Skunk Pelts Got You Down? Hear Me Out: Grapefruit. Juice.
Unfortunately many taxidermists shy away from the idea of mounting skunks (memphitidae); which is really quite a shame considering what incredible creatures they are. The musk of a skunk tends to drive most away from this project despite a fairly easy fix no further than your local grocery store...
But first- what makes a skunk smell? The spray of a skunk is an extremely potent, sulfur-rich thiol. This consists of the chemical compound (E )-2-butene-1-thiol and 3-methyl-1-butanethiol. In other words- they don’t exactly smell too great up close.
Now that that’s further established, we’ll for sure be wanting to rid ourselves of that odor- but why grapefruit?
Grapefruit contains significant amounts of citric acid with their content level being only second to lemons and limes. The citric acid present in high concentrate grapefruit juice, which just happpens to react well with the compounds in skunk oils. The use of this works to cut through the scent as well as mask anything that slips through fairly well.
Instructions For Use:
Cleanly skin specimen. Do your best to avoid over saturation of fats and flesh, as well as cutting scent glands (located on either side of the rectum) by any means necessary. I recommend beginning from the head.
Prepare bath ASAP. The sooner soaked, the less the smell spreads. My personal formula is 1-2 bottles of grapefruit juice as well as dawn dish soap. Optional: add a splash of pine-sol, glycerine, and salt as well as about 1/4 cup of aluminum sulfate (allum), these being the ingredients for a classic allum tan. This will not tan the hide, but it will cut down on bacteria, greatly decreasing chances of slipping.
Submerge pelt and allow to soak for 1-2 hours for the first pass, stirring and making sure it has been thoroughly coated. This WILL NOT stain the fur.
Rinse & repeat, changing the juice each time until smell is gone. Wash thoroughly with soap and water until runoff is clear. Continue on with tanning and other hide prep.
This is a method i learned from my mentor, a professional with 60+ years of experience within the field. Do with this information whatever you’d wish, just know- this shit does a beautiful cleanup job.
Any topics you’d care to have me touch on? Please let me know, i’m sure i can help you guys out one way or another.