What is best practice on freezing animals before skinning? Am I good to freeze smaller animals such as rats, ermine, mink for a few weeks before skinning? Or will this ruin the pelt? What about larger animals such as coon, fox, coyote? And what is the best way to thaw them before skinning? Probably not best to thaw them at room temp and bringing temp of the animal up too fast?

I’m not a fan of it. I prefer to skin then freeze green. If freezing whole let them get to room temp before freezing. You can expect green skin against the stomach on anything that eats meat. Thawing out at room temp or as slow as you can is ok.

Skin then freeze with fur on outside.

I got in a bind the other day and had to freeze an otter. You better have two days to defrost and babysit it. I will say it skinned easier but it was a pain waiting for it to defrost. As far as green hides go I just put them in the fridge for a day or two no issues on fleshing them right away

Could a rat or mink hang in a garage for a day and a half before skinning with max temp being 40 degrees briefly? Otherwise temps in the mid 30s without having to worry about ruining anything?

Your making more work for yourself. If at all possible skin then freeze. With practice it will take under 5 mins to skin most small animals.

A day or 2 at 40ish degrees is usually fine. Lay the rats on their backs on the floor.

I wouldn’t be able to answer that I’m in louisiana were it’s normally pretty hot I skin everything and freeze green that otter was the first time I didn’t skin within a few hours of catching

IMHO, you will not have any issues at all compared to skinning a previously frozen animal!. You can just about guarantee pre-frozen rats coming apart while skinning. Instead of hanging, I suggest laying the carcass on the cement floor on it’s back.

I've had whole critters frozen for weeks, well months, thawed and skinned. It will not hurt the pelt. After time, they will freeze dry and be a pain to skin and flesh, but they will be fine once you get them finished.

Plan your time so you can skin while the carcass is fresh. Rough skin and get it off the carcass. Freezing whole animals is not a good idea. Takes up freezer space plus you have to time the thawing process.

It won't hurt the pelt (providing you don't spoil them unthawing) but it is a pain. As a teenager I skinned bobcats for half a dozen guys or more. Some of them would bring them to me froze whole, or occasionally if I got too many at the end of the weekend I would freeze some whole and thaw them and skin them after school as I had time. If I never have to skin another frozen cat, I'll be happy. Hang them head down to thaw, and skin them as soon as you can, usually when they are still partially frozen between the front legs, to avoid green belly. But it is far preferable to skin them first and freeze the hide.

Smaller animals like mink and marten are not as big a deal, and are often frozen in the trap when you get them. Again thaw them without a lot of heat and skin them when they are thawed. I once was selling beaver to a guy who was paying better for them on the carcass frozen whole than I could get for put up hides (he wanted the carcass as well as the hide) but the last few I had he flaked out on me and didnt buy. They didnt skin bad, but you freeze your hands skinning a mostly thawed beaver.

A lot of northern guys deal with skinning frozen animals all the time, because they are frozen when they get them, ask them how many of the carnivores have green belly. That is just something you have to deal with when using lethal sets in that weather, but no need to deal with frozen critters if you don't have to.

I freeze rats whole all the time, better to skin as you catch them. Don't let them set around when thawing and they will be fine. Also when freezing spread them out so they freeze sooner.

I skinned and fleshed over 200 rats for a person that froze them whole. What an ordeal!! The flesh pulls apart so easy it took over twice as long to skin one that had been carcass froze if not more. Lots pulled apart at the body or the head and that took way more time. Fresh one can skin a rat in a minute, plus it takes up a fraction of the space.

Bryce

It can take several days for a beaver to thaw out enough. When you clean skin you can hit a part of the pelt that is still froze and put a hole in dang easy. Ask me how I know. Had to freeze a few kits before I went to the sale in Idaho.

They finish priming up in the freezer! Lol.

Try skinning a fat skunk or raccoon after it's been frozen. The fat stiffens up making it harder to work with.

Plan your time so you can skin fresh animals.

Every animal I get from a conibear or a snare is frozen or partially frozen. Thaw slowly, skin, flesh, board, you’re fine. I’ll take a wild guess and assume every trapper from Alaska has the same story.
It’s just about minus 20 Fahrenheit right now, any animal that may have been caught last night is already frozen.

This is true about coyotes as well but the fur will be fine.