File :-(, x, )
Getting a-head of myself Anonymous
Hey /an/imals, I've acquired the head of a roadkill fox. What's the best way to make the bones clean and shiny? I have tried burying bone before to decompose the tissue, but result vary widely.

One side of the head the skull bone is exposed with very little tissue remaining, but the other was in direct sun and the hide has dried out and is stuck first to the bone. In the brain cavity there is decomposed tissue and maggots, which I don't mind since I figure they're doing my work for me. I have heard that if you get a fat-dissolving dishwasher powder and put it in solution, sit the bones in it and put the whole mess in an incubator, the flesh will completely dissolve in a matter of days but alas, I don't have access to an incubator. I'm not willing to use my oven for obvious reasons. I can't leave the head in the yard for the elements to clean because of my neighbour's bastard dogs that are always getting into my yard.

Any suggestions? Would it work if I just did the dishwasher powder thing and set it in the sun for a few days?
>> Anonymous
The traditional method was to poke some holes in a box, put the bones in the box, and bury it in the general vicinity of an anthill, I think. But I have no idea if it really works.
>> Anonymous
>>304761
Museums raise maggots to clean bones. Go to one and get some.
>> Anonymous
I read somewhere you can boil all the shit off of the bones, but I don't know if that's true.
>> Anonymous
1. take out skin
2. put in sun
3. ants come and feast
4.???
5. fox head
>> Anonymous
>>304764

I already have the maggots, but I'm not sure how to convince them to move to the section where the hide and flesh has dried out. I could soak it to rehydrate it, but I think that would drown the maggots. And the nearest museum of natural history is four hours drive away, too.

>>304761

This one has potential, but there are a lot of scavengers in the area and I suspect that it would get dug up and carried off pretty quickly. I'd really prefer to keep it where I can watch it.
>> Anonymous
>>304764
Museums used dermestid beetles and their larvae, not maggots.
>> Anonymous
>>304774
second...we also just bury the shit in our back yards...I had a baby elephant skull under my garden for a summer cause the beetle vats were full with other shit. Then I had to dig it up and bleach/clean it..ended up flooding a basement cause I was a noob
>> Anonymous
>>304774
second...we also just bury the shit in our back yards...I had a baby elephant skull under my garden for a summer cause the beetle vats were full with other shit. Then I had to dig it up and bleach/clean it..ended up flooding a basement cause I was a noob.
>> Anonymous
This is the simplest method of cleaning bone.

1. Remove any remaining tissue or hide from the bone
2. Immerse the bone in a container of water.
3. Leave the container in a warm location where you won't mind the smell.
4. Periodically pour the greasy, smelly water out (gardens love it!) and replace with fresh water.
5. When the water runs clear, the bacteria have run their course.
6. Soak the bone in regular drugstore strength hydrogen peroxide until it reaches the whiteness you prefer. This also sterilizes the bone.
7. You're done!
>> Anonymous
once when i was young my dog killed a sparrow (was still intact...just dead) and i buried it under a dirt piece that turned into a big dry clump...kind of like a rock. and after a few months i remembered it was there and when i lifted the dirt/rock it was all bone and feathers....the ants in my yard took care of the situation. i kept the skull for a little while but i dont remember what happened to it.
>> Anonymous
this was on that Dirty Job show. I think they boiled them and then sit in bleach for awhile. should look into it
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
OP here.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I've decided to go with the fat/protein dissolving bath and leave it in the sun. The hide has dried so that it's quite impossible to scrape it off from the skull, and as an added problem, while I'm pretty certain that this fox was roadkill, I can't guarantee that for certain. Foxes are a feral species and this is a farming community; farmers poison them on a regular basis so naturally, the amount of time physically handling the skull really should be limited. Also, I hope that the dishwasher powder will render the skull unpalatable to my neighbour's dogs. I'd be delighted if they'd stop crapping on my lawn but I'm not quite at the point of wanting to poison them. That said, if a dog is stupid enough to eat dishwasher powder then it's Darwinism all the way.

Since I've tried burying bones in the past to mixed results I've decided to go with something different this time around. I am taking note of everyone's suggestions for the future, however, because in this part of the world there are so many opportunities to add to my bone collection.