Hide Preparation
The Two Most Important Words to Remember If You Have Your Hides Tanned
PREPARATION AND STORAGE
PREPARATION AND STORAGE
PREPARATION AND STORAGE
These two requirements are the most important steps to remember when having your taxidermy hides tanned. Without performing both of these duties correctly, right down to the final detail, you should not expect to receive back the best possible tan from your tannery. If you do not correctly do your job as a taxidermist, we cannot do the best possible job as your tanner. Anyone calling themselves a taxidermist should know the correct way to skin, flesh, turn, salt, and dry a hide. Where many taxidermists go wrong, is when they improperly store their salted hides.
One mistake is storing hides that are not completely dry. When wet hides are folded and stored, they may begin to mold. Usually this mold results in hair slippage. When salted hides are stored on a concrete floor, they usually will draw moisture from the floor and again they may mold or even spoil. Keeping any dry salted hide in your shop past April is not a good idea. If the heat and moisture of spring and summer doesn’t spoil them, the hide beetles and moths will probably eat them. Damage due to insects, or shipments containing insects seems to be increasing every year. Usually around the month of April, as the temperature begins to warm, the insects get active. Dry salted hides that are not refrigerated will attract these hide beetles and moths, and if not attended to, these insects will completely destroy your hides.