+TeamVilla5 Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Yes, I *KNOW* this has been asked at least once since I've been a member, and yes, I already looked over pages & pages of posts & couldn't find it... SIGH! My kiddos & I found a most unusual thing caching today... a family of 5 opossums (or at least their bones) that had apparently starved to death in an old barn (in a cattle feeding container)... very sad! Anyway, one is the full skeleton (well, we broke off a leg extricating it from a lot of wire), and there are 4 other skulls, and various and sundry other bones that are not attached in any way. The skeleton is almost completely devoid of anything resembling "covering"... a few hairs & micro bits of skin at most... but prob. still contains the last vestiges of ligaments (thus it being "held together"). Any ideas on how to properly clean these? Is boiling the best option? Surely, I shouldn't attempt that in my kitchen? Any advice welcomed! TIA! Happy Caching! Lori V. TeamVilla5 Link to comment
+New England n00b Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Google is your friend! And mine too... Animal-sensitive type prolly don't wanna read that link. Good luck! Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 recent thread I got lucky and looked back to the correct page for this. Lots of info here. Link to comment
+nfa Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Hot water (to save time in heating) put in a big pot on your outside grill with a couple of tablespoons of Dawn in it...the time needed will vary depending on the amount of beast jerky remaining on the bones...if it's really covered, you may want to change the water out after a couple of hours and start over. jamie Link to comment
+weakfish Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 I didn't catch where you live, but one of the easiest methods is to simply bury it about 18" deep. Dig it up and check on it every other month. Nature will run its course. The organisms in the soil will get the "easy bits" first. Once the "meat" is gone, boil it in water to sterilize it and scrub the remainder off with a used toothbrush. A quick dip in a mild (50 - 1) bleach solution will make it bright. A couple quick coats of varish will preserve it. Requires some labor, but it's one of the easiest ways... Outside of that, boiling it in a mild borax solution works VERY well. But you definitely want to do this outside. I do my own "english" mounts of deer skulls/antlers... The bury method is my favorite, but if it's something I'm putting together for a relative or friend that lacks patience, I'll grab the old turkey fryer and a spare pot and boil it up... I'm just a shade-tree... but I have a hunch there's some taxidermists here that may chime in and we'll both learn something new! Link to comment
+TeamVilla5 Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 Wow, that was fast! Thanks so much! Happy Caching! Lori V. TeamVilla5 Link to comment
+Quiggle Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 recent thread I got lucky and looked back to the correct page for this. Lots of info here. This is the way I've been doing it until the search feature is repaired. Thank you for pointing the OP to the correct thread. Closing duplicate. Link to comment
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