I have yet to skin an animal but I look foward to
it. I mummify things with a mixture of salt baking
soda and herbs, it takes a long time and you lose alot
of shape when its done, I made a really cool mobile
out of dried song birds I found along the road. I
pinned them down to old window screens set in salt that
covered the bottom of a large tupperware storage
container, its like 4 feet long. I pin them right under the
bone on the wing and positioned them with more pins, I
use floral pins, they are cheap and easy to insert.
Then I pour in the salt mixture a little at first and
spread it around, then I fill it so they are covered,
and you cant see them anymore. I dont fill up the
container, because you need to refresh the salt after 3
months. I put the container out under my porch, because
it can get a bit smelly at times depending on the
size of what you have in there and the quantity. I
check it about once a week to make sure there are no
leaks and moisture hasn't gotten in. and breath it
occasionally to let the moisture from the bodies out. I will
also check on the state of the bodies as well. They
get encased in this hard yellow salt ball, from all
the fluids being drawn out. This smells really awful
and I recommend a breather and some vicks when you do
this, definitely some gloves too. you need to gently
break off this hard stuff and dispose of it, stray cats
go mad for it i dont reccomend feeding it to your
cat though, dont let it fall back in the container
you need fresh salt, your specimen should be stiff at
this point, so you can remove the pins to do this, if
not, i suggest you leave it and check in a few days.
once all this is broken off put them back into the
salt and cover them over with more salt mixture you
can even add on a heavy layer of baking soda before
the salt, this helps absorb any odor left to them.
depending on the size they can take anywhere from 3 months
to a year to dry throughly. I did a baby rat in 3
weeks once but i kept it in a sunny place and had to
breath the container every 3 days for the first week due
to the condensation build up. I have a wide variety
of specimens from rats of all ages to song birds,
snakes and squirrels, and a pileated woodpecker, Im
looking for something bigger, I think im going to get an
old fridgerator just for the purpose.

I found a crow hit by a car. I have taken wings
off of roadkill before, but it was always summer. I
just spread the wings and let them dry in the heat and
they have always been fine. This time I have taken the
wings and spread them in the oven. I have it at 200
degrees. How long should I leave them in there?

Hello,<br><br>I dont know if the oven is the best
idea you may want to at least turn it down to only
warm. I would how ever recomend that you remove as much
of the meat as you can with out tearing them apart,
Crows have much flesh because they are bigger (mainly
near the base). With smaller wings i tend to do this
and then thumb tack them to my wall, this will allow
them to retain their shap while they dry out. It
shouldnt stink. If it does that is part of the fun
involving dead things. <br><br>Also you can use ether borox
or table salt (I use salt usually). With this method
youd want to eather just cover them with the powder
top and bottom (a caseral dish would work well) or
pin them to a board to have more control over the
shap; and then cover them with the powder (a thick
layer, about a quarter inch). Now with these later two
methods it is important that you keep fresh salt on it
because the salt abrobs the moister and ether get soggy
or hard (both can be bad). the reasons why is; once
the salt takes in this moistier it cant take in more;
it becomes saturated; or the salt crust to the item.
the salt will need changing less and less as it drys.
Keep it out of the morning dew.<br><br>I would say for
ether method give it about a month to dry fully; give
or take. Good luck. I hope i helped. If you have any
other questions dont hesitaite to ask.<br><br>Robert

I would just say that you should pin them to your
wall now that you have probly dried most of them out.
I'm sure that you could pin them up high enough on
your wall that your dog won't be able to get to them.
The salt thing is more of a nessesity for fleshier
parts so im sure these wings will doo ok for the next
month or so. This month period is like my safe period
for dead things. As much as i love them it's nice to
leave them and then find them complete later. It also
sounds like with the size you discribed to me that you
have found a raven. Maybee im wrong. But that is even
coller if you did cause ravens are rarer than crows. I
dont think they are dry yet though. If your worried
about over cooking them, its ok to take them out now
(just hang them up). I have just never used the oven to
perserved anything, I think if you take a little more time
( to an extent) it is better. <br><br>As for the
skull you might want to let the maggots take care of
the skin, unless you like beef jerky. I mean most of
my bones are done with maggots and dermestid
beatles. we have holes we cover with boards. The maggots
take care of the wet flesh and the beatles take care
of the dry and jerky like flesh. usually there isnt
too much for the beetles. usually you can peel a lot
of it off. Use glove and needle nose pliers. Be
carefull bird skulls tend to be REALLY thin. After that
you can soak it in peroxide for a bit (this also
loosens dry skin). Not to long ( we are talking a day or
so) That might help whiten it. Usually thicker bones
get yellower though. I dont think youll have to worry
much about this one. The reason you don't use bleach
is because it decomposes the bone even after its
taken out of the liquid. <br><br>For the feet. I would
soak them in alcohol for 6 months in a jar. If the
alcohol get yellow change it out for fresh stuff. after 6
months the next step if possible (consult your locol
chemical supply house) Is to soak them in fermeldahide for
a month. When you put them in this liquid they will
get tough pretty quick so form them around something
to get the disiered shape, then drop them in. after
that you just want to dry them quickly using the salt
method i already discribed. In fact this two part
chemical is and ideal do it your self in your kitchen
method for most body parts unless your perserving a
horse. Also keep as much of the fermadihide off your
hands (it makes them leathery) and dont inhell it
directly it just is potent

