First, I know coyote ears are used for coyote hearing.
Next, I’ve always left coyote ear cartilage in rather than take it out. My buyer doesn’t seem to care.

Third, flattened coyote ears on the pelt look nice, but beyond looks, I know of no function for keeping the ears on the pelt because I’ve never heard of a coyote garment that included the ears.

So, why to we spend time removing the cartilage from the ears And do ears on the pelt serve any value?

When I did fur put up for NAFA we just cut the whole ear off. I'm not telling you to do that but that's how we did It.
Like you said the ears are of no value.

Not removing the cartilage can cause slippage in the right conditions. If o thought I could get away with it on our coyotes I'd cut it off too like I do on beaver

My current buyer does not touch the ear cartilage on his put ups furs. I will likely mimmick what he is doing because he is cutting the checks. If I were to be sending to auction i would likely need to look into it more. It is a decent amount of work for something that means nothing. But if i thought i could get a better average with the cartilage taken out i would in two shakes.

No need to remove the ear cartilage,just separate it from the back of the ear and it will dry perfectly with no spoilage.
Takes less than 30 seconds on a fresh one to run your thumb up between the cartilage and the back of the ear.

I've wandered that myself. If a part isnt used why go to extra work for it. I sent a coyote to an auction without a face once. Dont think it affected the price. I've sold them without a tail also. Buyer said no worries, it wouldn't affect the price. But I understand about doing what the buyer wants.

A little Borax in the ear will keep it from slipping.

Cutting the entire ear off a raw coyote/fox pelt leaves it prone to damage during the dressing process.

The heat from your hands while removing it will cause slippage more often than not removing it at all. You won’t see it, it happens later in the tanning process. Just opening the ear should be all thats needed, though honestly I’m not sure why anything is needed.

Not likely.It takes seconds to remove the front of the ear,with cartilage attached and it will dry overnight,as a result.The reason for this,is the auction houses get plenty of animals where the ear spoiled and the slipping spread.The other issue is that buyers only have to suspect it could be a problem,later and that can affect what or if they will pay.Buyers also want the ears flat so they can sight down the hide from the nose end.FHA has good videos where they show and discuss how they want the hides put up.

Coyote heads have no value so I can't see how removing the ears would be a problem In the dressing process.

I get my coyotes off the boards after 3 days. Once you get that hide off the board you get air circulation through the mouth area. This will speed up drying time. I shove a large wedge In the mouth and one In from the tail end. Never removed cartilage and never had any problems.

I’m starting to think my definition of removing cartilage is different that everyone else’s. Disregard what I said, I was using the taxidermy definition.

I remove ear butt all the white I am not to worried about the rest of cartilage ,,, inside ear I removed and left on I think which you like the looks of.
Just like the guy that came up with this did.
But I can see why,,, if not got a good drying system going.