Animation of prop constrained to a character from Maya to Unity

Hello,

We have a number of animated clips in Maya with items constrained to one of the character joints (a skateboard, a bow in his hand etc...). The props where constrained to the character through a group, so that they could have their own animation while still following the character as it moved.

In your experience, what is the best way to transfer these animations into Unity, so as to use the Mecanim system? In a way that we could transition, say from skateboard ride to skateboard jump, with the board seamlessly transitioning from one anim to the other?

We have joints on the character so that we could create an Avatar, but what do you do with the prop?

Thank you very much for any help you may be able to provide>