You mention working on something bigger. I live
in a neighborhood where the homes are close
together. Smells become a problem. I go for the bones,
whereas, you seem to be more interested in mummifying your
specimens. Although you seem to be doing something different
in terms of the final result, I will explain the
method I use. Perhaps you will find a variation useful,
or someone else may.<br><br>I get one of the 5-gal
buckets that soap comes in at the market. You can also
buy them at a building supply. I randomly drill a
couple dozen 1/8" holes in the side up to 6-8 inches
from the bottom. I place my specimen inside, secure
the lid, and bury the bottom 12 inches of the bucket.
The holes allow the little critters in (maggots will
find their way in, and out in time to pupate), and the
smells are filtered through the soil. Thus, the odor
problem was solved. After several months, I am left with
bones, fur, dirt, and some residual tissue. I remove the
bucket from the ground and use a garden hose to add
water and pour the whole mess into a second 5-gal
bucket without the holes drilled in the side. I place
this bucket on a screen frame (a 2'x 2' square made
with 2"x 2" wood with weed block stapled on as a
screening device). The weight of the bucket stretches the
screen downward in all directions around the bucket. I
turn the hose on full pressure and let it swirl for a
couple hours. All the dirt is eventually flushed over
the edge and is washed through the screen. A few
lighter bones and toenails are also washed over, but
caught in the black weed block screen and easily seen. I
remove the bucket from the screen and pour the contents
of the bucket onto the screen. Now I have a screen
full of bones. If there is residual tissue remaining,
I cover the screen frame with a piece of plywood
and weight it with a brick and let the ants, maggots,
etc finish their work. When ready, I separate the fur
and place the contents back into the bucket with a
peroxide solution to bleach them. Then back to the covered
screen to dry. Then comes the fun of putting the
critter's skeleton back together.

that sounds like fun to try, I may use that I
found a large racoon, but I have him in the downstairs
freezer because we are currently in a huge snow storm and
i have no place to store him outside so I will wait
for the spring thaw, and might just try your trick
because he is far too meaty to dry and I havent any
skeletons yet. do you use a glue of some sort to keep them
together?

I'm down sizing my business and selling a walk-in freezer, a North Star 3666
vacume freze-drier, and a few other items. If interested e-mail
me.<br><freeze_dry99@...>

Hey I am new at this and I was wondering if there
is any thing else besides salt to dry out the
hides/pelts I want to find something that will make the
hides/pelts soft and plyable. I have beautiful road kill
silver/black jumbo raccoons (2) I picked up last week in my
freezer any suggestions? Thanks, Edie

Edie,<br> If your not going to send it to the tannery, then one of your best bet
is to check with Rittles Tanning supply on the net. He has some great products
that should suit your needs.

whats the best way to mould a fish to pick up the best detail....and what is the
best way to remove slime from a real slimy fish

Should you wish to have a sourcing agent in South Africa, I am the man for you.
Any inquiries can be e-mailed to me. I am talking Zebra skins and half mounts
etc.

