Another "first coon" question!

Hi all,
Great information here. I lease a small property mostly for deer and turkey hunting and I'm doing some predator management. In the process I've learned a lot about trapping. So now I'm after raccoons...
I want to get my first one tanned and maybe made into a hat by Glacier Wear. I have it skinned and big flesh removed. It's freezing now. Here are some questions I couldn't find the answers to.

1) Can I use a wood stretcher as a fleshing beam this year, or is the surface too flat to work?
2) What do I do about fleshing the face? None of the videos or texts cover this. Won't it rot if I don't flesh it? Particularly worried about ears. Also penis--cut all this area off?
3) If I'm anxious to get all of the grease off (since it's my first time) can I spray the leather with dawn and rinse before I dry? Or is that a terrible idea?
4) When I skinned it the nose was still on--whiskers too. I cut the nose off thinking it wouldn't dry. Was that a mistake?

Thanks for all the help!

Yes you can use your stretcher as a fleshing beam.

No need to flesh the face area. Start fleshing just below the ears. The neck area Is very important. And Is the hardest part to do. The ears aren't going to be a problem and the penis shouldn't be left on the hide.

When you speak of removing the grease are you talking about the fur or the leather side?

The nose will dry just fine no need to cut It off.

Thanks. Wish I hadn't removed the nose. But for next time.
I mean grease on the skin side. Any use giving it a little dawn to cut it before drying?

Wipe the grease off as the hide dries with a rag/paper towel. Make sure and remove any big chunks on the face, but you don't need to "flesh" that area necessarily.

And always hang the drying hide from the tail end so any excess grease will drip off the nose and not collect on the fur In the skirt area.
And don't forget the belly board and put It In from the mouth end not the rear end. The head and neck area dry the the most and you need that belly board to give you a little wiggle room when removing the hide.

Beav, the grease can’t drip off the nose, there is no nose, lol.
Wildfish next time ask questions first, good to see you new fur handlers learning.

Yes indeed. Just didn't occur to me to ask! But that's also why I started with one. I'll know what to do after this one.