Fox Brushes - How do you treat yours?

[Ashley Cawley]

On my way to work this morning I picked up another Fox Brush. I treated my last one by leaving it in meths for 2 months (it is currently air-drying now).

How do you cure your Fox Tails?

What's your preferred method to debone them?

Feel free to post some photos of your tails if you wish to share!...

[JonnyP]

I kept the tail of the first fox I shot. I just left it to dry out. I was told all the hair would fall out, but it didn't, and it seems ok now.
I was going to hang it on a post near our chickens, as a reminder to other foxes to LEAVE OUR BLOODY CHICKENS ALONE, but it just hangs in my workshop..

[Bambii]

I kept the tail of the first fox I shot. I just left it to dry out. I was told all the hair would fall out, but it didn't, and it seems ok now.
I was going to hang it on a post near our chickens, as a reminder to other foxes to LEAVE OUR BLOODY CHICKENS ALONE, but it just hangs in my workshop..

The foxes dont touch my chickens EVER. Either the dog scares them or the cats. Vicous cats :D

[Ashley Cawley]

I kept the tail of the first fox I shot. I just left it to dry out. I was told all the hair would fall out, but it didn't,...
Interesting, deboned or not?

[JonnyP]

The foxes dont touch my chickens EVER. Either the dog scares them or the cats. Vicous cats :D
Cats will sometimes stand up to a fox, but a fox can take a cat. Our cat has to stay indoors overnight because of that.
We have had the buzzard take chickens from here before. It will scatter them and then pick one off. Also had a badger take chickens. We caught one in the fox trap..
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s188/jonpickett/Pigsnbadgeretc039.jpg
We let it go, but I know of some folk that wouldn't, if they caught one


Interesting, deboned or not?
Bones are in. I wrapped it up in a rag (to keep the flies off) and forgot about it until I found it a few months later.
I am not recommending you do that. I will try to find what was recommended me to do.

Perhaps I ought to get me a hat like Justin's and have the tail on that..

[Bambii]

Cats will sometimes stand up to a fox, but a fox can take a cat.

We got our cats from a friend of my brothers, he lives on a farm. They were so vicious when we got them, they frightened the dog alot at first.

They take rabbits often, its really odd. I've never seen a cat do it before. They also are always near one another, i havent yet seen them apart.

[Matt]

I have always cured brushes by completely immersing in meths in a jam jar having stripped from the bone. The way I was taught to do this was to cut the skin around the base of the tail and using a finger thick piece of green hazel about a foot long and split down the middle to approximately half way, slip over the exposed bone and gripping either side strip the brush off the bone. Takes a bit of practice, and a top tip is to wear gloves as it can get a bit smelly at that end of a fox ;)

About three months is recomended for the curing process but I've left them as long as 18 months, remove and air dry. Meths smell will fade.


Regards, Matt.