Elk skin

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Elk skin ( Ångermanland , Sweden, around 1928)

The elk skin , the elk skin or moose blanket , the peeled skin of the elk , is a commercial article. It is mainly used as leather when it is dehaired and tanned . The hard elk skin can be processed into fur, but the durability is limited due to the high fragility of the hair. The elk is the largest species of deer found today . Its habitat extends across northern Europe, northern Asia and North America. It is classified as “not at risk” by the IUCN.

The moose hunting is now practiced among others in Sweden, Norway, the Baltic States, Russia, Canada and the United States. The reason given is nature conservation, in particular forest protection. The elk meat is eaten.

Fur structure

Cree women defeat a moose skin (Northern Saskatchewan , 1930)

The size of the elk skins is very different. The skins coming from the east of Europe are larger than the western ones; the skins of males are significantly larger than those of females. The head body length is up to 270 centimeters, that of the East Siberian elk up to over 300 centimeters. The hairy tail is 12 to 13 inches long. The ears are wide, oblong and oval and taper slightly at the ends. The leg length of European moose is 90 to 110 centimeters, in Alaska moose about ten centimeters more.

The coat color is strong black-brown to almost black, the legs are silvery light gray from about half of the lower leg or upper arm. As a cloven-hoofed elk, the “horse mirror” above the hind legs of all solipeds is missing. The hair on the muzzle is light gray or whitish. There are no significant differences between the coloration of the summer coat and the winter coat. The summer hair, however, is darker, almost black. Since the tips of the guard hairs that push them wear off later, the color becomes lighter (cloudy brown) towards winter.

The fur of the young is very soft, dense and usually of a uniform reddish to brown color. The first coat change takes place after three months.

The guard hairs are thick, coarse and slightly wavy; Winter hair in particular contains large air-filled cavities and is therefore brittle. The longest hair is found on the trunk (about 10 centimeters, even longer on the spine and even 16 to 20 centimeters on the withers) and in the upper part of the neck (mane formation), the shortest on the legs. The leg hair has a special feature, it is only curved in an arc and much more elastic and stable than the body hair. Both sexes have a goatee, which is greatest in elks between the ages of 3 and 5. It is then on average 20 to 25 centimeters long. Some individuals have a significantly longer beard, in older moose it can almost be gone. Only the winter dress also has an undercoat.

The hair change takes place once a year during spring. The beginning of the hair change depends on the respective area of ​​distribution. In Central Russia it begins in April and lasts until July. The guard hairs fall out from the end of March / beginning of April, the undercoat from the second half of April. The peak of the hairing is in April / May, later in calf-bearing females (until mid-July). From August onwards an undercoat forms again, and in the same month the guard hair pushes up. In October, the growth of winter hair is completed.

The best skins for fur processing are obtained after the hair change is completed in October, the summer blankets are mostly damaged by Dassella larvae .

History, trade, use

Koller made of elk leather with silk sleeves by Gustav Adolf II of Sweden . Worn in the battle near Dirschau (1627)

With the ancient northern peoples, the trade in elk or elf skins probably played only a minor role. It was probably Pliny (about 23-79. Chr.) Who reported, "consisting of the elk clothes" was produced mainly war clothes, "in the West, the elk hide was considered a hard-and-found and Koller from it was a Armor counted “. But it is not likely that the use of such war clothing would have been particularly widespread at some point; Buffalo , cattle and bison skins were preferred for leather armor .

Alexander Mackenzie wrote about a native tribe in Northwest America: "They dress in skirts made of beaver and marmot skins and reindeer and elk skins , which are decorated with tassels at the bottom". The Indians also used the sturdy leather of the American elk, English "Moose", to make footwear. While the hunt was the responsibility of the men, the dressing of the skins, as well as the processing of the meat, was generally women’s business. In the “Conversations from Natural History” by Gottlieb Tobias Wilhelm from 1808 it says: “The North American savages understand the art of preparing the skins of their elephants by means of the brain, the marrow and the refuse from the small intestines so that they may be dirtier, but better and softer than those dyed by the white tanners . They have the advantage that the moisture does not make them hard and brittle. […] The Elenhaut serves them as a bed, as the roof of their hut, as a suit and as footwear. They wrap their feet with it, and tie up these boots with the tendons of this animal. The lightness and softness of them is the reason that they never go sore and cover the longest distances with great speed ”.

