I've skinned a woodchuck--there's lots of fat in those suckers. You don't need to add any extra oil in that marinade or barbecue sauce. Another real greasy critter that I've skinned out is the armadillo.

Why, you ask, did I skin these and other critters? I am a naturalist by training, and I used these skins in interpretive programs. Snakes, rabbits, squirrels, coyote, and the most impressive, the head of an alligator gar (boiled in a big galvanized bucket to get the excess fat off of it--a 75 pounder caught in a Louisianna bayou where I worked as a Corps of Engineers ranger for a little while).

I don't recall using a spatula on any of these noble critters. Just my pocket knife.

SRS