GRAPHIC BLOG--- gross pictures!

Here are only two of the hundreds of pictures that were taken when we skinned and dissected a salvaged river otter.

I would like to say that this was roadkill and that I got a permit from the Wash St. Dept of Fish and Wildlife to do this and that if others are interested in this type of stuff, please get the right permits or licenses... it isn't hard, especially if you are trying to do the right thing.

I hope to finish the skinning process soon, but it is back in the freezer in the meanwhile. We all worked hard and put in about 6 hours of cutting, studying, talking...

The smell was intense... in fact, the smell of musk lingered in my nostrils for two days afterwards and raspberry jam, whereas it is delicious, presents a slight resemblance to otter blood... it was a very humbling experience to do this work and I am very happy to have studied by experience...

And by now I have used up enough space on the blog, so that the pictures weren't the first thing you saw!


Pulling back the skin while it is being cut off of the carcass

Splaying open the skin, taut, in order to scrape the fat, muscle and membrane. This was taking forever so we ended soon thereafter.