How to Tan Beaver Pelts With Hoops

Beavers are not only very tasty, their fur is valuable.

Beavers have such thick hides that they are normally dried for tanning by being nailed to plywood. However, they can also be dried on hoops, as the Native Americans did. After they are dry, they can be tanned in a variety of methods. Because of its relative safety, brain tanning is the only tanning method covered here. However, you should wear gloves at all times when handling raw animal products such as blood and brains.

Things You'll Need

• Assortment of knives and scrapers to skin and flesh the beaver
• Axe or maul
• Covered container
• Animal soap suitable for degreasing fur
• Fleshing beam
• Fleshing knife
• Needle
• Durable thread such fishing line
• Thimble
• A hoop approximately 5 inches longer and 5 inches wider than the beaver hide: too big is better than too small
• Fine cord
• Needle for the cord, such as an embroidery, not a sewing, needle
• Awl
• Sandpaper or pumice
• Blender or food processor
• Measuring cup
• Cooking pot
• Rubber or latex gloves

Instructions

Skinning the Beaver

1. Animal blood is toxic. Wild animals carry all sorts of parasites and organisms that can sicken humans. Put on the gloves. Don't eat or drink while you're working with pelts and scrupulously clean up after yourself. Wash your hands afterward and bleach the area that you worked.

2. Using a sharp knife, cut a shallow incision from the underside of the beaver's chin to vent, then from vent to the base of tail and across the tail. Don't puncture the intestines or the castor glands. Remove the entrails and internal organs.

3. Pull the hide off the beaver using mostly your hands. For now, ignore any chunks of meat and fat that come off with the hide. Cut the hide free around the legs. Take your time cutting and pulling the hide free of the face and ears.

4. Decapitate the beaver with the axe or maul. Carefully split the skull, extract the brains and put them in the covered container; reserve for further use in the refrigerator. Delicately remove the castor glands and freeze them for use in further trapping or sell them for use in perfume.

Fleshing the Beaver

1. Clean and degrease the fur by washing it with a suitable soap, then allow the fur to dry. You can speed this process by blotting most of the water with a towel and then using a hair dryer.

2. Lie the pelt head up and flesh side up on the fleshing beam and clamp the edges of the pelt fur to fur beneath the fleshing beam.

3. Working from the head of the beaver down, use your fleshing knife to cut away as much meat and fat and membrane from the skin as possible. Use both hands and cut away from your body. Beavers have very thick hide over their necks and jaws and near their tails. You may use your fleshing knife or a scraper to thin this hide to the thickness of the hide that covers the ribs.

4. Sew up any cuts you have made in the beaver pelt with the fine thread and needle. Sew up the holes in the face from the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Protect your thumb by using a thimble while sewing.

Stretching the Pelt

1. Punch holes with your awl about 1/2 inch from the edge and 1 inch apart, all the way around the perimeter of the pelt.

2. Sew the pelt very loosely into the hoop with the cord threaded through the embroidery needle.

3. Hold your needle in your right hand and start at the nose. Slide the needle through the awl hole you made just to the left of the nose, and pass it through flesh side to fur side. Draw the cord through the hide, pass the needle around the frame, and up through the next awl hole to the left, flesh side to fur side. Take your time to make certain you sew the pelt into the center of the hoop.

4. Adjust your tension to stretch the skin. Working from both sides of the tail at the same time, tighten this cord by working the slack over the hoop and through the pelt. Do this one stitch at a time around the entire circumference of the hoop. Tie the ends at the nose.

5. Repeat the above process if necessary. The pelt should be neatly stretched into an oval, taut but without tearing the hide from the awl holes to the edge. Now allow the hide to dry completely in a well-ventilated place.

Tanning the Hide

1. Sand the the flesh side of the beaver pelt with the paper or pumice to open the pores of the skin.

2. Puree the brains with approximately half their volume of water in the blender or food processor. Heat them in a pot on the stove or in a microwave safe container. They should be warm, not cooked.

3. Put on your gloves and rub the brains into the flesh side of the beaver pelt and allow to dry overnight. Refrigerate the leftover brains. The next day, sand the flesh side of the pelt and rub in more warm brain puree, then cover the pelt with a hot, wet towel and let the brains soak in overnight.

4. Cut the pelt free of the hoop and stretch it over a hard, smooth, horizontal object like the back of a wooden or steel chair. Work the pelt fur side up in all directions over this hard surface until the pelt is soft enough for you. If there are tough or hard spots in the pelt, apply more brains while the leather is still moist and continue stretching the pelt until it is completely dry.

5. Soak the entire beaver pelt, fur and all, in the brain puree for at least an hour, working the pelt with your gloved hands until it is entirely saturated, then let it rest in the puree for at least an hour before stretching and working it dry. Author Jim Miller recommends this step for heavy pelts such as beaver and buffalo.

References

• Braintain.com: Brain Tanning Furs; GeorgeMichaud
• Braintain.com: Tan Your Pelts With Nature's Tools; Jim Miller; 1997
• Rogue Turtle: Trapper's Corner: Brother Beaver
• New Mexico State University: How to Prepare Pelts; Jon Boren and Brian J. Hurd; October, 2004