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Skull Work
Didn't rightfully know just which category to put this one in? But since it's rather picture heavy, figured here is as good as any...
My Partner and I have accumulated a fair pile of head bones over the years, and with no steelhead in the river to entertain us, decided to finally get around to cleaning a few up...
There are several way to do this of course. Taxidermist is the easiest, but little entertainment value in that for us. Dermestid Beetles are the general preferred route, but neither of us want the hassle (and smell) that goes hand in hand with them. So, we settled on the scrape, simmer, scrape, degrease and whitening process.
Two ways to prep the skull. Easiest is to simply bury the bugger in the yard where your mutt won't dig it up, and fetch it out a few months or so later. The bugs will take care of a LOT of the prep for you. Only caution here is you may have to look hard to find a few teeth should they fall out.
Here's a medium sized Black Bear just out of the ground:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...irt_Bear_1.jpg
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...irt_Bear_2.jpg
The other was is to cut as much of the meat and cartilage off as you can:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku.../Buffalo_1.jpg
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku.../Buffalo_2.jpg
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku.../Buffalo_3.jpg
Continued...
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Re: Skull Work
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku.../Buffalo_4.jpg
Still a fair way to go with the ol' Buffalo, but he needs to thaw a little more before that can happen.
We wash the dirt skulls carefully, and then treat them much the same as the the skinned ones.
Into the big Stainless pot overnight:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...mer_Tank_1.jpg
Couple Blacktail skulls peaking out of that. We NEVER allow the water to boil, simply get fairly warm and maintain that overnight. Next day, the nitty-gritty stuff starts:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku.../Working_1.jpg
That's a Dall Ram almost ready for the next step, and a non-typical Blacktail my Partner is working on. Carefully remove all the bits that ain't bone. Time consuming and picky work, but eventually worth it.
Then it's back to the simmer pot for another over-nighter. We add a good amount of dish detergent and replace the water at this point to help get rid of some of the grease:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...mer_Tank_2.jpg
After another cleaning session the next day (spoons, knives, picks and hard-bristle brushes) we let them dry out overnight before degreasing.
To degrease, we put the skulls inside a tough garbage bag, add sufficient sudsy ammonia so that when the bagged skull is lowered in a tub full of water the ammonia drowns the entire skull.
Here's a Polar Bear and a Black Bear in the de-greasing tub:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...e_Grease_1.jpg
That process can take a couple or even three days before all the grease is out. Ammonia doesn't seem to affect the bones at all, so we've been erring on the side of longer to ensure all the grease is gone. With very oily skulls (Polar Bears!!) we had to change the ammonia a few times for it to do it's job.
Continued...
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Re: Skull Work
After de-greasing is complete, we wash the skulls thoroughly with sudsy water & rinse well. Then let them dry once again before going into the whitening tank.
The most common method is to immerse the skull in hydrogen peroxide for this step, and something we have done a fair amount of. But with so many projects, the associated cost was starting to be noticeable, so we are experimenting with non-chlorinated swimming pool Shock Treatment. And once again we use the bag method and submerge in a tank of water.
Here's the elk waiting for the whitening:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Skull-Work/Elk_1.jpg
And now bagged with the shock treatment to whiten up:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku..._Whitening.jpg
That process can take up to a couple days before it is satisfactory...
Continued...
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Re: Skull Work
We only currently have one skull that has basically finished whitening at this point (with several more on the go).
Here's what the Big Polar Bear looking like before the process - the end result of sitting 20 years in the shed:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...lar_Bear_1.jpg
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...lar_Bear_2.jpg
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...lar_Bear_3.jpg
And what he looked like yesterday having the whitening agent scrubbed away:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...lar_Bear_4.jpg
Coming along nicely!!
This was a HUGE Old Boar with many cracked / broken teeth and battle scars all over. He will certainly be a pleasant addition to my cave soon!!
Continued...
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Re: Skull Work
Couple more of the impending projects:
Fallow Deer & last year's bow Muley:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...nd_Muley_2.jpg
SlobberNose:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Skull-Work/Moose_1.jpg
I have gained a fair amount of knowledge of the process from a site someone posted here not too long ago: http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php
Very Useful! :wink:
Some folks like to put a sealant on the finished skull, but I don't know if we'll bother. Jury is still out on that one, so if any of the Pro's can lend some advise, (goes for the whole process as described btw) it would certainly be Right Appreciated!! :-D
I'll update this as we go along so you can see how the finished products turn out...
Cheers,
Nog
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looks great. Thanks for the details
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Thanks for the tips Iron Noggin, looks great!
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Polar Bear 1 is ready for final drying then assembly. Here he is sitting on top of a full sized Rubbermaid Roughneck container:
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...lar_Bear_5.jpg
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...lar_Bear_6.jpg
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Sku...lar_Bear_7.jpg
This is one HUGE Bear! In fact, the largest I saw the entire time we lived in the Arctic. I do have the rest of the teeth, although many are cracked or broken due to the rigors of getting as old as this one did. Will post a couple more once he has been finalized...
Cheers,
Nog
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Handful of the deer are now ready for de-greasing. Just got to get the rest out of their way! http://bigshotsbc.ca/images/smilies/biggrin-new.png
http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/Skull-Work/Deer_1.jpg
From left to right: Blacktail, Fallow, Bow Muley, Non-Typical Blacktail, Muzzleloader Whitetail.
And on it goes... http://bigshotsbc.ca/images/smilies/cool-new.png
Cheers,
Nog