In the Middle Ages, elk skins were a sought-after commodity. From 1656 onwards, the Great Elector made sure that all East Prussian elk skins were prepared, tanned and processed into pods for his Reuter regiments (cavalry regiments). Use for other than military purposes was no longer allowed. Even later, elk leather was valued much higher than other wild animal leather. For example, Emperor Paul I launched a formal war of extermination against the elks in Russia in order to obtain the elk skins that he believed to be essential for the leg clothing of his riders. The sometimes reckless reenactment was all the easier because the moose was considered a particularly large pest in the forest.

The hair that fell off into leather during the tanning process was used for upholstery purposes. In Prussia gueridons , small side tables, were made from whole feet , or cups and goblets were carved from the front hooves. In inheritances, “misery claws” belonged to the household effects and thus to the inheritance of the bride if they were provided with “ears or goose”. Rings were also turned out of the hooves as " cramp rings" to protect them from muscle cramps , as were amulets or it was ground into medicinal powder, which, for example, should help against epilepsy . Other uses were swords, carabiner straps, young elk leather for saddles, leather cushions, trousers and gloves. In Breslau and Vienna much was used for the imperial cavalry. Fine gloves, obviously mittens , were made from the skins of unborn calves from pregnant animals :

“The most beautiful misery leather is so delicate and soft that you can count your fingers in it after you shake your hand. Even if it is well worked, it does not tend to become hard after getting wet, like other leather. It comes from Sweden, Lapland, Finland and Lievland, prepared in a chamois style. The savages in the Canada countryside bring the miserable skins to the French, and exchange them for goods which they need from them. The misery leather is commonly sold for pounds, also by skin. The furriers also cut horse blankets from the slum skins, which are black-red and whitish on the abdomen. In the same way, all kinds of cases and bags are made from the stripped skin of the feet into hunter's spikes and hunter's tools. "

- Krünitz, 1777; 2nd edition Part 57, 1801, p. 24

The chamois and white tanners were responsible for tanning the leather. In addition to America and Europe, a considerable part of the elk hides came from Siberia around 1777. The Siberian Tungus , Yakuts and Incagirs cut the elk skins into two parts and made the so-called “Polowinki”, a very soft, comfortable and durable material for “ trousers , camisoles and collets ”. There were two types, the smoked and the unsmoked. The smoked ones did not have such a beautiful yellow color as the unsmoked ones, but they tolerated the moisture particularly well and did not harden after drying. The Tungus sometimes took care of smoking by covering their hut with the skins and having the smoking done by the house and hearth fire. The elk skin of the Tungus was considered so excellent that they were allowed to use it to pay tribute .

Their processing were to wear with outwardly introspective fur side in recent times from the hair untouched Elchdecken travel furs worked; with the hair inwards, upper fur with hoods, hats, gloves as well as underlays and rugs .

Deer skins, deer skins, reindeer skins, and elk skins have tubular hairs that break easily because of their structure. Today, in addition to being used for leather, moose skins are probably only used to a very limited extent in their natural form as floor carpets. Due to its low durability, retailers recommend that it be used for decoration purposes only.

According to the nature conservation authority, around 90,000 moose were shot annually in Sweden around 2008. To what extent and for what their hides were used, the authority made no information in this publication.

Swedish and Norwegian elk skins (1956)

In 1956, the range of raw Swedish elk hides preserved with salt was traded in three varieties by weight, from 16/18 kilograms to 22/24 kilograms and heavier.

Since the size of the hides is different, it could happen that with a sheet weight (an average weight ) of, for example, 24 kg, both hides of 18 and 30 kg were in one lot, unless a running weight was used instead had been agreed.

The elk skins were relatively well peeled off, but some had bullet holes in the core and / or waste. Small, isolated chafing or grinding points had to be accepted by the buyer in the first quality. The skins were delivered without a head and with short legs. The head was cut in a straight line just behind the ears, the legs below the knee.

Faults in fur could be: hair loss in areas of different sizes; Scar damage, deep cuts, small or large holes and rust spots, all to a different extent.

The season for the delivery of Swedish elk skins runs from October to January. They are sold individually bundled. Either the first and second varieties were combined or they were separated and delivered separately. The III. The variety was always specially marked.

In a few cases, in addition to salted elk skins, dried skins were also traded according to the same sorting regulations.