I think this one died of heat exhaustion. I did
the oven thing before and it worked really well. I am
doing that again. As for feet, what do you recommend
glazing them over with?? I still have the feet from last
time, they also came out fine... but I want to set them
in jewelry. Any suggestions?<br>Thanks

My girlfriend has developed some pretty good PC
skills. She found all these dirty pics and stuff in the
temporary Internet Explorer directories. So I started
deleting them, but there is just so much of it. Better
check out <a href=http://www.dontbecaught.com/
target=new>http://www.dontbecaught.com/</a>

you can seal them, with a 2 part mix called enviro.they sell it in hobby shops
and home depot

OK here is my new problem.... and one that is
getting stinky. I have completely cleaned the skull of
the bird I found of all flesh, but cannot get the
brains out..... VERY stinky. No bugs in the garden are
even bothering to touch it, mainly cause I think the
helpful bugs were killed when the pestiside garden man
came by last week. Anyway... I can't just place the
skull anywhere... last time I did it was stolen by a
local cat. Any ideas!! Please, if you know any bug free
tecniques I sure could use them!

at the base of the skull where the neck connects,insert a wire, bend into a
small "L" shape and twirl and pull out the brains. Also you could enlarge the
hole.

Using a small drill bit drill two small holes in
the skull. Then take a piece of wire, insert in one
of the holes and twirl it around as to mash ans mush
the brains. Then take a syringe with 50-50 % water &
bleach. Insert the syringe in one of the holes and flush
till nothing else comes out but the solution.

Ohhhhhh, this seems really gross and now the
skull is super stinky. Isn't there any other way? Like
bugs I can purchase or a solution that won't hurt the
skull?? It seems like the brains are pretty firmly in
there. Any way I can kill the smell if I am stuck doing
this by hand?<br>Thanks

Hey,<br> The smell is the "nature of the beast" in this line of work.<br> Do
this job out side and stand up wind from the job <br>P.S. the bleach solution
will help freshen things up a bit.

You could boil the skull and the brains should
just pour out. Also you can call your local museum as
they have certain flesh eating bugs that will clean
any flesh, guts and brains. Give them a call and ask
if them where you can purchase these bugs or if they
can tell you how and where you can order these bugs.
E.

It is not an official CLEAN skull!! The stink
factor was unavoidable, bugs managed to get 97% of the
inner contents but I was still left to scrape out some
of those pink stinky brains. But now it is a perfect
skull and I am sooo happy. Next stop is to decorate it.
I am thinking about using sculpy to decorate it,
how will it do in the oven when I cook the clay? Any
words of wisdom??

It depends on how high your heat setting is.<br>
The crow skull is not much different than chicken
skulls and thier bones. Run a sample test first on
chicken bones at the temp. that you expect to use for
your project. Good luck.

Good idea. That software (at <a href=http://www.dontbecaught.com/
target=new>http://www.dontbecaught.com/</a> cleans up a lot of other stuff too!

I am really worried about people getting sacked all the time just for receiving
dirty or "inappropriate" emails. Does anyone know it <a
href=http://www.dontbecaught.com/ target=new>http://www.dontbecaught.com/</a>
helps for that too?

hi their i have some driftwood i have started
selling online now .i have lots and lots great for
taxidermy mounts and such but i have just started .i listed
them on e bay .com if interested put this number in
the search 1247880242.and i will post more on friday
thanks if ya have any questions e mail me

were else could i buy those bugs that eat flesh i
wanted to do skulls also .i have called the local
museums and they dont have nothing living their .well in
other words they didnt know .i was wondering if i could
order them someone let me know plz

Hey there.. it's me again. This time I need to
know how long I can leave an animal buried before
digging it back up again. I don't know how long it would
need to decompose and all that. It is about 7 pounds,
and I don't know if that helped at all. But I don't
want to dig it up till it's pretty much as cleaned off
as nature can get it.<br>~Thanks

I dont think you should have buried the animal. A
lot of damage can happen to the smaller bones; from
moistier and your shovel; also it iseasier to loose these
bones. Istead it is best to dig a hole and cover it with
a board. The same bugs will get to it because it is
under ground level. Just dig it where it will stay
moist and cool. Then when the bugs have picked it clean
you can soak it in poroxide to disolve the remaining
tissue. Bleach will destroy or weaken the bones.<br>-Good
Luck

Bury the carcass near ant hill the ants will
clean<br>will clean it off quicker.I live in florida and it
takes about 3 weeks for the ants to clean it off.Then I
let it soak in bleach water.If anybody else has any
suggestion on that subject let me know.

Hmmmm... interesting advice. Well so that I would
not damage bones with shovel and so that I would not
lose bits and pieces of the bones I buried it with a
board under the body and a board secured above the body
so that when I went back to get the remains I would
not damage it on the way in. It has been buried now
since beginning of June. Any advice on if I should
leave it till after or before the rainy season? As far
as ants I can vouch for the fact that there are tons
in that back yard.