Just cleaned up a wolf skull

Logan_Lamothe said:
The best way is flesh eating beetles, comes out clean an white the bugs are small enough to get into all the nooks and crannies.
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Smell is enough to put me off, let trying to keep a beetle colony fed enough and alive. And boiling's free if you don't want your own beetles. :) Beetles are great, but boiling is super simple and the results are equally good in my uninformed opinion.


bearkilr said:
I use a propane burner camp stove with a metal pot. Boil for 2-3 hours depending on age of animal(old ones are tougher) and add a cup full of laundry detergent. Helps cut down on grease and whitens a bit.
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:rockOn:
 
Absolute easiest way? It's called "maceration". Just skin the head, drop it into a bucket of water, and walk away. All meat and soft tissue rots away, leaving a clean skull. Change the water a couple of times if you want...it slows the process down a bit, but makes it a bit less disgusting. When done, wash several times in lemon-scented dish soap, whiten with peroxide, and you're done. Almost no tedious picking at brains, works like a charm. Best done outdoors...a loooong way from the house!:)

If you have a location to do this, it probably means that you don't have municipal water, but if you do you should make sure that you don't use water right out of the tap for your water changes because of chlorine. Well water, or city water that has been allowed to sit in an open container for a day or so to allow chlorine to dissipate, works better. Watch out for lost teeth when you dump the water. Finally, if you want it done faster, you can drop an aquarium heater into the bucket with the skull, set to keep the water around 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

I know this sounds really disgusting, and honestly, it is. But the actual amount of effort expended is very small, and you don't really have that much contact with it except for a few minutes here and there. I've done the boiling thing, and this is much better, IMHO.
 
Touché, but I think I'll just boil, it's done the same day then too :) All these methods are good, no "best" I don't think as each has it's drawbacks.

I did a bison skull the maceration way, and can't tell you how many times I had to go hunt for it in the bush and discover it again. I had lost it for two weeks at one point as well until it was dragged back onto the lawn by some helpful creature. It had nothing for meat left on it, just the smell drove the scavengers mad.
 
bearkilr said:
Best to do it in a 5 gallon pail or else you'll be looking for the teeth. :D

I also smash the back of the palate with a knife and pick out the "brown" stuff in the nasal cavity (looks like honeycomb), that stuff starts to stink quickly.

Hairdressers are a good source for high percentage peroxide needed to bleach.
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I used 6 dollar store medical strength bottles of H2-02 left it over night in a plastic jug for my deer skull. No need to go high test.
 
I have a mummified wolf skull to do.I'm liking the sounds of that maceration.Last year for my bear skull I just wrapped it in chicken wire take some #9 wire and secure to a tree let the bugs do the work.
 
Ardent said:
Touché, but I think I'll just boil, it's done the same day then too :) ....

I did a bison skull the maceration way, and can't tell you how many times I had to go hunt for it in the bush and discover it again... It had nothing for meat left on it, just the smell drove the scavengers mad.
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Boiling is certainly faster, but labour intensive. I'm patient and lazy. :)

Interesting about the scavengers. I always expected that to be a problem...both here in Manitoba, and back in Ontario where I lived before, we were knee-deep in coyotes with a few bear thrown in for good measure. I had a couple of skulls "borrowed" during the first couple days of the process, when they still resembled meat. After a few days immersed in warm water, they were never touched.

I'm not sure if I was lucky, or if you were. I like the idea of bait...mmm...send more brains, er, I mean, skulls... :)
 
jjohnwm said:
Absolute easiest way? It's called "maceration". Just skin the head, drop it into a bucket of water, and walk away. All meat and soft tissue rots away, leaving a clean skull. Change the water a couple of times if you want...it slows the process down a bit, but makes it a bit less disgusting. When done, wash several times in lemon-scented dish soap, whiten with peroxide, and you're done. Almost no tedious picking at brains, works like a charm. Best done outdoors...a loooong way from the house!:)....

I know this sounds really disgusting, and honestly, it is. But the actual amount of effort expended is very small, and you don't really have that much contact with it except for a few minutes here and there. I've done the boiling thing, and this is much better, IMHO.
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My old German friend does it this way. He has done dozens - probably over 100 - using this method with very good results.
 
Boiled with care, just enough to get the meat off. H2O2 from the wife's hair dresser. Couple of mine. The coyote is what you get by burying. :)

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Grizz
 
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