A small collecton of skulls

[Galemys]

Here are some animal skulls I collected over the past two years.

Blackheaded gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus):


Black crow (Corvus corone), herring gull (Larus argentatus) & jackdaw (Corvus monedula):


Grey heron (Ardea cinereus):


Long-tongued bat (Glossophaga elongatus, a South American species); skull, lower jaw and upper canine:


Pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus, found in Croatia):






Pipistrelles are really tiny animals...:


A live one found in my neighbours garden, probably molested by a cat (one wing shredded to pieces, but otherwise OK, I brought it to an animal care center):


Upcoming project:


Are there more skull collectors here at BCUK?

Cheers,

Tom

 

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

I used to have a small collection of mammal skulls. My favourite was a possum a friend of mine sent me from the states. They were damaged during a house move.

 

[Broch]

I have a few - in particular fox, badger and otter (in that order)

 

[uncleboob]

Nice! We (some students and I) came across a dead fox...I wondered about burying it to dig it back up again once all the fleshy bits had been eaten up...how long do you think this would take? Seems like a good experiment to me!


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[Nice65]

Nice! We (some students and I) came across a dead fox...I wondered about burying it to dig it back up again once all the fleshy bits had been eaten up...how long do you think this would take? Seems like a good experiment to me!


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Stalkers here leave them out but hidden for a couple of years. In amongst brambles etc for flies, ants, slugs to clean. I found this out one day at work when surveying power lines across the countryside. I was in a thick copse, pushing my way through on a hot summers day the sun seeping through making it seem very close and dark in there. I noticed the smell of decay. Nothing too unusual, but the flies were everywhere. When I started to look around I noticed string upon string of deer skulls threaded on baler twine like grotesque beads hanging from the trees. I’m embarrassed to say I completely freaked out.

I phoned the landowner to tell him he had poachers, but that I hadn’t finished my survey, so had to go back. He lowered his voice and told me to beware, the copse had long had a reputation for black magic rituals, sightings of demons, and general strangeness. Family friendly forum, I can’t type what I called him.

 

[TeeDee]

What is the best way to clean skulls then please? Could do with a quick tutorial

 

[Broch]

What is the best way to clean skulls then please? Could do with a quick tutorial

have a look at this:

How to clean animal bones - the complete guide

The blog of Jake, a fourteen year old bone collector, naturalist and published author from Scotland.

www.jakes-bones.com

 

[Mesquite]

Nice collection with some really interesting examples.

 

[Snake]

Nice! We (some students and I) came across a dead fox...I wondered about burying it to dig it back up again once all the fleshy bits had been eaten up...how long do you think this would take? Seems like a good experiment to me!


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Don't know about this time of year, but when I shoot a few foxes around harvest time, if you leave them under a hedge the maggots will have eaten everything within about 3 weeks.

 

[Galemys]

The blue tit's skull:


A common grasshopper warbler (Locustella naevia) I found dead last month (it must have flown some 4000 miles from its winter quarters in West-Africa just to die on a Dutch dune...life is hard):


Compared to a black crow's skull:


Failed project:
A partial skeleton of a common (Bufo bufo) or natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita). I found the desiccated body last week. The bones came out quite good but the skull disintegrated totally.


Cheers,

Tom

 

[gra_farmer]

What is the best way to clean skulls then please? Could do with a quick tutorial

In the past, I used to find quite active ant nests, carefully dig the required hole very close to the nest, put the head or whole animal in the hole and cover back up with soil, do not compact the soil, but do lay something ove the top to stop foxes and rats digging it up.

Come back 3 weeks later and dig it up...easy, you will have a clean white skull, without the mess from leaving it out in the open.

 

[Galemys]

New additions:

Woodcock, a window victim

View from above

Great cormorant, from a freshly beached specimen.
The bony spike on the back of the head ('os nuchalis'), flexibly attached by a bit of cartilage, is a unique feature of cormorants & darters. It gives extra attachment for the beak muscles and therefore more biting power.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[FerlasDave]

Great collection there. I once tried burying a dead buzzard to get the skull, maybe I should have left it more than a fortnight!

 

[Galemys]

Common murre:


The insertions above the eye are for specialized glands that secrete excess salt (it is a seabird).

and great crested grebe:




Cheers,

Tom

 

[oldtimer]

What an excellent thread. Well done Galemys, and thank you all contributors.

 

[nigelp]

fantastic collection.
That’s got me thinking about ‘burying’ some of the dead animals and birds I see when I out walking.

 

[Galemys]

New addition, a razorbill, without and with its keratin bill sheaths:

Cheers,

Tom

 

[SoldierPalmer]

Fox, two buzzards, roe buck and Hebridean sheep.

 

[DocG]

Wonderful stuff - thanks for sharing.
I’m after a badger skull. So far all the local roadkills seem to have been hit in the head = crushed skull. Is this common for roadkills badgers?
I have a selection of skulls that I’m trying to expand. Any dead animals I come across when wandering will be harvested for the project. Unfortunately SWMBO has some objections- can’t think why .
There’s an airtight box in the back of my car for anything I come across. One work colleague was a little alarmed when they saw a “fresh” collection after a particularly successful backroads journey to work. (Since then I’ve stowed the bloodstained rubber gloves and tools more circumspectly.)

 

[Galemys]

Wonderful stuff - thanks for sharing.
I’m after a badger skull. So far all the local roadkills seem to have been hit in the head = crushed skull. Is this common for roadkills badgers?
I have a selection of skulls that I’m trying to expand. Any dead animals I come across when wandering will be harvested for the project. Unfortunately SWMBO has some objections- can’t think why .
There’s an airtight box in the back of my car for anything I come across. One work colleague was a little alarmed when they saw a “fresh” collection after a particularly successful backroads journey to work. (Since then I’ve stowed the bloodstained rubber gloves and tools more circumspectly.)

Please share your pics!

I have found three stoat roadkills; all had a crushed skull as well...

Badger, porpoise, raven, any bird of prey, crossbill & avocet are high on my wishlist...

Cheers,

Tom