I was just out fleshing the largest beaver that I have ever caught ( a real monster) when gobs of its fur just started pulling away from its hide- is this slippage? its still very much winter up here in Vermont. Is there any way to prevent it. This was a valuable beaver.....I'm pretty disappointed

no ideas guys? This was really weird I would love to know if anybody had had this happen or knows anything about it.

Yup sounds like slippage. How Long had it been dead.it could be a rare skin disease thats transmittable to humans also. LOL

only had been in the trap a day I skinned it out the next morning-
seems awful early to be slippage-i trapped this beaver under the ice or goodness sake

Sure sounds like slippage, even though I don't have much experience with beaver. Was there a wound anywhere near where it slipped ??

no wound- I caught it by the hind foot in a coni 330 lucky catch-
stored it outside, skinned it the next morning, put it on the fleshing board and went to work. I didn't get around to fleshing it until after work. However my board is outside and it was snowing, maybe the moisture from the snow was a problem- wonder if it did have a disease

if it was dead in water the water will cause bacterial growth. when you were fleshing it the heat from your hands warmed it up and started the slipping to occur. you should freeze them if you dont plan on skinning the same day. water is bad. I was going to tan a rabbit I got. skun it out 30 min after I got it. I bathed it with soap to get the mud outta the fur as I was rinsing the hair started to slip. If the conditions are right it doesnt take long for your fur to slip especially with cats it seems. The only thing you can do to prevent it is salt it. sometimes borax will help. sorry to hear that

Like I said, I'm no beaver expert but its been my experience that their hides last a long time compared to others, especially something like a rabbit.

What area did the beaver slip in?

Is it possible you cut too much off the leather side while fleshing?

slipped on the right flank in patches-
and I had only fleshed about 1/5 of the beaver when I noticed it. no way I took to much of the leather
strange though I called up my dad who had trapped for 30 years he said he'd never seen anything like it and to shout out to all of you
This beaver was absolutely huge, wish I had weighed it but it was a wicked struggle to pick and out it on my back in my pack basket

Did that area of the beaver lay any place that would have been warm. Like a four wheeler muffler or lay in a truck brd over a warm spot that picked up heat from the muffler. If none of this happened, you just got unlucky. I have seen a few beaver and coon in my life that have shed fur for no good reason. this uaually happens when it gets late in the season, but it is not that late yet./

Beaver do not slip that quick unless something is wrong with the beaver. Every spring I have beaver that are a week old, kept as cool as possible, but not frozen. I don't ever remember having a beaver slip. I even had a lightning strike trip a circut breaker this summer. Had about 40 beaver in the freezer. I didn't discover it until a week later. When I opened the freezer lid, it stunk of rotten meat. But I only had one bad one that slipped. All the rest turned out great.

Goldy or anyone else,
what could be wrong with the beaver?
It was never put next to anything hot-
The beaver did look very old I know that sounds stupid- its size seemed to match that theory

Boy Brooktrout, You got me there. I have no clue. I have never seen that happen, I just know spoilage is not the problem.

Could just have been real old and starting to get sickly. Both the biggest beaver and biggest coon I've ever caught had some of the worst fur even though they should have been perfect from the time of the year.

Some kind of localized skin disease maybe. I've seen deer and dogs with something like that, where they are missing small patches of hair. Maybe, bad flea bites. Check on the flesh side to see if there is a lot of black spots or other unusual color in that area.(After fleshing). The pelt should be pure white this time of year.

As Don said I have had this happen to me once also. Trapped a beaver through the ice and skinned and fleshed it the day I cought it on a 24 hr check. Beaver had been in the trap long enough to cool good. When I got done fleshing it Igave it a shake and hair flew everywhere. Clumps of hair. No idea why. It would be my guess it is something with the beaver, nothing you did from the sound of it. A beaver will keep about as well as anything if cooled down good.

Did you possibly push too hard on the fleshing beam with your body when you fleshed it? The first couple I did done that and a couple small patches came out.

What MJM and Don said. Poo Poo on the hand bacteria thing