Fox skeleton articulation (attempt!)

[FerlasDave]

Bruising doesn’t affect anything.
Rot does. Check that the pelt is still gripping the fur.

Treating the pelt is easy enough if you don’t want the claws or head. I’m going (one day) to make a hat.
I normally remove it with a wooden spatula. One old dog fox needed a knife across his chest, between his armpits but that’s all.

Then if you can’t get to it straight away, wrap it well and stick it in the freezer. LABEL IT WELL!!!!

When you’re ready, wash it well and let it dry well between rinses so you don’t lose the fur.

Scrape the skin side over and over again till you can see the hair follicle pattern through the hide everywhere. (All the fat tissue gone.). I finish with a rounded piece of sandstone.

I use acetic acid (white vinegar) to cure. It takes about twenty minutes as opposed to days using the stinking brain tissue.

Then I stretch and break down the fibres by pulling the pelt (skin side down) over a piece of stretched galvanised cable. I work it over and over in all directions and along the edges. Much much simpler (and easier) than working on a frame.

I haven’t worked mine much as a stiff pelt will eventually make a good hat. If you are making something like a waist coat then you’ll need to work it hard and long to get soft pelts. You’ll need at least five for a waist coat.

I’ve got three ready and I’m waiting for a fourth just for my hat. No I haven’t kept a tail!!!!!

I need:
A fox road kill.
Relatively undamaged.
Somewhere where I can stop and pick it up.
One a journey where any passengers don’t mind riding with a dead fox.
When I’m not going to be away for the night.

It takes a while to collect them

You should start your own thread. I’d love to see that hat!

I’ll keep a bin bag in my car this winter I think. I passed a badger this morning but I believe it’s illegal to possess a badger skin.

 

[JonathanD]

It’s

You should start your own thread. I’d love to see that hat!

I’ll keep a bin bag in my car this winter I think. I passed a badger this morning but I believe it’s illegal to possess a badger skin.

Yeah, it’s illegal. But you can apply for a licence. More info here..

Natural England wildlife licensing statistics for 2023

Many wild animals and plants are protected by legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. As nature conservation adviser and regulator, one of Natural England’s roles is to licence …

naturalengland.blog.gov.uk

 

[Pattree]

Don’t think badger is a problem.

I found two dead otters in the middle of our village (probably clubbed by fishermen at pond close by and put on the road to look like raid kill)
One was very crushed, the other was a Royal otter - it had a spotted pelt.

I wanted to make a first aid pouch out of it - as in Clan of the Cave Bear..
I reported it to the Wildlife Trust.
There was a van at my door in twenty minutes.
Last I heard she was in a freezer in Cardiff University.
Otters = no no.

Royal otters aren’t rare just unusual.

 

[JonathanD]

It’s illegal to possess any part of a badger unless obtained lawfully. Roadkill isn’t deemed lawful unless you can provide burden of proof, as it was taken from the wild. This is extremely difficult to prove and photographs alone won’t do it, as anyone can kill a badger and move it onto the road and take pictures. It takes official authorisation to do that.

And yes, anyone with a badger skull or teeth, unless you have documented evidence that it was taken legally, is highly illegal to have in your possession. Scottish laws on this are slightly less restrictive. But English law on badgers is very strict.

It’s a GL02 licence you need.

 

[Stew]

I wouldn’t tbh, I would just put something over it if you can that won’t be pulled off by scavengers. If not then pick it up and submerge it in a container of water big enough to hold it, and then leave it for 6months, will stink to high heaven but will leave you with just a skeleton that you can then bleach with hydrogen peroxide. Being in a bucket of water means you can wash it out and then catch all the bones - I used a kitchen sieve (bought for the purpose!)

Bit tricky leaving it in the middle of a school playing field…..

 

[MrEd]

Removed my post ad the same thing was said further down but with more specific detail

 

[MrEd]

Bit tricky leaving it in the middle of a school playing field…..

Aah yeah pick it up and move it but probably not worth trying to save any of it u less you can get the licence for the school biology department to have it for education?

 

[JonathanD]

I am not sure that’s quite right, I am pretty certain you can possess badger parts without a license providing you can prove you acquired them legally and that the animal was killed legally.

How you would go about proving that I don’t know though, other than meticulous records of where you found a roadkill badger and the circumstances. Still feels a bit ‘grey’ though.

Badgers: protection and licences

What you must do to avoid harming badgers and when you’ll need a licence.

www.gov.uk

That’s what I said. But you try proving it. Recording where you found it isn’t proof. Anyone can make that up. Photographing it is the same. That’s not proof either. If you had a dashcam and you ran over it by accident. That’s proof. Finding roadkill doesn’t mean it was killed legally. As Pattree stated. Many ne’er do wells move the carcass to the road to cover up evidence.

The problem is that the burden of proof is on you. So if you are reported for being in possession of (in this case) a skin. Your only defence is to show proof that it was obtained legally. And that’s hard to do. Chances are slim that you’d get questioned. But it does happen. A licence is a cheap way to cover your butt and prevent that.

 

[Stew]

It’s illegal to possess any part of a badger unless obtained lawfully. Roadkill isn’t deemed lawful unless you can provide burden of proof, as it was taken from the wild. This is extremely difficult to prove and photographs alone won’t do it, as anyone can kill a badger and move it onto the road and take pictures. It takes official authorisation to do that.

And yes, anyone with a badger skull or teeth, unless you have documented evidence that it was taken legally, is highly illegal to have in your possession. Scottish laws on this are slightly less restrictive. But English law on badgers is very strict.

It’s a GL02 licence you need.

I had forgotten about the restrictions.

I’ll still be keeping the skull that I already have, found in the woods. I think the chances of being told off for that are slim.

 

[Stew]

Aah yeah pick it up and move it but probably not worth trying to save any of it u less you can get the licence for the school biology department to have it for education?

I might give it a try. Unlikely to be permitted from the sound of it. It was halfway across the field. We’ve speculated on poison or just fatigue across a very exposed space in the heat.

It’s moved and I very nearly threw up multiple times…..

 

[JonathanD]

I had forgotten about the restrictions.

I’ll still be keeping the skull that I already have, found in the woods. I think the chances of being told off for that are slim.

True.

 

[MrEd]

That’s what I said. But you try proving it. Recording where you found it isn’t proof. Anyone can make that up. Photographing it is the same. That’s not proof either. If you had a dashcam and you ran over it by accident. That’s proof. Finding roadkill doesn’t mean it was killed legally. As Pattree stated. Many ne’er do wells move the carcass to the road to cover up evidence.

The problem is that the burden of proof is on you. So if you are reported for being in possession of (in this case) a skin. Your only defence is to show proof that it was obtained legally. And that’s hard to do. Chances are slim that you’d get questioned. But it does happen. A licence is a cheap way to cover your butt and prevent that.

Yep, removed my post as it’s your is way better written than mine!
Can a private individual get a license to hold, say, a skull in a private collection? I hadn’t thought about it, and I won’t rbh but I am curious how ‘easy’ the licence is to get

 

[JonathanD]

I’d say it’s highly unlikely anyone is going to come after you for a skull. A skin on the otherhand though….

 

[Pattree]

When I asked how I could keep my otter skin I got two suggestions:
Get qualified and established as a taxidermist.
and
Get established as someone who gives talks in natural history