Skinning snakes

[razorsharptokill]

A guy I work with killed a canebreak last night. It looks suitable for backing a bow. Its been out all night though. He said he's going to have it put in the freezer.

Will it still be good or is it (the skin)going to stink after it's skinned?

[ishiwannabe]

Tough to say...I have skinned them after they were out overnight in Ga, and placed the skin in a bag of salt to absorb the moisture. No foul odor after that...
Try it, at the least you may end up with a skin, at the worst, a smelly experience.

[razorsharptokill]

Yeah, I have nothing to lose I guess.

[Lost Arra]

My nephew forgot to tell me he put a dead copperhead in the bed of my truck. It sat 24 hours in the heat. It was a little smelly but once skinned I spray them with windex to dry and keep bugs off so the smell was gone.

[razorsharptokill]

Ok good. I should have a nice skin tomorrow. I just tack it flesh side up on a board and scrape it?

[Pat B]

You can also wash it in Dawn dish soap to degrease it but also to wash off any bacteria that might make it smell. Then tack it up to dry. Don't use salt on it if you plan to use it for a bow backing.
  How big is the skin? The nice thing about canebreaks(timber)is you can cut them down the center lengthwise and cover 2 limbs with the same skin if it is big enough.

[Lost Arra]

Yes
It won't take much scraping except around the belly scales and you will probably trim them off before applying to a limb. Don't use much pressure and rip a hole. I use a spoon.

[FubarFred]

soak it in tide laundry soap and some water for a couple days and change the mix every now and then. left mine sit a few days and the scales just wiped right off....this was after fleshing and making sure there was no meat left.
Fred....

[razorsharptokill]

Thank you.

[JEJ]

Go for it, and hope for the best. I once read some where to put on a light coating of good old white wheat flour on the meat side, and then scrape off flour and meat with a spoon, and that worked fine for me on a big 55" TX diamondback. The flour and meat kind of made a paste that just scrapped off real clean with the spoon (fire ants seemed to love it, kind of like "breaded snake" to them I guess). Already had removed scales with knife edge (careful! the skin is thin), and "dabbing" at some stubborn scales with little piece of duct tape. Then rinsed flour, scales, pieces of meat off with water hose, and thumb tacked to a piece of cardboard and left in the sun for several hours. I'm sure there are better ways, but this worked out fine for me. Beautiful skin, just needs to be on the back of a bow!    

[razorsharptokill]

He said it was 3ft. but I havent seen it yet.
 

[Osagetree]

She's a beauty! How'd it turn out?

[razorsharptokill]

It is in his freezer now, I'll thaw it and skin it tomorrow at work.

borax, put it on and let it soak up the moister, then shake it off then redo it a couple of times.

[Pat B]

First thing I do with a snake is cut the head off and bury it!  Their fangs are like loaded hypodermic needles.

[JimB]

I've said this before but I can see where this could get confusing for you.No salt,no soap,no wheat,no borax.Personally,I would have skinned and fleshed it immediately,tacked it out and dried it.it has already been out too long.I would just get the skin off as soon as it is partially thawed enough to do so.Flesh with a tablespoon and get it tacked out.

[Lost Arra]

+1 JimB

I don't put anything on 'em except an occasional light blast of windex (ammonia) which keeps mice from chewing it while it's drying.

[razorsharptokill]

Well he didnt come into work today so hopefully tomorrow I'll have it.

[razorsharptokill]

Ok I have it skinned and tacked to a piece of plywood. The spoon really didnt take much meat off. It's more like a film toward the outer edges. Should i put it out in the sun to dry?

[JimB]

I wouldn't put it in the sun,just let it dry.If it is tacked out,flesh side up,it should dry fairly quickly.