I’ve tanned a few deer hides in my day, but this is my first time trying to tan fur. Considering that it was my first attempt, I decided to make it easier on myself by working something small. I had a little red squirrel in my freezer that I’d been saving for just such a project. Typically, I like to read up on things before I dive in, so I went to braintan.com where they have some good articles that cover fur tanning. They primarily tend to focus on the production of brain tanned buckskin, but there are also numerous articles covering other aspects of traditional tanning as well. They also sell a great book and video companion that details the entire process and makes it very easy for the first-time tanner to succeed at making buckskin.

So, on to the fur tanning:

I decided to case-skin the squirrel hide and work it that way.  No real reason here, I just went with it. For convenience sake, I used the egg yolk from one chicken egg and mixed it with some warm water as a substitute for the brain solution. I wanted to do this in a simple fashion, so I didn’t use any tools for the majority of the process (e.x., fleshing tool, cable, etc.). I scraped as much of the flesh from the hide with my fingernail then allowed it to dry a little. Next, I rubbed the egg yolk solution onto the flesh side of the hide and let it partially dry again. Before it dried out completely, I applied another coat of egg. I repeated this process until the egg yolk solution was used up – about four applications in total. Then I just worked the hide in my hands, stretching it back and forth for about an hour, until it was dry. I have to tell you that it didn’t come out perfect. A large area on the lower half of the back came out rather papery. But, with the exception of this and the head/face area, the rest of the fur came out nice and soft. I haven’t smoked it yet because I’m considering adding more yolk solution to the stiff spots and working it some more. I often hear folks say you can case out certain critters and use their hide as an improvised glove or sock. But this squirrel was way too small to cover the four fingers of my hand. Next time I try tanning a squirrel hide, I think I’ll open-skin it and work it that way. I believe I’ll be able to work it much more easily and more thoroughly and possibly be able to do more with it as an open fur. We’ll have to see…..

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