newb hide prep question

[troutkingmaster]

I am starting to predator hunt. I would like to save/prepare the hides to display them somehow in my house. My concern is shooting one that may have mange or another parasite but not showing symptoms yet. I have a Lab that I do not want to expose to anything that may be carried by wild dogs. How can you prepare the hide to ensure you kill all parasites. On a different note, do you need a furbearers license to shoot foxes?

[Bobmo]

Spray it with flea spray and put it in a garbage bag for a few hours. This will kill the fleas. Mange is a parasite that is in the hide itself. You'll know if the K9 has mange as there will be bare/worn spots with missing fur. You're not going to want to save one of those for display.

The parasite that causes mange will be dead within a few hours of the animal being dead as it needs a live host.

If you plan on putting it on display in the house, you're gonna want to get it tanned. This means you will need to stretch and dry it first. Once dried, there will be nothing left that is harmful to your dog.

[RBuker]

I grew up in Waseca... I thought I had all the fox and coyotes down there killed off? That's why I moved.

Anyway, you've been give pretty good advice already. But, the mange mites are hardier than given credit. They can live in a dead animal for quite a while and they can transfer to YOU and live long enough to get on to your lab. Bottom line is that if you kill an animal with mange, your best bet is to leave it lay.

I just finished treating my dogs (six of them) for mange. Geee, I wonder where they got it?

[walleyes12]

Rbuker what signs did you dogs have that they had mange?

[RBuker]

It started off with itching. Lots and lots of it. When examined closely you could see that there was some hair loss starting too. Luckily treatment was fairly easy and inexpensive. But, I sure felt sorry for the critters for a while. Miserable stuff.

[walleyes12]

Thanks Rbuker, I have been lucky so far and my dog has not got mange. I just wanted to know what to look for in domestic dogs