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Unusual for this time of year

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osage outlaw:
I picked up a beautiful roadkill on the way to work one morning.  I didn't notice any smell until I got back in the car and it was on my hand.  I ended up pitching it out of the truck before I got to work.  If I find myself in need of a skunk hide I'll gladly pay for one that someone else had to skin and tan.

BowEd:
I forget how I did it in the past but I've made a hat and pouch out of them before.I sold them though at rendezvous.I think it just takes some time.I know Robin uses hydrogen peroxide to take the skunk smell off of her dog.That might be a solution.

Marc St Louis:
When I was a kid my dad found a baby Skunk so he brought it home, when they are quite young they don't have a scent gland.  It stayed with us for quite awhile and became part of the family, never had any trouble with it spraying.  The one day he was talking to a school teacher and told her about our pet Skunk.  She asked him to bring it to her school to show the kids.  The kids were very excited....too excited.  The school stank for awhile  :).  After that episode my dad figured it was time to bring our pet back to the wilds.  He drove down to the end of a road and then brought the Skunk out a little ways from the car.  It was a difficult to leave it behind since whenever he tried it would just follow him back to the car.  He finally had to run as fast as he could to the car and take off before it could catch up to him

upstatenybowyer:
Marc, that's kinda sad man.  :'( Hope the little guy found a nice skunk family eventually. That whole story sounds like it could make a great children's book.

I would think the way to get a stink free hide would be to place a perfect shot to the head when the animal is least expecting it. That way it wouldn't release it's scent prior to kicking the bucket. From there it would just be a matter of avoiding the scent glands while cleaning.  :D

BowEd:
I've heard of skunks making very good pets.Coons too but when subjected to something out of their normal enviornment the wild will come out of them.Most of those wild animals made into pets are ok for the first year of their life till they get to be fully grown.Then they get to be a bit more than what most people care to handle inside a house.Myself I've had pet coons before.After so long it stayed out in a large cage outside.It was still very friendly but I could'nt totally trust it yet.One of my neighbors had a pet badger.Never heard what became of that one though.My other neighbor picked up a baby skunk crossing his driveway once.Put it in his trunk to take home.The road got a little bumpy while driving home and the little fella sprayed all inside his trunk.
I seem to remember now how I got the smell off those skunk hides to make a hat and a pouch.First while skinning it care needs to be taken skinning around that scent gland.I tanned the hide myself so after fleshing it multiple baths in water and dish washing soap to clean it up of oil or fat residue before tanning was the procedure.I think now I would add hydrogen peroxide to the bath solution too.I tanned those hides in an aluminum sulfate pickling salt solution also of which there is a how to do that on the primitive skills thread.Through all of those soakings and rinsings the smell disappeared actually completely.

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