Skunk, Polar Bear & Kid Goat Hair (Imitation Polar Bear)

[letumgo 0]

I saw a recent thread discussing Polar Bear and Skunk Fur, and figured I may be able to help the discussion. I have a couple pieces of very old Polar Bear, and a full skunk skin that may be helpful for comparison. I have taken some photos of these furs, side-by-side so for comparison. I find skunk tail fur to be a close match to genuine polar bear fur. Skunk fur has a similar translucency and natural sparkle, similar to polar bear hair.

 

Skunk Skin (w/o tail)

 

Skunk Tail

One of the things I like about the skunk tail hair is the length of the hairs. On the skin I own, the hair is easily 5 to 6 inches long.

Interestingly, some of the skunk hair is bi-colored (black tips and white roots) which can also make for some interesting tying material.

 

Skunk Fur and Polar Bear Fur (Side-by-Side)

(the top white strip is skunk; the bottom white strip is polar bear)

(the bottom white strip is skunk; the strip of fur on the top-right is polar bear)

 

The texture of natural polar bear is very course (stiff and very slippery). The stiffness of the PB hair limits the amount of movement of the hair when it gets wet. The skunk tail fur has a similar diameter, but it is more flexible. I would expect the skunk tail fibers to produce more movement in the finished fly, when compared with polar bear.

 

I have also included a photo of Kid Goat Hair, which is also used as a common polar bear substitute. Kid goat hair is wonderful stuff to work with (stacks like a dream, gives little build up at the head of the fly, and had a nice soft texture to it). Compared with real polar bear fur, however, it is quite opaque. In my opinion, skunk tail hair is a better substitute to real polar bear hair.

 

Kid Goat Hair

 

Skunk fur also makes wonderful zonkers. I hand cut the fur into long strips and use them to make zonker-style flies. I posted an variation of the Alaska Maryanne pattern using skunk zonker strip.

Alaska Maryanne Zonker (variation)

[the saltydog 0]

Luckily I have a decent amount of polar bear hair to use... but where do you find skunk hair (non-smelling please)

[letumgo 0]

I bought my skunk skin from a fur distributor (see link below). The full skin (craft grade) sold for 45 dollars (plus tax and shipping). The tail has a very very faint "skunky" smell to it, but nothing offensive.

 

http://www.chichesterinc.com/Skunk.htm

 

Note, there is commonly a huge variation in the markings of skunk skins. If you order from Chichester, you have to be very specific in what you are looking for. It would probably best to give them a call and describe what you are looking for. I specifically wanted a fur with long straight tail hair and a wide white strip for zonker strips. I didn't mind off-white hair color, so I could go with the cheaper craft grade skin. If you want bright white hair, you will need to order the higher grade skins (up to $125 dollars).

[the saltydog 0]

I'll have to think hard about this one... given the amount of times our dogs have gotten skunked over the years, this might be pushing the limit of marital bliss...... the dogs love waterhen skins and such, but it would be pretty funny to see how they would react to a skunk skin showing up with the ups guy.

 

Greg

[Arkansas Mike 0]

Thanks for the info and pics, Ray. Interesting. I guess I'll have to either order some skunk,

or grab my .22 and a laundry clip. :sick:

 

Mike

[txflytier 0]

Great post.

 

I guess we dont have any limits huh? If it moves and has hair it better run lol

 

I might give it a go.

 

 

Chance

[Guest]

As I posted in the other thread on Polar bear go to http://www.hideandfur.com/ and you can find just about anything

 

Fatman

[mvendon 0]

Nice pic's Ray!

 

If you don't want an entire skunk skin, Alvin Theriault's fly shop in Maine sells the body hair in both colors by the piece. I don't believe that he sells the tails though.

 

http://www.theriaultflies.com/

 

Regards,

Mark

[kyflytyer 0]

Luckily I have a decent amount of polar bear hair to use... but where do you find skunk hair (non-smelling please)

 

You can get a piece of skunk fur from Angler's Den for $2 plus shipping:

 

http://www.anglersden.net/catalogphotos/Fur/index.html