Mullis56 Bear Skulls - Need Advice

[bsutravis]

I'm in the process of whitening Donnie Mullis' bear skulls that were harvested this past Spring. I've had them for 2 months, and I've had them macerating to remove the remaining flesh and tissue, then they've been degreasing. I just got them out of the degreaser and will let them air dry a few days to check for any grease stains....if all is well I will begin to whiten them later this week. Most of the teeth fall out of the skull and jaw bone, and the jaw bones come apart while macerating.....so that will be a huge jigsaw puzzle gluing all the teeth into their respective sockets. I'll post the finished photos when complete.







UPDATE 9/27

I need some advice from the seasoned taxidermists here. I THOUGHT I had all the grease out of the skulls, but after a 24 hour soak in 40 Volume I'm left with an orangish tint to the bone in places. Is this a reaction with grease that is left in the bone? If so, should I soak it in acetone for a few weeks and then re-whiten??? Any advice is appreciated. Here is how they look now after drying an hour in the sun once I removed from the 40 Volume.

[bsutravis]

I took my own advice and gave them a soak in acetone yesterday afternoon and overnight. It seemed to pull the rest of the grease from the skulls because this afternoon they look fantastic! I just need to let them dry out another day in the sun, then glue all the teeth in place, glue the lower jaw together and then seal all the bone.

[mullis56]

Travis you the man! Those are looking good! Talk to you soon....

[bsutravis]

I should be done with them soon..... I have to find a gallon of Elmer's glue so I can finish them. To seal the skulls you dip them in a 50/50 mixture of glue and water.

Remind me Donnie and I'll show you some ideas for displaying them.... My taxidermy catalogs have some oval wooden bases that they would be cool sitting on. I'd hot glue some sheet or reindeer moss down and nestle the skulls down in it. I'll catch ya next week.

[Ahawkeye]

BSU, Those look great, can you do deer skulls the same way? if so how do you keep the antlers out of the solution? also are those extra teeth on the paper plate?

[bsutravis]

Hawkeye..... Yes, you can do deer the same. Some of the process is a little different, such as with deer you can simmer the skulls in near-boiling water to remove the flesh from the skull....but on a bear you cannot do that because it will boil the grease into the bone and set it in. It takes a while.....but you can get some pretty good results with a little time and patience.

The bear teeth tend to drop out while the bear is macerating (soaking in water) to remove the flesh, so you leave them out until the skull is to be sealed, then simply glue them back into place.

[hoosiertaxidermist]

Travis, skulls look great. We boil everything in water and sal soda for about 30 mins. after cleaning most the meat off, then soak a few weeks in mineral spirits. A short soak in dawn and ammonia water for a couple days, then into diluted 40 volume peroxide overnight. Acetone is usually a last resort as you had to do for the stubborn oil stains. set in the sun for a day or two and then just let dry for a couple weeks. looks like you have done a fine job. I would reccomend holding off sealing for a few weeks if you can, to be sure there is no extra grease that may leach out. Those bears can be stubborn sometimes.

[bsutravis]

HT..... I sealed them them on Friday. I am 99% happy with how they turned out. I was pretty leary of taking on bears just from all the horror stories I have heard about the grease, but it all turned out well for someone who doesn't know what he's doing. LOL. Thanks for the tips.

[hoosiertaxidermist]

How about that smell during maceration!
Aother way is to take a 5 gal bucket and dril a few holes in the bottom, bury the bucket up to the lid and put your skulls inside and close the top. The flies will smell the tissue and deposit their eggs on the soil near the bucket and the meat eaters will burrow down and clean the bones nicely for you. not as much smell as maceration and less damage than possible overboiling. after a few weeks you will have a clean skull ready for degreasing.