Fig. 103.—Skin scraper
(back). Nenenot.
Fig. 104.—Skin-cleaning tool.
Nenenot.
The flesh side of the pelt is now worked to free it from particles of flesh and blood, together with as much of the moisture in the skin as may be hastily done, for if the person has a great number of skins to attend to she must work rapidly lest they decompose too much and putrefy.
Where the hunter has great success in killing deer many of the skins are left untouched because there is no one to attend to them and they are thus wasted.
When the pelts of the deer or other large animals have been taken from the carcass they are allowed to dry with the adherent flesh, fat, and ligaments until a convenient opportunity occurs to remove those portions from the skin, which must be moistened to permit them to be more readily scraped off. If the fresh skins are to be cleaned immediately, they are operated upon in the same manner as those previously dried. All the skins of fur-bearing animals and those furnishing skins for clothing and other purposes must be scraped, otherwise they would soon be soiled by the infiltration of the fat among the hairs.