A small collecton of skulls
- Thread starter Galemys
- Start date
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Latest addition: a northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), found dead in a field.
Cheers,
Tom
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Mollyshock and welcome to the forum!
All my skulls came from animals that had either naturally died or were traffic victims (I check the last category first for completeness of the skulls). My friends and family know of this hobby of mine, so they point them out to me if they come across a victim.
The lapwing was quite desiccated so I just had to soak it in water first, then got rid of the feathers, skin and fleshy parts (with knife/scalpel etc.). Fresher victims are first handled with scalpel and than either laid sheltered in a quite corner of the garden for the flies/maggots to do the dirty work or buried for a few weeks.
When most of the flesh/skin is gone I soak the skull for a few days in washing powder ('Biotex' is the brand name); this degreases the skull and it contains enzyms that breakdown proteins, making it easier to get rid of the last pieces of skin and other tissue. If all tissue has been cleaned away, I put the skull in a 6% hydroxygen peroxide solution to bleach it. After this, a quick rinse in water to get rid of the peroxide and then drying leaves a clean, white & odourless skull.
Note: use latex gloves for every step!
Cheers,
Tom
All my skulls came from animals that had either naturally died or were traffic victims (I check the last category first for completeness of the skulls). My friends and family know of this hobby of mine, so they point them out to me if they come across a victim.
The lapwing was quite desiccated so I just had to soak it in water first, then got rid of the feathers, skin and fleshy parts (with knife/scalpel etc.). Fresher victims are first handled with scalpel and than either laid sheltered in a quite corner of the garden for the flies/maggots to do the dirty work or buried for a few weeks.
When most of the flesh/skin is gone I soak the skull for a few days in washing powder ('Biotex' is the brand name); this degreases the skull and it contains enzyms that breakdown proteins, making it easier to get rid of the last pieces of skin and other tissue. If all tissue has been cleaned away, I put the skull in a 6% hydroxygen peroxide solution to bleach it. After this, a quick rinse in water to get rid of the peroxide and then drying leaves a clean, white & odourless skull.
Note: use latex gloves for every step!
Cheers,
Tom