brain tanning otter skin ques.

[billy]

So I'm driving to work today, and I pass a dead animal on the road.  When I look in the mirror I notice the shape of the tail and immediately recognize it as an otter.  Well, I jerked my emergency brake through the roof of my little Honda, pull a u-turn, create a massive pile-up of about 300 cars, and jump out to retrieve my prize.  I pop the trunk and throw him in there so fast that you wouldn't believe it.

Gonna  attempt a braintanned quiver out of it, but I've never braintanned otter before.  I have done raccoon and beaver, both with the hair on.  Anyone have any experience with otter?  P.S. Just kidding about causing a pile-up!

Thanks.

billy

[huntertrapper]

not sure on braintanning but good find. my dad trapped one this year and it would make a great quiver good luck man!

[hawkbow]

I have tanned them ... they are in essence a weasel so need to be cleaned well and degreased with dawn dishwashing liquid first.. then dried and brained. i will say that the skin will felt up really nicely with the final working over a hemp rope.. because the otter is the warrior of the water.. their skin is valued as a quiver among most tribes.. big medicine.. even Grizzlies don't mess with the quick and fierce little warriors.. Hawk

[terence pinder]

i dont know about you guys but im glad to hear that im not the only one who causes traffic accidents in the name of scavenging

[billy]

Hey Hawk,

I totally understand about the otter furs being highly prized....their pelts are beautiful.  Plus, they are like the raptors of the water.  They are awesome predators and are so adept at catching fish that it's almost beyond belief.  My friend has a lake management company and whenever they are seen in neighborhood lakes he must set traps immediately, otherwise they can really reduce the number of fish in a lake.  I guess that's why the Natives used their pelts for quivers....just like they used hawk and eagle feathers for their arrows....because they are BIG medicine. 

Yeah, I've picked up numerous dead animals off the roads.  If they're fresh and I can salvage something that would otherwise go to waste, I'll pick them up.  Deer, raccoons, minks, otters, beavers, mastadons, homeless bums.....well, maybe not homeless bums....but just about anything else!!  People must think I'm outta my damn mind....but that's o.k.  We're the only few sane ones left in the world anyway! 

[hawkbow]

I agree completely brother... Stacey and i will trade you some homeless bum parts for some Mastadon pieces.. straight across Hawk

[smokeu]

Man you guys are tough picking up roadkill like that... Check out primitiveways.co they have some good how to stuff on tanning critters.

[aaron]

i get about one a year out here in WA state- i have braintanned them and they are greasy- first i shampoo the whole thing gently to clean the fur. then wet scrape what i can.especially to rempve fat which will rot while drying. tail is very fatty.  then tack to a board. then i dry scrape as best i can.then brain it. lay it flat on a towel, add brains in thin layer flesh side only (duh), then add a moist towel. after brain penetrates, i break it dry by rubbing  over a thing like a canoe paddle stuck in the ground, blade up.
but i think a better and MUCH faster quiver is a rawhide case skinned otter- a rigid -ish tube with the tail for a strap- just have to prop it open while drying. beware of fat on the skin causing rot

[Blacktail]

i beleive you are still doing that.LOL...i remeber years ago reading about this billy guy...driving out side of bend and seeing a fresh road kill deer slamming on the brakes going back for some deer parts...if my memory is right i think his dad was out visting him and with him....i cant blame you any i do the same thing..the problem is that there is not any brush off the side of the road around here..i hope it works out for you billy..john

[billy]

dang john,

You've got a good memory cause that was me!  Wasn't the first, and definitley won't be the last by a long shot! 

[Blacktail]

yeh,i new it was you...i was just trying to remeber the story right..john

[smokeu]

Man here in TX its illegal to posess any part of a deer that was killed on the road. I had collected a nasty head off an eight piont for the antlers and stuck it in the woods by my house and something carried it off. then found out it was illegal to do so... oh well

[Pahinh.Winh]

It may be illegal to have those deer parts, but who'se going to check up on you?  Keep it quiet for awhile after you collect it, then 'discover' it in a load of yard sale or auction stuff & enjoy it.  Me, I just stand on my Treaty Rights, but you non-Indns don't have those, so you need to come up with good ways to keep the govt from wasting otherwise good finds along the roads.  They don't appreciate good stuff!
About the otter skin - salt it well, leave the salt for 8 hours, then flesh it well, wash it to degrease it, and for a quiver, dry it over a frame of the right shape, hair-side out.  You did thank the spirits of the otter for the gift, right?..

[billy]

Yes!  The spirits, and the car that ran it over!!