Hi... this may sound completely strange but my kids found a crow's wing completely severed from the bird (I was there so they didn't do it). There's no bugs on it and it appears to be a clean cut of some type.
We're homeschoolers and would like to study it a bit but Dad is afraid to keep it in the house. Do you have any suggestions on how to clean the dirt off of it and make it safe to keep?
Thanks in advance for any ideas or advice.
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This will not preserve it but will fairly well sterilize it. Dry with a blow drier. Remember the meat will still be in it, so at some point int he future bugs will get into it. These are dermistid beetles and they eat the dried meat out. good luck John C
I suspect unless you got it really fresh after the crow lost it there isn't a whole lot that you can do at this point unless you froze it, if its really dirty, a gentle wash in dawn & rinse will clean it up if its really dirty, if mildly dirty a wipe down with a damp sponge will probably work, gently dry with a hair dryer no heat......now to really clean it up if the feathers are tight and decomposition hasn't set in, remove as much meat as you can and fill in the void with borax, you can find it in the soap powder section of the grocery, spred the wing on a piece of cardboard and pin in the desired shape you want and let dry.....this should take care of your immediate concerns
Get a couple of razor blades, one with a handle would do nicely such as a "box cutter", that which is used by the grocery stores stockers. Also, pick up a box of Borax in the detergent section at the grocery store. A pair of latex gloves would be advisable. The thin kind. Next, take the wing, and where it is cut, start peeling back the skin from the meat and bone. As you are peeling this back, you will notice a "white" type of connective tissue between the skin and the meat. Gently cut through this with your razor blade while continually pulling back the wing skin. Do this all the way back to what we call the elbow of the wing. Now, remove all the meat from the bone with your razor blade and then you can clean the rest of the blade with your fingers and a good poof of borax sprinkled on it now and then. Get all the red meat off. Rub back and forth, with borax and your fingers.
Next, pop the meatless bone back into the wing skin, and lay your wing out nice and flat. From the elbow point of the wing, and the next joint of the wing which is the wrist, (bend it so you can see and feel it) spread the feathers so you can make a cut about 3 inches long (depending on your crow size) Now, grab the skin, and you will again find the whiteish connective tissue to cut through. Do this at both the ulna and radius sides of the cut skin. Remove the meat from the wrist point and the elbow. By cutting through the skin on the outside of the wing this way, you will leave the feathers attached to the bone. When you invert the cleaned and well boraxed bones back to the inside of the wing, not only will you have a fully functional wing, but you will have seen first hand the way muscle looks, works, and is attached to bone. You will have seen the connective tissue and tendons. Before you cut the meat (muscle) from the bones, you can have the kids bend the bones and watch the muscle action.
Next step is to clean your wing. Wash it in Dawn dish washing liquid, or any other dish detergent you have on hand. Dawn cuts the grease you know! Rinse the wing thoroughly until your rinse water is clear. Rub very generously with the Borax. Next, blow dry your wing with a hair dryer on cool. If you have a blower on a shop vac, that works quicker.
Now you have a wonderfully clean and meatless wing, which the bugs will detest. However, your wing will dry out, so when you and your kids are finished playing with the wing, and watching the way God and nature intended it's functions, you will need to lay the wing in the position you wish it to dry in. Open it to your desired position, and either pin it or use masking tape to hold the feathers in place. You may indeed need to pin it to cardboard. Just remember, which ever way you leave it, the next day it will be in that shape, so decide well!
If you'd like, before drying, you can replace the meat taken out of the wing with clay, remember the shapes of the muscle. You could even sew the wing incision closed after that step, THEN let dry in the desired position. THEN you would be dubbed, "Taxidermist"...LOL
You and your kids should learn plenty from this and I think you'll have fun doing it as well!
Good luck to you!
That's study ADVICE. In essence, I'd advise you to use this advice. I'm tired....LOL
Dawnmyshel, E-mail me, I'm a fellow homeschooler learning Taxidermy on the side. At the moment I'm mounting a crow skeleton for My own research, I can send you some pictures and information for you study!
Amethyst
With a critter I would first wonder how it died. Since its children I would take all precautions before allowing them to disect or touch any further. Just a thought.