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 34 skinning beaver DHJanzen100907.jpg high resolution
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| A newly trapped beaver caught with the trapping methodology described in the previous two images. It is lying on its back next to the hole from which it was pulled, and the trapping pole is on the right. What is most useful in this image is that the skinning process has been begun. The skin was slit from chin to anus and gradually peeled off to the right and left. The skin is very tightly attached to the thick layer of dense fat just below it, as they they are one and the same. If the skin and fat are taken off together (as they easily are), then there is a very laborous process of scraping off the fat without cutting the (loose and floppy skin). So, instead of doing that, the skin edge is lifted up and with a very sharp knife, cut/sliced free, leaving the fat attached to the body (the white layer on the beaver lying on its back here). This process is also laborious, and it takes 1-2 hours to to skin a beaver without damaging the skin (in contrast, a mink or muskrat can be skinned in one minute or less). This skinning process (only one cut, other than around the ankles, eyes and mouth) produces the single large round skin to dry as in image DHJanzen100887.jpg above. | ||
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