Skull Preservation for the DIY Geek

[Mergie Master]

Good hobby for the kids.

Skull Preservation for the DIY Geek


Coon Skull

On a recent hike in the woods, the Geeklings and I happened onto the carcass of a raccoon that had died several months ago. Most people would comment, “Eeeeewwww — a skull” and continue on their way; however, as geeks, our response was, “Oooooh — a skull!”


Dessicated coon carcass

The raccoon skull we found was completely stripped of all flesh, so it was relatively safe to work with; however, a freshly killed animal is always an excellent source of parasites, pathogens, and other general nastiness. I strongly — strongly! — encourage you to leave alone any roadkill or other dead critters you find. And if you choose to ignore that warning, then be sure to wear gloves, safety glasses, and any other kind of protective gear you can find. Got that?

Once we had the skull home, a little Googling quickly turned up plenty of information on how to prepare and preserve skulls and other skeletal remains. I particularly like this PDF from the University of Arizona and this article at Instructables.



As mentioned in those tutorials, the first step in preservation is to completely deflesh the skull. In our case, Mother Nature had already taken care of that step for me, so we missed out on the chance to play with flesh-eating beetles. Maybe next time?

All this skull needed was a little careful cleaning with a toothbrush and soapy water:



The skull was missing a few teeth from the start, and then, during cleaning, a few more fell out. The tutorials warn that this is a common occurrence, so I was expecting it. They are easy to glue back in later, as long as you manage to avoid losing them!


Don't lose the teeth.

Once the skull was clean, the next step was to whiten it by soaking it in a dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide. H2O2 is available in the first-aid section of most drug stores, and comes pre-mixed as a 3% concentration, which is fine for skull soaking. Hydrogen peroxide is caustic, so once again, be careful!


Ready for soaking in hydrogen peroxide

After soaking in the hydrogen peroxide for two days, our raccoon skull looked significantly nicer. The tutorials explain that it may be necessary to change the H2O2 and soak the skull longer if you want it whiter. The tutorials also point out that using actual laundry bleach is a Bad Idea, since it will severely weaken the bone.

Next, we rinsed and soaked the skull in clean water for a day to get rid of the hydrogen peroxide, and then after that, let it dry in the sun for a day. By this point, it was looking great.


After two days of soaking

Once the skull was clean and dry, it was time to replace the missing teeth and repair the broken jaw. Water-soluble white glue worked well for the teeth, but the jaw required a dose of hot glue before it would hold together properly.


Playing dentist to replace the teeth.

Once finished, we are very pleased with the final result. The online guides suggest giving the whole thing a very light coat of a spray-on acrylic sealant to protect and strengthen it, but we haven’t done that yet.


The finished skull.

Of course, no discussion of skull cleaning and preservation would be complete without a reference to the Dirty Jobs episode in which the host, Mike Rowe, visits Skulls Unlimited in Oklahoma. YouTube has that available for your viewing enjoyment…

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R7eqMug-wo[/ame]

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/08...-the-diy-geek/

[BigBrother]

Correct me if I am wrong.

But Hydrogen Peroxide is basically water, with an extra oxygen atom right?

When did it become considered caustic?

[rp]

That 2nd O atom is hardly attached and to the H20 and is ready to fly off and combine with something else. That makes it caustic.

My contacts use H2O2 for cleaning. The other day I picked the wrong bottle to put water in my lenses to put in my eyes. It only takes a split of a second to know you screwed up. I did not wear contacts for the rest of that week.

[buzzards luck]

It aint that bad. You can use it as mouth wash to whiten your teeth.

[Mergie Master]

It aint that bad. You can use it as mouth wash to whiten your teeth.

Only if you dilute it. The stuff you buy at the drug store is already diluted down to only 3% peroxide.

Friend of mine that was a Navy lifer said they used to make their own hydrogen peroxide in the "air tower". I don't know about now but back then they had what they called a tower, air tower or separation tower, on the carriers. It was basically a tower with trays on it at different levels. They'd pump in regular air at the top and freeze it. That would separate out the different chemical and each on would go into a tray at each level. Pure oxygen would go in one, hydrogen peroxide another, nitrogen another, ect. This way they made their own oxygen (and other pure gases) for planes or whatever.

But I digress.

Anyway he said they would take a 5 gallon bucket of pure 100% hydrogen peroxide and sit it out on the deck. Then a bunch of sailors would stand way back and toss dimes at it trying to ring the bucket.

He said when a dime landed in the peroxide it would cause one hell of an explosions. Sometimes it would even gouge a shallow hole in the deck plates.

Then they'd have to replace the deck plate.

Remember this was back when dimes were made of silver and an aircraft carrier deck was made of 4" thick solid steel plates (heck planes crash on it).

[Capt. Tom]

After y'all start cleaning those skulls, they sure would look cool dipped.......hint hint.

[JBtflo]

Here's some alligator head cleaning instructions (should apply to smaller skulls as well)

http://dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/alligator...llcleaning.pdf