Skull

S

Survivalboy

Joined
Aug 9, 2004
Messages
73
I just found a dead animal near one of my hiking trails, I want the skull, I removed the head from the body, and skinned it. What is the best way to remove the muscle and tissue from the skull?
 
Museums use insects, I stuck one on a large anthill once and they cleaned it perfectly in less than a week. 'Twas the middle of summer tho'. Might be a problem this time o' year.
Enjoy!
 
Survivalboy said:
I just found a dead animal near one of my hiking trails, I want the skull, I removed the head from the body, and skinned it. What is the best way to remove the muscle and tissue from the skull?
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First thing, before you go near any dead critter BEWARE of disease, if what killed the animal is unknown stay clear of it. Sorry I had to bring that up.
With that being said you can let nature do it for you, you can boil it (outside) or use a powerful acid Not recommened. What kind of animal was it?
 
Get a pail large enough to hold the skull.. dig a hole and bury the bucket up to the top.. make sure to put a few holes in the bottom for critters to get in/out..
cover the top with a few logs (keep the other 4 legged critters off it..)..

leave it for a month or so..

you can boil/bleach as well, but the color is not as white when you boil one..
 
Hydrogen Peroxide works well. Alternate peroxide soaks with isopropyl alcohol, using water between each one. Both chemicals can even be found in the grocery store first aid section!
 
I have a modest collection of animal skulls. Most I found already in that state. On occasion, when I've found a road kill (like my fox skull), I've taken the carcass into the woods and tied it to a tree and left it for a month or two. When you return, all the work is done for you. Of course there's no guarantee that something might not run off with your prize!
 
I can't believe you all missed the Obvoius:

Two quarts of boiling water
4 whole potatoes
1 lb of carrots
1 lb of celery
2 whole onions
spices to like

Badge54

Formerly Gadget54
 
"Meal worms" are sold as pet food and used to clean bones in university zoology depts. Formula/proportions I was taught to use: mix a couple of oz. of the worms with 1 lb. of dry sawdust and 1 lb. of corn meal in box with tightly closing but not air-tight lib. Insert skull. Place in area where temp. stays 60 F or above. (If food supply holds up, "worms" will eventully become bettles that can fly some.)
 
Well, if you want to wait. I say stake the skull down in the woods and pikc it up in June. By the the carrion beetles will have cleaned it up for you.


Joe
 
I would definitely stay clear of any animal carcass with undetermined cause of death. You'll never know what's gonna hapen next????.....
 
A friend of mine once wanted to clean a deer skull in the middle of the winter. So he took it to the river and tied a rope to it and a tree and threw it in.
He kept a check on it for a week or so and said it was coming along nicely. After a while he forgot about it for a few months. When he went back it was gone. He said if he had kept checking it and got it out in time that it would have worked perfectly.
 
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