"Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long..." -Daniel 8:3
I just wrapped up the taxidermy work on my 2009 ram. This style is called a European mount. I've done Euro mounts myself of several rams. It's cheap and looks classy IMO. In case you happen to find yourself in possession of a skull and would like to try your hand at taxidermy here's my recipe for success:
1. Trim off as much meat and tissue as you can
2. Place skull in a plastic garbage bag and seal off for one-two weeks. This begins the bacterial breakdown of the tissues, but keeps flies out. After this period, remove skull and hit the base of the horns with a mallet. After this time in the garbage bag the horns should just pop right off.
3. With a stiff wire (coat hangers work well) stir up and remove as much brain matter from the skull cavity as possible. Also cut off approximately 2-3 inches of the horn cores off. This allows the horns to go back on correctly and helps get at the tissues inside the horn cores.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a couple good handfuls of baking soda. After a couple minutes to let the soda dissolve into the water, place the skull and boil for approx 45 minutes.
5. Remove skull from boiling water. A lot of flesh should come off very easily. Clean off as much as you can, empty your pot and re-do step 4, boiling for about 20 minutes. The baking soda does a wonderful job of breaking down the tissues.
6. Here's where your patience comes in. With a knife, tweezers and pick you've got to get as much remaining tissue as you can in all those tough to get to spots.
7. Soak skull in white gas. A sheep or deer needs about two weeks, greasy skulls like a bear need to stay in a month or more. The gas acts as a degreaser. Skip this step and your skull will probably yellow over time.
8. Soak skull approx. 24 hours in 40% peroxide solution. This stuff can be obtained at beauty supply stores and is sometimes called Clairoxide 40. Make sure you wear gloves, long sleeves and eye protection. This stuff is like acid. This soaking will dissolve all the remaining bits of flesh and bleach the skull to a nice white color.
9. After drying treat the skull to 2-3 coats of clear gloss spray enamel. This protects the skull and gives it a nice finished look.
Now for the horns:
1. After you popped them off the skull there will be tissue inside them. Use a fillet knife and wire brush to remove as much of this tissue as possible.
2. Soak the horns in water with dawn detergent for a couple days. This also acts as a degreaser.
3. Fill horns with borax and let set for a week or so. This helps break down and dry out any remaining tissue and eliminated any stinky-ness.
Now you are ready to put the horns back on:
The last step is reattaching the horns to the skull. This is done with bondo. It doesn't take much, just a couple globs on the end of the horn core. Too much and the bondo will ooze out the bottom of the horn and discolor your skull. Do one horn at a time, allowing the bondo to firm up. Once the horns are re-attached allow approx. 24 hours for the bondo to cure.
And now you are ready to proudly display your trophy.
7 comments:
Princess Leah: I don't know what you're talking about. I'm part of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderon.
Vader: You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away!
You lost me at "dig out the brain matter with a wire hanger." However, I respect that you would go to so much trouble to DIY the whole project. You are a true Alaskan, Steve.
The european mount....got to love them. I still love staring at mine from time to time. I can't wait to shoot a deer or elk and get to do my own mount down here in the lower 48.
Trust me. You definitely want to remove as much brain as possible before boiling. This method has been perfected with much trial and error. And Stink-ness.
One of the best parts when I lived in Anchorage was the stealth removal of the nasty water. Wonder why that dog is rolling there?
i like the smell of boiling brains.
hey fc, ever try placing your skull in a crab pot? or an animal's skull?
The part that I think you must have left out of your final edit on this post, Steve, was how you have detected in Autumn a deep desire to do some brain-swirling of her own when she's big enough to tackle her first European mount. In fact, I think I see the shadow of a baby's head in the background of the picture, behind the skull, just to the right. The image is faint, but the baby is always there...
Compliments don't come much better than that Sally. Thanks.
MF: I've never put my skull in a crab pot. The doors are too small. I have done some skulls in the ocean. It works good, but I'd be afraid to lose a sheep skull and deer antlers lose some of their color, otherwise it's a simpler process that way.
Senator: Yep, can't wait to swirl brains with my little girl.
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