Skull cleaning

[chris]

Hello everyone
Does anyone know where to go to get a black bear skull cleaned in the fraser valley? I have never had one cleaned before but feel its time to put one on the mantle.
Thanks
Chris

[bc_buckshot]

Yup either i can do it for you or i know someone with bettles that he can also do it. Pm me you info and i will be glad to help

[srupp]

hmmm thought bigbore 14 had dermestitid beetles??
steven

[aggiehunter]

boil it for ten minutes..pressure wash it...peroxide it..easy

[ACE]

Remove as much 'meat' as you can.
Separate the lower jaw, place skull in a large pot, teeth pointing down. Lower jaw with teeth also pointing down. This helps stop the canines from cracking. Fill with water to cover skull. This is best done outside to keep your wife on friendly terms ....... Coleman stove and large crab pot will do the trick.
Do not boil! .... it might break the teeth, especially on larger skulls. You only want to cook the remaining 'meat' for easier removal.
It's easier to take a dowel with a rounded end, and break the nasal cartilage out and remove it. You may want to keep it in. Personal choice.
Some folks like a whitened skull, others don't. Again, a personal choice. I prefer to use a small amount of olive oil, which gives the bone a light brown color.
The bone will lose some of the oil/fat in the cooking process. The olive oil helps restore some of that.

You may want to epoxy the teeth ..... some will loosen up, and often the top canines will slide out and you can see the hole in the top of them .... sometimes.

Bigger/older bears often have head injuries and wear/tear ..... interesting wounds.
The old 'BC Fish & Wildlife Branch' used to ask for a pre-molar to age bruins. They would cut the tooth in the lab with a diamond wheel, and according to my biologist friend .... would count the yearly rings. "like counting tree rings" ....

Good luck to you, and as you will see, there are many good ways to save the skull of your bear.

[chris]

Thanks for all the feedback, I will post pictures of how it turns out when it is finished.

[Gone_Fishin_]

I buried a few deer skulls in my compost pile for a few months, pulled them out and gave a good rinse/scrub with an old tooth brush. Spread a thin layer of hair sylist bleach cream on there, waited 30 minutes and rinsed it off. Turned out great

I have a buddy who buries his deer heads every year in his garden, looks like hes growing antlers, lol. He doesnt even take the skull out either, just cuts the head off and buries up to the antlers. Couple months later digs them up.

Have another buddy who just puts them into a 5 gallon with a bunch of holes drilled in the bottom/sides. Few weeks and the flies/bugs make quick work he says. As long as you have a decent yard where you can place it to keep the smell away of course.

[Downwind]

Ray Wiens does dermestid beetle cleaning just got back my bear from this spring and it turned out great.

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp221/Zanelike/Spring%20Bear%20Hunt%202015/20150909_170305_zpsu2loqz8r.jpg (http://s414.photobucket.com/user/Zanelike/media/Spring%20Bear%20Hunt%202015/20150909_170305_zpsu2loqz8r.jpg.html)
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp221/Zanelike/Spring%20Bear%20Hunt%202015/IMG_-l0hc2l_zpsoyt45xnh.jpg (http://s414.photobucket.com/user/Zanelike/media/Spring%20Bear%20Hunt%202015/IMG_-l0hc2l_zpsoyt45xnh.jpg.html)

[itsy bitsy xj]

I
Have another buddy who just puts them into a 5 gallon with a bunch of holes drilled in the bottom/sides. Few weeks and the flies/bugs make quick work he says. As long as you have a decent yard where you can place it to keep the smell away of course.

I'm going to make one and put holes in the bottom of the bucket so the maggots will fall out and feed my chickens

[Gone_Fishin_]

I'm going to make one and put holes in the bottom of the bucket so the maggots will fall out and feed my chickens

I seen that on a TV show a while ago, cant remember the name of it. The weird couple that lives off the land on a hillside with the crazy garden set-up. They put something in a bucket and hung it in a tree, the maggots would fall out and the chickens sat happily underneath feeding.

[itsy bitsy xj]

I seen that on a TV show a while ago, cant remember the name of it. The weird couple that lives off the land on a hillside with the crazy garden set-up. They put something in a bucket and hung it in a tree, the maggots would fall out and the chickens sat happily underneath feeding.

Yeah that where I got the idea
I think the show is:
LIVE FREE or DIE

[chris]

Hey downwind how much did it cost to get ray Wien's to clean that skull. It looks really good

[wideopenthrottle]

I'm going to make one and put holes in the bottom of the bucket so the maggots will fall out and feed my chickens

when I was doing forestry research for UBC we were doing experiments with forest fertilizers including fish morts (fish that die before going to market) as they were a disposal problem for some of the fish farmers...one of the old fellas that was doing it was not producing any waste fish...when we asked why, it was two fold...for one, he didn't massively overcrowd his pens so he had less die off and secondly, he had a bunch of his pen areas covered in chicken wire.....he would just throw the dead ones on and let the fly maggots consume them and fall in for fish food...same idea

[Downwind]

Hey downwind how much did it cost to get ray Wien's to clean that skull. It looks really good

$250 for the beetles and whitening. Well worth it in my opinion. I won't hesitate to use him again. It's less if you want it boiled and whitened.

[ElectricDyck]

boil it for ten minutes..pressure wash it...peroxide it..easy

Pressure washer is key! Did this this year, awesome quick!