Bobcat boarded

We skipped the flip on this one, packed the feet with borax, put cardboard tubes in front legs, have a fan on low, it was 50f when I came in.

Need that fan blowing up the stretcher tail to head.

Okay Thanks I’ll move it.

The back of the neck is gonna be the last area to dry. It'll slip there too. I'd try and wedge it front and back even though you have it on an adjustable stretcher.

Okay guys I have the fan in the back and I have two wedges back and belly, four total. Thank You!!

Why did you put it on the board like that?
Highly likely to have problems with that skin,may not show up until it comes back from the dressers.

I have boarded a few fox and bcats fur out from the get go....but I dusted the skin side with borax b4 boarding.

I havent done it like this in years...to worried about it not drying properly.

If you did not borax the entire pelt, you will need to remove it and put it on a dry stretcher. The wood will absorb moisture and prevent it from drying. Skipping the flip in high humidity is a recipe for disaster.

There must have been a reason, why did you skip the flip?

I don't flip here in Nevada, but that's just because its so dry. Borax the whole pelt and get a fan on it like they said. And check out this video on how to put up a cat:
you can just skip forward and watch him put it up. How to put up a cat

I would like to know your answer to this question also, or are you just plain lazy.

I dust with baby powder, pure talc, instead of borax and it works really well and smells nice.
With your humidity I would not skip the turn .

Okay, part of the reason for putting the cat on fur out was orientation on the board, partly so I didn’t have to babysit it, and partly because some of this country’s premier cat men say it is not necessary. So how do I sort the fact from fiction if I don’t do it myself??? It’s very dry in my shed the Woodstove is stoked a couple times a day, so far I have concluded that the fan is a great idea, the belly wedges are a great idea, leaving the feet turned is a great idea, the cat is drying nicely.
Bctomcat you’re kinda hard to like.

Never put up a cat, but seems to me even if you have to put on the board skin out for a few hours at the least, it would be better than not...I don't want to ruffle feathers, nor do I feel I'm educated enough to comment, but just would like to know the thought process behind this. I'm not here to admonish, I'm here to learn!

Wood heat will help dry out any humidity. If the pelt is opened up enough so air can circuits through you shouldn't have a prob!em. Keep the wood stove going. Will take 3 - 4 days for it to dry I would guess. Never done one like that my self but the wood heat should help.

OK here's another reason to not like me. Why have you not cleaned up the blood on the cats foot?

Bctomcat,Those feet are turned inside out and that’s the foot that had the trap on it, do you have any way to remove bloodshot.???

Tough crowd in here

I'd just like to see him get the most for his cat.
It literally takes only a couple of hours here before you can turn a bobcat hide on the board.
Blood can be cleaned up after drying too, that is when a little borax goes a long way

Spouse used a wire brush on his grinder wheel for some badger feet and they tanned out really nice from Moyle.

Hang that cat head down though to dry out, fluffs the fur nicely.
I have 2 very small fans that I can put one below to blow up the hide and one to blow at the head / neck area or wherever it is drying the slowest.

Nice bobcat and good luck with your sale !

YES, you can use borax to clean fur, especially with regard to dried blood stains. Once the skin has dried and the fur turned out work considerable dry borax powder into the stained areas, let set for 10-15 minutes and then comb, brush, and shake the borax out. Using this borax treatment method works extremely well as can be seen in the following before and after pictures. As well as removing blood stains the borax also cleans and brightens the fur.

I

I have known newfox1 for most of my life. He does get lazy once in a while. I just kick him in the butt to jump start him and he's fine for a few days.

Well I don’t think the fur buyer will notice the hair falling out, thanks for all the input, positive input,as it turns out, not only is there “more than one way to skin a cat” there is also more than one way to stretch a cat.

The fur often falls out down each side during tanning.Wont be noticed beforehand.

New fox, why/where is there fur falling out?

Usmc, it’s not, the cat dryed just fine, as a matter of fact it’s headed to moyles, so we will see how many problems that “ show up after dressing “.

How long was it on the board before it dried?
I just boarded this one.It will by dry by morning and I will turn it.



I wont take any chances with a nice cat-I dont have any problem turning a dry cat.

BCtomcat, are you ok?? Boco needs a hand keeping me in line.

Good morning, I'm fine and just waiting for the return of your dressed furs.

If your planning to have It tanned there Is no reason to do the flip. Just leave that hide skin out.

Thats what I do. Everything stays fur in.

I put all my fur up for the fur market,unless obviously damaged or otherwise unsuitable for the raw fur auction,(small size,early incidental etc)
Once all my fur is put up,I grade it out and decide which pelts go to the tannery,which pelts go to the auction and which ones I will tan myself.

Grading single pelts or animals on the carcass is not the same as sorting a larger amount of fur of the same species-sorting is more accurate way to grade.

Just the way I do it.

The OP Is sending ONE hide to the tannery.

So what?I said what I do for informative dialogue.
Of course if you know a hide is definitely going to the tanner there is no need to turn it.
No need to even case skin it for that matter.

Seems to me you need to skin It since the tannery dosen't except carcass goods.

I think Boco is referring to just flat board skinning it, since that is what the tannery is going to do when they get it if I understand correctly.

Well Boco said you don't even have to CASE skin It but I guess If I was sending any thing other then a beaver It would have to be CASE skinned.

So if you send a case skinned fur to a tannery they will always open it up?

No they will not, at least Moyle does not split your hide. We have all of our Moyle furs tanned cased, except a feral hog and mt lion.

@Wytex


Where do you send the ones for Feral Hog? Just curious.

International in Winnipeg charges a bit extra for case tanned skins.
Depends on the skin and end use really.Mink marten fox wolf coyote coon etc almost always get split up the belly for garment use anyway.You wouldnt want to split the belly on a cat though.
Taxi stuff is a different story.

Seems like a fitting threat to ask this question. Anyone here ever stretch a bobcat on a wire stretcher of an appropriate size? I have some wood stretchers I have used in the past, and don't really like the look of them when they came off the boards, so this year I threw some on my coyote and racoon wire stretchers just to see what they end up looking like. So far I kinda prefer the look on the wire. Something to keep in mind... I do not have high dollar bobcats on my line like you guys do further west.

Yes...wire will be OK for bcats. But,
my experience is boards make for a better looking dried pelt....not as flat looking.

IMHO boards make all species of cased pelts look better. Much of presentation is just minor style differences which attempts to influence the grader. Presentation just shows pride in put up and it can count at times when it provides a favorable initial view to the fur grader.

Bctomcat, I agree presentation is the key.

I do believe that boards help with the appearance. I need all the help I can get down here!

Very Nice!!!

I agree with the Tomcat.
ETT very nicely handled cats.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I take a lot of pride in the appearance of my furs. Just wish my Southern fur was worth more.

I wish northern fur was worth more too,lol.

Thanks for the replies. I assumed most would prefer the wooden boards. And maybe the real answer is I need to catch more cats so I have to use the wooden boards!!

Received our cats and otter back from moyles, everything looks awesome.

Very nice!

How did the feet come out?

I'd like to get a Fisher done with feet and claws on.

The cats come out nicer than the otter, think I’m going to get a taxidermy tan on these next two otter, to see if they are softer.

Rendezvous, there is more pad on the otter feet, fisher feet I would think would come out similar to bobcat feet.