The weather calming down some permitted us to few days later to pull out again for a hunt. This proved to be our lucky day, as we came in about 11 a. m. with our otter, he was a medium size and very beautiful measuring about 5 ft.6 inches in length with the most hansome [handsome] fur I ever saw, the fur was about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inches deep and grew so compacted that the skin was invisible even when the fur was parted for the purpose. With the hand smoothing it in any direction it would follow and lay as stroked, the ends were jet black but near the hide it was of a silkey [silky] gray color and soft as cotton to the touch.

It now required some skill and experience to dress or cure it.

Everyone was quite willing in taking a hand at this work. The carcass was first hung up by the flippers, head downward and the process of taking off the skin was new and interesting to me. When it finally lay on the grounds it had not been touched with a knife except to start the hide which was done by splitting the soles of the flippers and pulling the hide over the body simply turning him wrong side out; the bullet hole which had killed him was now sewed up with silk thread while the fur was on the inner side.

The hide now was put upon a stretcher and stretched taut until every point of the skin was tight, the work began now of a scraping nature cleaning off every particle of blubber and fat until the hide became like glassy rawhide, this was then treated with a rubbing and drying process without the aide of the sun and in fact all of the entire job was done in the shade. The washing with water and rubbing continued for prehaps [perhaps] 2 or 3 days until the skin was perfectly dry. Then it was returned with the fur out and neatly packed being now ready for market netting us $400.00.


Big Sur…NEXT