Thawing Frozen Animals

I figured I would ask here since you deal with this problem alot with animals froze on the trap line.

I have some animals that are frozen in my freezer and I need to get them put up.

What are the protocols to thawing the carcass and after the fleshing?

slowly at room temps and be prephard to skin as soon as thawed especailly canines

I second Otterman. If its too warm in the house, make sure a fan is on them. As soon as they are thawed "enough" (core can still be frozen, is actually better if it is)you should start skinning. Ears and such thaw first, so if you wait too long, they'll start to slip.

Ok great info! Once skinned can you wet them and refreeze until next years sales?

Or am I better off to send them in for tanning ect..?

You can refreeze, but I wouldn't wet them. You're just adding moisture, and thats NOT whatyou want. I was told to roll, head/feet in the middle so they stay frozen longer so to not start slipping before the rest of the pelt thaws. However, if you do that, you have to "work" the hide as it thaws, and as SOON as you can, get it on a stretcher. Again, I DO NOT recommend this way. If anything, stretch them, and then keep them in a freezer, they'll stay longer that way. But I couldn't tell you how much longer, but I hear they will keep till the following year with little to no problems.

I would just send them to the tannery though.

TMac
Dont start skinning the animal until it is completely thawed otherwise the parts you skin out will dry and not be stretched correctly. Your animal isn't going to slip if it's been thawed one or two days, unless you have it 80 degrees or warmer in your garage. If you are going to refreeze until next year put them in a ziploc and fill it with water and freeze it. If you dont, the exposed skin will freeze dry and again you wont be able to stretch it properly. If you freeze it in water, next year it will look fresh, if you dont, alot of furbuyers will recognize it as last years fur due to the freezer burn.

Perfect info! I really appreciate the advice and this part of the forum.

-Mac

moose- are you saying that you need to wait for the guts to thaw too, because otherwise the hide won't stretch properly? Uhhh....no. If you wait for the entire critter to thaw, you'll get green belly. But I do agreee, that the entire outer portion of skin needs to be thawed. Skin can'tbe frozen when going on a board.

I was always taught to roll my hides (started with a bear hide) with the paws and head in the middle, and the rest on the outside. I guess you could do it flat, but thats a lot of surface area needed.

I like the idea of the ziploc and water. Never heard of that, but makes sense.

No Matt, I'm not talking about the guts thawing out, I'm talking about the part of the animal you skin. You also wont get green belly until the guts are thawed and that is the last thing to thaw. Green belly also has more likely with animals that have a full bellie. When you catch wolves at a kill that have full bellies, your more likely to have green belly. Foxes and coyotes are the same way.

You can thaw an animal all the way (Guts and all) in a cool garage and not worry about slippage. As long as you dont leave that animal completely thawed for a couple days and your garage is cool, it will be fine.

I always try to thaw mine around 45-55 degrees or so when I can maintain that temp in the arctic entry, works GREAT for me..

I put my otter in the garage monday night, and it is just now thawed out enough to skin tonight. the fox and beaver were ready tues, and wednesday repectively.

Moose- you don't skin the guts?? I've been doing this way wrong.

The guts on my fox tend to thaw first. It usually get soft and thats the area I watch closely. Always, I hate that "surprise" smell when you skin that portion down. I do like the critters to be a bit cold. I seem to find that he fat is not so "sweaty", and peels off easier. Same with beaver.

One dislike I have with leg holds and then dispatching them is they aren't frozen when I pick them up. I like to let them freeze as I've noticed some parasites on the fox up here (don't know if its fleas, but not risking it). So, when snared, they are usually frozen and waiting, and go outside. I seem to get green belly in the ones I have to dispatch.

Also takes a good 2 days to thaw a fox out when frozen. I thaw in a boiler room w/ a fan on them (as to not get them too hot). The house is set at 70 degrees though.

Back in the olden days when I trapped away from home, I'd skin the days catch and freeze the fur to put up later at home. Layed the furs, skin side out in the freezer until they were partly frozen, then turn fur out and roll up in a plastic bag and back in the freezer. Never had good luck with freezing this way. Always had freezer burn and some spoilage. Fur is just too good an insulater and they would always take too long to freeze all the way through and then would take too long to thaw out enough to stretch. Even if in the freezer for only a week or two, there were spots of freezer burn. Decided long ago, I'd never freeze anything again. Putting up 10 to 20 coyotes a day is an all night job, after all day on the line. Quite a conundrum. BUT:

Now-a-days, there is such a thing as a vacuum bagger. I haven't had the need to try it, but I believe this would solve all the problems of freezing furs. Sucks all the air (the insulater in fur) out and seals the bag, preventing freezer burn. It should thaw out faster as well for the same reason it will freeze faster, and as a bonus it should be a smaller package since there is no air to keep the fur fluffed up.

Anybody tried this?

Should be a good way to keep your guns rust-free too. Clean and oil them and then vacuum bag. No air or moisture can get to them.

Bill

Here is a tip I picked up from Joe Matte at Alaska Raw Fur in Fairbanks recently.
He pasted on a trick that I had not heard of before that makes sense. I am sure it is old news to some of the seasoned trappers on here but here it is for what it is worth.
The topic of thawing out marten came about due to a mishap I had with one I experimented with thawing in the tent. Little too warm too fast and it slipped in a spot.
I asked him if he knew any tips.
He said the best way to thaw them in a situation like a tent is to ace bandage them. Squash down the fur which decreases the insulation of the fur. He said it make a big difference. He said it works especially well on big animals like wolves.
Take a lot of ace bandages! I thought about just stripping linen but he said the elastic of the bandage really helps.
I am curious to try it. I want to thaw my marten out in camp next winter to skin.

I always stretch small stuff right after skinning. On wolf or wolverine though I salt the heck out of them after skinning and before fleshing. I then roll them and bag them and freeze them. Up here we generally don't have to worry about the hide not freezing fast enough because it's way colder than your freezer. If I stick a hide out at minus 40 it freezes pretty quickly.

As far as thawing goes, I hang them in the cabin away from the stove and skin them as soon as i can manipulate the hide. They are completely thawed by the time I'm finished skinning. I'm pretty slow.

Matt: I hear ya on the little beasties on fox. never been bitten but why push your luck ? When I have a hot fox I hang him head down to freeze. This causes the guts to fall forward a little bit and get some of the heat away from that thin belly skin. It's not foolproof but it does cut down on the green belly. The bad thing is that all the blood drains into the head and makes for messy skinning around the face.

White what is the reason for salting prior to freezing? I would think the salt would prevent if from freezing as hard? Or is that the reason so it will thaw out quicker. I can see where the salt will ease the fleshing job. I have noticed this when salting my taxidermy prepped lynx. The membrane comes off a lot easier.

I salt the feet, face, ears, any bloody spots, very heavily and the rest of the hide pretty well also. If I encounter any weather above 32 before fleshing and stretching the salt sets the hair and prevents slipping. Remember I don't have a freezer at my place so I'm at the mercy of the weather.

Also, if you have a case of waterhead it helps pull that moisture out of the skin at that spot. Places near fluid deposits are prone to slipping.