Hooves?

[WolfGirl]

I found a dead deer a while back and was thinking about taking the hooves when I go back to take the skull (if they are still there) since the deer I will be articulating had no hooves left and id like it to have hooves. Any tips on cleaning and preserving hooves? When I found my deer his hooves where pretty decayed, covered in moss/mold, and flimsy so I just threw them out, they also smelled pretty bad.

[Sea Wolf]

Mice and rodents love hooves so they may not be there when you get back. A soak in warm water and a good scrub with detergent and a toothbrush should be all they need if they are all rotted clean.

[WolfGirl]

Well when I found the deer it was pretty much all decayed other then the skin and tissue on the legs. I was out hiking and didn't bring anything with me to be able to get the skull, so I'm going to wait for warmer weather and go back (about a mile hike, would have been a pain carrying a rotting skull all the way back). Strange thing is, it was partly decayed but still had the skin pretty well intact, it had a very large perfect circular hole in its neck and no signs of being chewed on by scavenger or a predator. It has also been dragged about 5ft from where it looks like it had started decaying at. The only large predators/scavengers around here are coyotes, bears, cougars, bobcats, vultures, and crows. Either of these would have scattered the deer all over the place, but it was perfectly intact, no claw marks or teeth marks. The hole I think was about 3-4In across. Think it's a bullet hole?

[ravenswings1]

Whenever I go walking I always bring a few plastic bags with me in my pocket