I got in my first raptor this week. It is an Osprey that is going into a US Forest Service nature center. I had some freezer burn issues but injected the body and legs/feet with Stop Rot and had no problems skinning it. I did not fully skin the head out because I'm not sure if I will use the real head or a cast head. If I skin it out for a cast head do I need to wait till I have the head in my hands to compare to or do I skin it out like I would waterfowl? Normally I use the real head on upland birds so rebuilding the skull with epoxy isn't a problem. I'm just not 100% sure how the skin grows up to the beak due to it being dried out prior. Any input into cast vs. real head? I will be using a Savides cast head if I go that way. Any help would be appreciated.
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... I am sure he wouldn't mind answering your questions. What better resource than " The Birdmaster General"! LOL Sorry Stefan, couldn't resist that one!
I don't make the transitisons well on raptors as I do on ducks (ducks have a "flange" to glue against while the raptors make a smooth transition. It's been a few years since I did an osprey and the only thing I recall was what a pain in the ass the wing positioning was. Their wings are huge compared to their bodies and their positioning is critical.
Using the real head required splitting the back of the scalp, but there really wasn't much to cleaning it. Once you remove the brain and those huge eyes, there's nothing but bone to be dealt with. I also like to pose them with open mouths and at that time, Stefan didn't have any (don't know if he has any now either).
Jean Lavalee made an artificial one a few years back for a movie company. He might give you some insight as well as I'm sure he had to use an artificial head.
We have Osprey in open or closed mouth. In case you need one.