Coyote skull!

["JJ"]

I finished my first attemp at a skull cleaning & thought I would share. Here is a pic of the lower canines before I glued them back in! Sorry, the pics aren't that good, they are off of my cell! The skull didn't turn out to bad for my 1st attempt! Thanks for looking!

["JJ"]

I thought I would post a "before" pic to tell a bit about this coyote. The day before I dropped this large male, I called & killed my first coyote! This guy was one of 4 coyotes that came down a cattle trail while I was making my way to my calling area two mornings later. He was lagging behind the others a bit. The cattle trail was 62 yrds away. I didn't know the exact distance at the time, but I knew it was a bit to far for my model 1100's 2 3/4 inch #4 buck! After they all ignored my coaxing squeaks, the front dog got downwind enough to wind me & took off like a rocket! This alerted the other dogs as well! This male was behind the others enough that he didn't really know what was up. He raised his head up to investigate & I decided my best option was to take a shot! It took a couple of follow up shots on the run, but I had bagged my second coyote ever & second for the weekend as well!

[TXGunNut]

Good job on both fronts!

[38superhero]

nice...

["JJ"]

Thanks guys!!

[rickyrick]

thats pretty wicked looking

[buckfynn]

Nice coyote! The skull sure looks different naked.

[Hunter Customs]

"JJ",

Great job on both counts; that looks like a pretty nice size coyote you are holding.

Do you have any pointers on what to do or not to do for those of us out here that might want to do the same with a skull as you did?

Oh yea, I purchased another rifle to add to the battery of coyote rifles I now have.

As always keep up the good work on the predator control.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com

[buckfynn]

Oh yea, I purchased another rifle to add to the battery of coyote rifles I now have.

Well spill the beans! What did you end up buying? What is the make and caliber of your new rifle?

[Hunter Customs]

Well spill the beans! What did you end up buying? What is the make and caliber of your new rifle?

I don't want to high jack this thread so I'll start another at a later time.
Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com

["JJ"]

Thanks guys! I managed this with the help of other forum members on different forums. The told me that bleaching & boiling would weaken the bones. They suggested that I soak the skull in water allowing the bacteria to eat at the the matter. I let mother nature do her part for about two months. The "fly larvae" did most of the dirty work. I then took the skull back to the house & remover the mummified hide & started the soak! It was suggested to mix in 2 tea spoons of laundry soap on a few of the soaks as a degreaser. Every other weak I would pick at the skull a bit & change 1/2 of the water. Only 1/2 to keep some of the bacteria that had formed. This went on for 4 months. When I thought it was clean enough, I soaked it in the $.99 bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide for 48 hrs. As the gums deterioate, some of the teeth became loose. I removed each one I could for cleaning purposes. Simple super glue on all the teeth made sure all stay put. Next step was pictures!

[Hunter Customs]

Thank you "JJ" for the info. It will be a big help to any of us that decide to take on the same evdeavor that you did.

Again great job on both counts.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com

["JJ"]

No problem Bob, my pleasure. Another tip I would like to add is that I was told the teeth will crack when they heat up. Like when boiling! Apparently sitting out in my shed got pretty warm also! One of th canines cracked on the back side of it. I put super glue on it to try to stop any further deterioration. I think my mistake was that as the teeth loosened & I pulled them I placed them in a piece of styrofoam marked with location. I was a bit worried about getting them all back in the right spot. Like always, overthinking things a bit! They might have been fine had I left them in the water. Who knows? Now I am going to got look for your rifle thread!

[hooligan1]

I did a bobcat skull kinda like this: skin it and boil it until themeat peels off easily, then take and clean it thoroughly,(removing all tissue) and set it in a small bucket of bleach and water mix( I forget the ratio) for a few days then whatever teeth fell out, glue them back in. The skull turned out like yours, beautiful man!!! But they say there's a fella somewhere that has beetles that'll clean them nicely also, but I have no link maybe you could google "skull flesh cleaning beetle dude" or something!? Anyway very nice skull man,I wish I had it! (envy is one of the seven deadly sins), and for that I apologize!

["JJ"]

Museums & universities use them a lot! Some taxis who specialize in euro mounts use them as well. There is a fella who is on the NPHA & the Texas Predator Posse forums who goes by "Rizzo", who also as his own colony at home. He is the one who gave me the tips on doing it by hand. He said a colony is a lot of work, but well worth it if you have a lot of work.

[stu925]

they say there's a fella somewhere that has beetles that'll clean them nicely also, but I have no link maybe you could google "skull flesh cleaning beetle dude" or something!?

You should be able to find some one locally, try calling the local taxidermists if they don't do it, I'll bet they know someone who does. If there's no one in your area, you could start your own business doing it. You'll be swamped with work if you do it. I believe it's called a European mount, I have a friend here that does it and showcases his work in a case at the local Gander Mountain. I think he's got about a 2 month turn around because he's so busy.
Stu

[ihctractor]

Awesome skull! I tried that a couple years ago on a coyote head but didn't know what I was doing. I boiled it clean and soaked it in Clorox water for several days. Ended up losing a couple teeth, the skull never did get white like yours and it stunk of chlorine and "somthin" so bad that I had to leave it in the barn for months to air out:barf:

Nice work on yours!

[TXGunNut]

Wade Taxidermy did mine, guessing he's a few hours west of you, JJ. He used a chemical I hadn't heard of but it looks great. If you don't want to go the DIY route next time I'll PM you his contact info. Said he's been doing quite a few of them lately.
I was going to try the beetle thing but decided I'd have to go kill something every few months so the poor things wouldn't starve.

[troy_mclure]

for you southern guys, you are missing out on the easiest and most readily available de-fleshing tool out there. fire ants!

knock a dent in a fire ant mound, place your head in the dent, cover with a small mesh bucket/basket(to keep scavengers away). a deer skull takes about 3 weeks to be picked clean. just a few tough scraps left on.

["JJ"]

Yep, the fella I spoke with that has the colony said his has gotten spoiled. He used to be able to throw them a hotdog or some boloney between skulls. But now they have a "do not like list"! He said they also have a very pungent smell! He started them in his garage before he knew how bad it was! They now have thier own shed!

["JJ"]

Well Troy, I had heard about that but I didn't have any mounds in January. In March there were a few that popped up but they wern't that active!

[rickyrick]

The severe lack of rain Has pretty much excluded fire ants from my area this year, Can't say that I miss them, but I'll keep it in mind for later years.

[troy_mclure]

here in south louisiana i have to keep the amdro handy year round. want me to ship you some ants? usps frb? lol

[rickyrick]

No thanks LOL, theyll be back I am sure.

["JJ"]

Could you imagine that package getting busted open at the sorting facility? They might consider that an act of terrorism!!