Putting up my first red fox and i’d like to have him tanned. Watched Coon Creek’s fur handling video and he pulls the ear cartilage out but makes it seem optional. I watched Leggett’s fox trapping video and I don’t remember them pulling the ears. Should I or shouldn’t I pull the cartilage?

I never have but It might b a good Idea If your going to have It tanned.

If you are having it tanned for a wall hanger I would not remove the cartilage but definitely spit the ear.

The auctions or maybe even furbuyers want pelts that will be used for garments processed in certain ways that eliminate handling damage and or possible spoilage. Wall hangers do not meet this criteria. Don't cut off legs, rip out ear cartilage, remove lower lip, etc for your wall hangers, or if you are planning to sell tanned hides as wall hangers.

What does splitting the ear entail?




It’s going on my wall. So leave legs long, lower jaw on, and split ears?

Splitting the ears means separating the back skin of the ear from the ear cartilage either with a knife or a special tool that is inserted and expands to separate the two.

On wall hangars I usually only split them about halfway and they dry fine and do not slip during tanning. For taxidermy they must be fully split.

I could never understand why you would leave the front legs on a animal that was going to be used as a wall hanger. The front legs don't show anyway.

I have seen quite a few wall hangers where they split the hide down each leg and open the hide up. Most have been done poorly but i have seen quite afew of these. When they don't have front legs and are put up like this they look kinda goofy. Total personal opinion on that and I am no expert on fur handling but just my opinion.

Searched around for a tannery and actually found a guy that’s within an hour and a half of me.Called the guy and he told me to split em at least 3/4 the way and salt the hide instead of boarding it. Was kinda nervous about it, but it was fairly easy. Thanks for the help everyone.