Did my one and only European Mount a month ago. The thing looks great, but the skull stinks. It is picked very clean. I probably have 10 hours of picking on it. And to my wife's dismay, I even ran the thing through the dish washer! LOL.
Any suggestions, friends?
Dr. Mark Hale
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dunk it in a 50/50 mix of chlorox and water, rinse and then put it in water with lemon joy, leave for a couple of hours, then leave OUTSIDE until dry.
What kind of doctor are you? Just wondering.
You can "pick" it all you want but will still leave meat behind. Not to mention fat! Bacteria is having a hay day with your skull.
Use the following link to read up a bit on cleaning skulls.
http://www.hidetanning.net/SkullCleaning.html
Have a good one!
Joe
With Joe...
I have had skulls where I left tissue no bigger than a peanut and they STUNK until I got it all out. Especially down in the cavities at the bottom of the brain cavity.
I soak in ammonia.
God help you. LMAO
Dr. Hale:
Put your skull in a 5 gallon vessel of water on a propane burner (fish cooker attached to a propane bottle outside and out of the wind). Allow the water to come to a mild boil (just bubbling) and the reduce temp to a low simmer. Add 1 cup of scented liquid clotheswashing detergent. Allow to simmer for hours..check periodically to make sure that water is not overheating. After 6 hours, remove and spray with a water hose...in both directions from the nasal cavity, and the brain cavity. Take a screwdriver and pry out ear bones, if you haven't done this already. If you have access to compressed air, take a rubber tipped nozzle and blow into every opening into the skull...most of the stink is probably coming from tissue remaining in the sinuses. Re- submerge into water and allow to simmer for another hour. Remove, re-rinse, and attach a zip-tie in a couple of places around skull to keep the front of the skull from separating as it dries. Allow to air dry for several days. Yor skull should have a good clean smell to it.
Hope this helps. I clean skulls by all methods, beetles, simmering, and maceration. Occasionally a real "stinker" occurs, which I think is due to a large amount of blood flowing into the sinuses at the time of death. Hope this helps...
lmao
gets a little old dont it joe
p.s. hows your buck coming
send me a picture of the mount if its not too much trouble
and you guys have a happy thanksgiving
paul e