Raccoon Pelt

I finally got around to finishing the raccoon pelt I scavenged in Virginia. I used the method described on braintan.com here. This is my first pelt that I actually brain tanned, as opposed to simply buffing it until its soft.

The bare spots are where the fur pulled out when I was fleshing it. It's not as soft as I would have liked, but it will do the job. Overall, it has a somewhat oily feel to it, I cant figure out if thats because of the brains or the pelt itself. Compared to other pelts I've done, and hides too, this one seems a little more oily than the others.

Here is the underside of the pelt. I still need to trim the edges, and smoke it to protect it from insects.
To apply the brains, I mixed it into a paste, then painted it onto the pelt, then folded it up and left it somewhere out of the sun and where animals couldn't get to it.