I bought a buffalo head from a slaughter house. I cut away all the hair and substance down to the bone. Have been told to boil the whole skull, and to boil but not the horns. Is there some where to find out the do's & dont's from start to finish?
Return to Gamehead Taxidermy Category Menu
Barbara,
On a buffalo in particular, I don't recommend boiling. The skull of an adult bison is surprisingly thin. Boiling amplifies the possibility of bones in the skull separating and falling apart. If you've removed all heavier chunks of meat and skin, try to find a drum, trash container, barrel and put the entire skull down into it. Cover it completely with water. In about 2 weeks, carefully pour the water off, making sure you don't splash it on yourself. Wearing rubber gloves, the horn casings should slip right off the cores. If not, put the whole thing back in and continue. When the cap finally come off, set them aside to dry. Return the skull until all the tissue is macerated. Hose it off, let dry in the sun and then bleach it as the directions that can be found under the orange "SEARCH" icon to the left. Glue your cases back on the cores and you're done.