Getting Brains out of a Bear Skull

Amandil

Amandil

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Alberta -- body in Edmonton, soul in the shortgras
Yeah, uh, the title kind of says it all. Yet another dumb noob question from Amandil. :redface:

I pulled my skinned black bear's head out of the freezer, thawed it in the fridge, and cut all the meat I could off of it this afternoon. I want to boil it up and bleach it as a trophy. Now, when doing the same with a buck rack one saws off the back of the skull for mounting to a flat surface, so it's easier to scoop the brains out. But since I ain't sawing off part of my bear skull, how in the hang do I get the brains out? I got about half of it out by sticking my finger or a skinny knife in the spinal cord hole, but that cranium is long and the hole is small! So I can shake the darn thing silly, but eventually all I hear is schlooking and no more brains come out. :(

If I boil the skull with half the brains still inside the cranium, will they come out in the water or stay permanently cooked in my wee trophy? :confused:
 
Amandi,
I watched African skinners clean skulls for Euro mounts. What they did at the brain part was to run a rod through the spinal hole and work it around, smooshing everything. Then they stick a garden hose through the hole and flush the brains back out the same hole. I suspect ( but can't prove) that a similar technique is used when joining the Liberal party.:eek: ;)
Dogleg
 
One of the last bears I shot was with the 7mm STW just above the critters right eye about 60 yards away. There was no brains to get out of that skull:ar15: .
The antpile works good if you have one handy.... :beerchug:
 
Just take the skull and plant it in the dirt for the summmer and then in the late fall dig it up and it will be all cleaned out buy the ants and beatles. Then take a garden hose and wash it off good and once it has dried then spray it with a few coats of clear coat.
 
All good advice, and my ex tried all of them. They each have their pro's and cons. Burying works - so does putting it on the roof. But it takes time. She used the 'coathanger' method, and would tend to get as much as she could out, then cook it gently in boiling water or the microwave (for smaller bird skulls) and do a little more work. Takes time - be patient. And for gods sake, if you're going to boil it at all do NOT use a pot you'd care to use again, and send your family out for dinner somewhere. It stinks :)
 
Skeleton companies use certain beetles, but since you prob' don't have them, then the coat hanger would work, which is a similar method the ancient Egyptians used on their mummy's....except with humans you fish the wire up through the nostrils.
 
boil in sal soda.

turns meat, brains and all the other good juff into jelly. Then hose it off.

I watched a taxidermist do that and it will be how i do my next one.

Stinks to high heaven though...........
 
What's "sal soda"? I think I'll try the coat hanger, as I don't want to take the time right now for the ant hill method. I want to display it in my office as soon as possible! :D I'll make sure I pick up a special 'skull only' pot at Value Village, and boil it up outside over a fire so my kitchen doesn't stink up. People weren't too happy last time I did this:

BuckSoup.jpg


Foxer, your ex-lady used to do the skull prep for you? :eek: Sound like true love (except that she's your ex)!
 
Foxer, your ex-lady used to do the skull prep for you? Sound like true love (except that she's your ex)!
Click to expand...

No, she was an artist and used animal bone in a lot of her works - so she'd make me bring back all i could and then scoff it :)
 
My cousin up near 150mile house has beetles he uses to clean the bison skulls out that he sells.

or you could buy the bear a membership to the LIberal party and then the brain will quickly turn to liquid and leak out on it's own.
 
Some good ideas and some bad. Dermestid beetles are the best by far...not a consideration if you only have one skull to do. unless you want to send it out to someone else.

Here's how to boil a skull--the proper way.

-cut off as much meat as possible, remove eyes and use the coat hanger to liquify brains and then drain them out.

- soak skull in cold clean water for a couple days to remove blood.

-simmer, don't boil the skull in water. Sal soda (soda ash) works well to speed things up but isn't necessary.

- When things begin to fall off the bone remove the skull, cool in cold water and pick off all the pieces of flesh. An air hose works wonders here.

when it's totally clean (it may have to be re-simmered a couple times) wash it well and let it dry.

-mix 30% peroxide with magnesium carbonate until it's like mayonaise and coat everything with it. let sit overnight, then rinse or brush off the powder residue.

-Bear skulls don't need as much simmering as deer do. Bear skulls seem to get grease stains easily and therefore you should change the simmering water a couple times while doing it. Bear/carnivore teeth split easily if overboiled. If that's the case they can be covered with "fin flex" taxidermy glue or white glue mixed with a little water. The skull can be sprayed with clear sealer if you want. If you're doing a deer don't get the horns in the water, especially if you use sal soda as they will become stained. Try and get the skulls completely under the water as the grease floats on top of the water and can get cooked into the bone. Skim the grease from the surface of the water frequently. Skulls with grease stains can be soaked in white gas or acetone for quite a while without being damaged.

Be careful cleaning the nasal cavity, some people break out the "sinus bones" rather than cleaning them. Don't do this, it totally wrecks the look of the skull.

Trophy skulls are best done by a professional and especially with dermestid beetles turn out the best.
 
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