cleaning bones - anyone have experience with this?
- Thread starter bananathrash
- Start date
Rolling Blackouts
New member
A heavy solution of water and dollar store dish soap soak is the way to go for soaking land mammals. Be prepared for grossness and scrubbing and patience. Let that stuff soak for a few days - weeks. And don't use bleach! Let your bones dry for a few days (once devoid of flesh) and then soak them in peroxide for a week. After they're perfectly white, you may want to super glue teeth back in to jaws, etc, and I recommend spraying a clearcoat finish over the bones to keep their gloss.
If your carcass is really fleshy and gross, let nature do its thing, and I would recommend an above ground rot box, assuming the weather allows, and the smell won't bother folks. I've used old rabbit / rat cages in the past anchored to trees in the forest. About 1 in 5 of my carcasses gets stolen by mountain lions or other critters. so take that into account.
Flesh eating Dermestid beetles are another option, but climate, space, smell, and a consistent food sources for the beetles are required. I'd say an Ant Hill is a reasonable option, but climate again is a big factor. Desert sun is the absolute best for bone processing.
I'm currently processing a pygmy owl skull and a skunk - always natural death.
Here's a flick of a sculpture I threw together from several deer skeletons I collected last year. Its tacked together on a Madrone branch with finishing nails. It served as our gate keeper for our camp at AMF last year, and now lives in West Oakland.View attachment 27135
If your carcass is really fleshy and gross, let nature do its thing, and I would recommend an above ground rot box, assuming the weather allows, and the smell won't bother folks. I've used old rabbit / rat cages in the past anchored to trees in the forest. About 1 in 5 of my carcasses gets stolen by mountain lions or other critters. so take that into account.
Flesh eating Dermestid beetles are another option, but climate, space, smell, and a consistent food sources for the beetles are required. I'd say an Ant Hill is a reasonable option, but climate again is a big factor. Desert sun is the absolute best for bone processing.
I'm currently processing a pygmy owl skull and a skunk - always natural death.
Here's a flick of a sculpture I threw together from several deer skeletons I collected last year. Its tacked together on a Madrone branch with finishing nails. It served as our gate keeper for our camp at AMF last year, and now lives in West Oakland.View attachment 27135
Attachments
Last edited:
Rolling Blackouts
New member
And here's a few more from last winter. View attachment 27136
