes a bunch to have any volume they are quite aromatic !


You can see the two small yellow peas next to the vent. I grab the vent with a tweezers and raise it slightly. The glnds will also raise slightly and you can slide a sharp exacto knife under them. It does not hurt at all to take a short length (3/8") of intestine with them.
The whole package gets dropped in a jar keeping the glands wet with a little glycol and store them in the freezer. It would take 100 Weasels to fill an ounce jar. Weasel glands make an excellent K-9 curiosity lure and work very well to grab the attention of any passing Mink.

ttt

looks good them coming.. any for beaver or yote?

another way shown clearer to get at those rat glands HTH

Don't post those photos -- some anti might see them!

Jim

why not post these photos? this is a big part of trapping.