how to clean a rotting red deer skull, any ideas

[cumbrian_pete]

I have just been to scotland and while i was out walking i came across a red deer stag with antlers that was decomposing, i thought the head would look good on my wall so i got the head off it by using a sharp stone and carried it all the way back to my car, me and my girlfriend had a great 5 hour drive back home with a very smelly deer head in the boot. I was wondering if anybody knows a decent way to speed up the decomposing process or a way of getting rid of the brain ect more quickly it would be of great help cheers

 

[nuggets]

try maggots from a fishing shop ??

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

try maggots from a fishing shop ??

Maggots from a fishing shop have already completed most of their cycle. they are bred on the meat and collected when they fall off. They will not eat any more. if you spill maggots on the floor they will look to bury themselves ready to pupate.

 

[Elen Sentier]

+1 on maggots.

behind every creative woman there's usually a very talented cat ...

 

[robin wood]

drop it on top of a wood ants nest return a week later, they will have done the job for you.

 

[Stringmaker]

Try burying it in the garden.

I did this with a deer shoulder blade I wanted cleaning and it came out spotless after about a fortnight.

 

[HWMBLT]

I have heard of people using biological washing powder to clean bones. I haven't tried it myself but it is probably less smelly than waiting for it to rot.

 

[Bushwhacker]

If you want the quickest way then boiling it up and picking the flesh off is the way to go. Best not to do it indoors mind!

 

[ReamviThantos]

+ 1 for the ants nest but good luck finding the little beggars at the moment.

 

[rik_uk3]

Boil it perhaps ?

 

[Zingmo]

Put it in the garden and see what shows up! As a boy in africa I knew a lad who had constructed a stone chamber on top of an ants nest. He would put anything dead in there and come back after just a few days to retrieve a perfect white skeleton. I remember he had a small snake skeleton that was almost too delicate to touch. Absolutely beautiful.

 

[Buckshot]

Ants work really well but not this time of year really
I've boiled mine before (deer head, not my own head)
Then you can saw through the skull at the appropriate place and mount on the wall on a nice plaque
Not a clean job as has been said so unless you have a very understanding other half perhaps best to do all of that outside - I did!

Mark

 

[Mesquite]

If you've got access to a boat and live near the coast let the crabs do the work for you

 

[didicoy]

I have a deer skull (road kill) only a month old. I have just left it sat in a corner of the yard & letting time and nature do the work. No rush.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I can't bury/leave anything in my yard because the badgers always dig it up!

 

[andybysea]

the coast idea is good(assuming you live near the coast) i came across a freshly dead cow a few years back had fell off the cliffs here and was just at the waters edge dead but fully intact, when i went back a few weeks later there was only washed up white bones left of it.

 

[cumbrian_pete]

Cheers for all the info.. I thought of getting maggots from the fishing shop would have been a great idea but as barethrills stated there at the end of their cycle so thats that idea out the window! i think i will use a combination of boiling it and stripping some meat, i live right next to the sea so if im able to collect some crabs and some sea water in a container i can put the crabs in there with the skull and maybe keep replacing the water so the crabs dont die. Im scared of leaving it outside incase someone or something steals it. i know where there are hundreds of wood ants nests actually, shame its a bit too early for them

 

[stuey]

Remove as much residual flesh and skin as you can including the eyes if there any left. Clear out the nasal cavity as best you can mashing the thin boney structures with a blunt screw driver to aid their removal. Suspend the skull in a pan of boiling water submerged just to the level of the coronets. Add a smallish scoop of biological washing powder and soda crystals.
Boil for around half an hour remove and have a careful scrape. Poke the brain about with a stick and mash it up.
Back in the boiling pan for another ten mins then another scrape and poke.
Use the jet of a hose to remove last bits and leave to dry.

A few warnings :

This process smells. Outside is best.

Don't scrape too hard as you will leave noticeable scratch marks in the bone.

Don't boil for too long otherwise you will destroy the connections holding the various skull plates together and it will fall to pieces.

Gauge your boil time by what you seeing in terms of flesh removal and most importantly movement of the plates of bone. The first to fall off tends to be the 2 spiky bits which would form the top of the nasal cavity.

Once dry you can bleach the skull (steer clear of the antler and coronets) with Domestos (or specialist bleaching gels). Paint domestos all over the skull and inside any cavities. Cake the skull in kitchen towel and soak this in more bleach. Leave it overnight then wash off.

Have fun

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

 

[Toddy]

Stuey, that post deserves rep

cheers,
M

 

[Stringmaker]

Stuey, that post deserves rep

cheers,
M

That post deserves a health warning!

It brought to mind a Quentin Tarrantino nightmare...