I recently shot a javelina at Eagle Pass Texas near the Rio Grande River in the prime Texas Brush Country. I did a skull mount of this critter and noticed that the crud on the molars had a bright silver sheen. I alway mask off the teeth and paint the skulls with a light coat of Krylon Satin Ivory so the teeth still look natural. When I removed the tape most of this silvery coating stuck to the tape and looked like very thin slivers of aluminum foil.

Can anyone explain what gives the "tartar" buildup such a silvery appearance? Besides eating corn put out for deer I think they mostly feed on the cactus down there. Merg

Same question as Merg. This one is from Sonora Mex. Looks like thars gold in them thar hills.






Is this what yours looked like? More than shows in the pictures, mine is gold colored.

It's called pyrite, otherwise known as...'fool's gold". It is abundant in the Southwest. Javelina's being rooters tend to get it build up on their teeth while eating.

When I first moved to Arizona, 28 years ago, I was out hiking in the desert and filled a back pack to the brim with it, thinking "I'm rich"! Took it to an assayist and had my first education with "fool's gold"...lol!

I personally feel it does look nice left on the teeth of a skull mount.

'Pyrite is the classic "Fool's Gold". There are other shiny brassy yellow minerals, but pyrite is by far the most common and the most often mistaken for gold. Whether it is the golden look or something else, pyrite is a favorite among rock collectors. It can have a beautiful luster and interesting crystals. It is so common in the earth's crust that it is found in almost every possible environment, hence it has a vast number of forms and varieties.'

Kind regards,
Mary

I have seen this on Javalina, deer and on goat teeth, and on two ocassions it turned out to be real gold..

It is from the silica on the browse, such as Lecheguilla that the Javalina feeds on in the Big Bend country. In the Lower Rio Grande valley I would think it comes off the prickly pear....Minerals deposit on plants and those minerals can be gold, pyrite, silver or whatever is in the area...

I had a goat jaw that I picked up and the teeth crevises and indentions were covered in gold. I sold it at a gunshow for a pretty penny.

Your Javalina would make a nice shoulder mount.

Tundragriz, My Jav was probably not as old as yours just from noticing the tooth wear. Mine was just starting to accumulate a bit of silver sheen on the incisors but the molars were pretty much silver all over. Not near as bright and large of a deposit as those on yours.

Thank you Ms. Mary and Mr. Ray. Your experience and sharing it is most appreciated.

Being a naturalist and habitat manager for over 34 years, the first thing I do after killing anything bigger than a swamp rabbit is look at the critter's teeth. Merg

These are the molars. You can't see it in the pics but if you turn them the right way you can see many shiny flecks in the plaque.

Tundragriz, I can tell your critter is a bit older than the one I killed. Much more wear on the molars. The plaque on mine was smoother and somewhat uniformly silver all over and silver-gray around the gum line. Yours has a thicker buildup too.

My friend who owns the land down there and I were sitting in his old Bronco watching 13 good bucks and then two great big boars walk amongest them eating corn. I badly wanted a big javelina, but he said he didn't really want to spook the bucks with a shot next to the stand. So I took two average size boars the next day. Also a doe. And watched scads of big bucks. South Texas is something else for growing big deer. Merg