No. 5. Opossum board, (small), length 20 inches and 6 1/2 inches wide.
No. 6. Skunk or opossum, (medium), length 28 inches and 7 inches wide.
No. 7. Skunk and opossum, (large), length 28 inches and 8 inches wide.
SIZE OF STRETCHING BOARDS.
Old and experienced hunters and trappers know about the shape and size to make the various stretching boards for the fur bearers, but for the guidance of beginners and those who are careless about stretching pelts, the above description is especially meant.
Trappers in Southern sections will no doubt find the boards as described here too large for most of their skunk. In the Northeast the mink boards will also be too large, but for this section (Ohio), they are about correct. The general shape of the boards can be seen from the illustration.
One of the best ways, writes a Minnesota trapper, to take off the skin of an animal is by cutting the skin around the hind legs or feet, and then slitting the skin down inside the hind legs to the body joining the two slits between the hind legs, then remove the skin on the tail by pushing up the thumb nail, or a thin flat piece of wood against the bone of the tail and draw off the skin.