Tanning an otter hide, got a question

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I’m finally getting around to tanning the otter I caught in early December. I got it fleshed and boarded a couple days ago. So once it fully dries I’ll start the breaking process. I’d forgot how fishy an otter smells until I brought it inside to dry. But it is potent.But I’m wondering if otter hides need thinned to be a usable softness like beaver and raccoon hides need to be.
I do most of my tanning in the traditional brain tan method but with egg yokes and I cheat when thinning the hide by using an angle grinder with sanding disk. I can get the hides an even thinning much quicker than by scraping. And a second thing, would it be worth saving the powder from thinning to make into hide glue?
This hide will get me lots to play with and be a workout to break. It’s about 5.5’ long from tip to tip on a 6.25” wide board. Once this one is done I have 4 50+pound beaver to tan.

Thanks,
Kyle

[aaron]

I have only done one braintan otter. I did not thin it...jist scraped. Came out pretty soft.

[Hawkdancer]

That seems like a big otter!   Didn't even know they were in MO!  Have fun!
Hawkdancer

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I’ll give this one a shot without thinning. If it’s still a bit stiff I can always thin it after tanning.
This one was a decent sized but not huge otter for the area. On the same area of property a friend that was trapping the duck pond ended up with 3or 5 and the largest was a decent bit larger. So in the same 10 day spell we removed about 5 otter and 5 beaver from a 1/4 mile stretch of river. I also had 1 pull out of an old 11 longspring I had setup on a 5’ chain for muskrat and mink at a pocket set. I think I need to switch out my trap arsenal for along rovers. He tore up that bank well before it got out.  We have lots of otter in Missouri along the rivers.

Kyle

[BowEd]

Good observation and thoughts about the sanding.When sanding on deer hides after fleshing and dry scrape dehairing in a confined area I've saved the powder from sanding.It does'nt amount to a whole lot as far as making any amount of hide glue but breaks down quickly from heating.
Otters and beavers do make some very nice nifty useful items.Nice catch from the winter.

[Ed Brooks]

I just did an otter using mayo without any thinning, it made a nice quiver. Good luck! Ed

[BowEd]

If you'd like Kyle I can bring some nice dry flat willow hoops to Mo Jam big enough for blanket beaver to be laced in for your man cave wall displays.

Like this.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

Why not, bring one along and we can figure out a trade. I have a 40# pelt fried and ready to tan right now, a couple 50# and 1-70# pelt still in the freezer. If you have one late enough that’ll do the big one, I’d like to put it on the wall. The others will be made into different projects. I want to make some cold weather maccosin wraps with one or two.

I haven’t tanned that otter yet. But I remembered I had a pair of muskrats o had tanned, one that needed a second oiling to get soft enough. So I went ahead and made a sporran out of those two and a piece of hard cow leather I had.


Kyle

[BowEd]

Nice looking primitive pouch there.One would need to know the measurements of your fleshed stapled dried beaver to fit into the proper sized hoop.As I said a couple of these hoops will accomodate blanket beavers.That is,the measurements on them are at least 34" by 36".A blanket beavers' measurements to qualify as a blanket beaver are normally 32" by 32" or adding up to at least 64" total.They can be egg shaped also measuring 30" by 34" too,just so they add up to more than 64".
Personally I have had and sold enough beaver pelts and different things made out of them in the past.I've done all that your doing there back in the 80's and 90's while buckskinning.Beaver and muskrat mounty style hats were my favorite.

[Mo_coon-catcher]

The smaller beaver will very likely fit those hoop sozes. I’ll measure this one and very well could end up bringing it to mojam and tanning it. Thee last time I boarded a beaver this size it filled a 32x48” board. I make my beaver boards by cutting. Plywood into equal thirds along the length, so I get 48x32. Hopefully the dry summer heat will have that pelt dry quick so I don’t spend 16 hours breaking it. I think I’ll do that for one of my projects while there.

Kyle

[BowEd]

I used plywood or particle board for stapeling the beaver out onto into a circular shape also.I'll bring along a few hoops to Mo Jam in case someone else might want to do the same with their beaver pelt.I hooped a ground hog once.Skinned him just as a beaver but still came out a tad more square than a beaver does.