The delivery conditions for Swedish elk skins did not apply to those from Norway. In the position these are a bit more compact. Norwegian elk skins were delivered with long legs and heads. They were a little worse off than the Swedish ones.

facts and figures

  • "Elk skins [elk skins] were exported from Archangel about 5000 pieces annually , but in 1670 42 pieces of tanned elk skins were imported via Archangel for the foreign officers in the Russian service."
  • Around 1800 (?) Russia fulfilled its subsidy obligations towards Austria by sending a consignment of tobacco products to Vienna, consisting of:
75 elen skins worth 75 rubles
1009 rooms = 40,360 pieces of sable hides worth 28,907 rubles
1 room = 40 pieces of sable hides worth 400 rubles
519 rooms = 2076 marten skins worth 5190 rubles
120 black fox skins worth 565 rubles
300 beaver pelts worth 2708 rubles
1000 wolf skins worth 530 rubles

Web links

Commons : European Elk Skins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : American Elk Skins  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Clothing and other products made from elk fur and elk leather  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Heinrich Dathe , Paul Schöps et al.: Pelztieratlas. VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena 1986, pp. 277-279.
  2. ↑ a b Wladimir G. Heptner, Andrej A. Nasimowitsch: Der Elch. Westarp-Wissenschaften, Hohenwarsleben 2004, p. 9, 12. ISBN 3-89432-173-3 .
  3. ↑ László Vajda: Studies on the history of pastoral cultures , Volume 1 . Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1968, pp. 290-291. Last accessed November 21, 2018.
  4. ↑ Alexander Mackenzie: Journey through Northwest America: From Eastern Canada to the Northern Arctic Ocean and the Pacific coast . Würzburg, July 15, 2013. Last accessed November 21, 2018.
  5. ↑ Maximilian Wied: Journey into the inner North America in the years 1832 to 1834 , Volume 2. J. Hoelscher, Koblenz 1841. Last accessed November 28, 2018.
  6. ↑ Gottlieb Tobias Wilhelm: Conversations from natural history. Part two of the mammals . 2nd edition, Martin Langenbrechtsche Kunsthandlung, Augsburg 1808, p. 279.
  7. ↑ Michael Greisinger: On the history of the deer in the Tatra and its surroundings . In: Yearbook of the Hungarian Carpathian Association - 13th year (1886) , p. 154 (PDF). Last accessed November 21, 2018.
  8. ^ Oskar-Wilhelm Bachor: The Gerdauen district: an East Prussian homeland book . Holzner Verlag, 1968, p. 399. Last accessed on November 21, 2018.
  9. ^ Alfred Brehm: Brehms animal life. Mammals . Volume 8: Ruminants I. - Chapter 2 . Gutenberg-Verlag, 1927. Last accessed November 23, 2018.
  10. ^ Johann Friedrich Brandt: Elen-Hirsch . In: Medical Zoology or Faithful Representation and Description of the Animals, which come into consideration in the science of medicines, in systematic order , 1st volume. From the authors and in commission from A. Hirschwald, 1829, p. 35. Last accessed on November 21, 2018.
  11. ↑ Economic encyclopedia or general system of the state, city, house and agriculture in alphabetical order by Johann Georg Krünitz . 1777, pp. 714-717.
  12. ↑ Jos. Klein: The Siberian fur trade and its importance for the conquest of Siberia . Inaugural dissertation, Bonn 1906, p. 31. Last accessed November 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ tubular hair . Homepage of Worring, North Ridgewell, Ohio. Last accessed November 27, 2018.
  14. ↑ Naturvård Verket: Jakten i Sverige . May 28, 2008 (Swedish). Last accessed November 24, 2018.
  15. ^ John Lans, Georg von Stering-Krugheim: Handbook on wild skins and pelts . General land and sea transport company Hermann Ludwig, Hamburg (ed.). Hamburg 1956, pp. 214, 217.
  16. ↑ Note: According to DIN 53854 and 53884, the linear weight mL (previously the weight of a running meter) is understood to be the "quotient of the weight of a textile surface section over its entire width ... and its length". Hedwig Bäumer: Calculation of length and area weight . Vocational college Werther Brücke, Wuppertal December 18, 2006. Last accessed December 2, 2018.
  17. ↑ N. Kymmel: On the history of the Russian postal system . In: Baltic Monthly Volume 11, published by Nicolay Kümmel's Buchhandlung, Riga 1865, p. 169. Last accessed on November 21, 2018.
  18. ↑ Reinhold Stephan, Bochum: On the history of the tobacco trade in antiquity and the Middle Ages and the development of the Russian-Asian region from 16. -18. Century . Inaugural dissertation University of Cologne 1940, p. 126. → Table of contents . Primary source KR v. Baer: News from Siberia and the Kyrgyz steppe . St. Petersburg 1845, p. 133.