Well I finally fired up the propane burner and heated the water to a boil. I added liquid laundry detergent to the water, and dropped the deer skull in. The soap helps break down the fat and grease, and also adds a much better aroma to the air than just meat, hair, and brains boiling. I had to do this in my garage cause I sure wasn’t going to venture outside.
Art from “Simply Outdoors” said it might of been worth the $80 bucks to have a taxidermist do it, and at this juncture I’m inclined to agree with him! I boiled that skull for almost 4 hours, and ever 1/2 hour I removed it from the water to peel of everything but bone. The nose, eyes, and brain cavity were especially challanging. I boiled the bottom jaw, but removed it from the skull, as I don’t plan on using it as part of the mount. You can do it either way, but I prefer mounting just the upper part of the skull. I used needle-nose pliers, a knife, a hard bristle brush, and a home made tool for extracting brain matter.
The below picture shows the completed skull (up to this point) as the next step will involve using peroxide to whiten it.
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Yeah, I am totally spending the 80 dollars!:):):)
Boy I sure do like those European mounts. I need to ask my grandpa just exactly how he does it – he doesn’t seem to mind it….I really like burying the skull as if nothing else it gets rid of the brain and eyes – if you have to touch it up beyond that, it isn’t so bad!