I was cleaning out the big freezer today (getting ready for the move to Darwin)and found I still had whole pig skull in there. I boiled it out and under all the meat was a bloody great hole in its brain box The pig was shot (quick snap shot) as it climbed out of a creek. I caped out the head and kept the skull for a complete skull mount, the location of the wound went un-noticed till I boiled it out. Anybody boil a whole skull before....what a bloody mess I cut the skull down from behind the eyes and will mount it and the lower jaw coming straight out of a slice of African Mahagony. I've got the parents up for a visit and the smell of boiling pork kept mum indoors for most of the day.

I've boiled out DOZENS of pig skulls, although I usually try to talk the hunter into just taking the teeth. I usually keep them on a low simmer during the day, build the fire up a bit after tea and let it burn down over night. In the morning the water has cooled enough to make it easy to work on and the meat just falls off. I also add some soap, either dish or laundry to the water, it cuts the fat and makes the skulls come out nice and white.

I did the dish washing liquid thing. The container I had it in was pretty big and I could not get a good boil going. It seems the regulator on the gas bottle doesn't let enough gas through. I moved the skull into a smaller pot and it went well after that

Bakesly!

Here's an easy way to do skulls....

Get a bucket of water large enough to hold the skull and contain enough water to cover it completelty. Keep it in a spot where your dogs cannot get at it and in a sunny location.

Let the bucket of water and skull set in the sun. Change the water periodically and keep the skull under water. Use your garden hose to wash off the loosening flesh. The natural action of bacteria will rot off the flesh and grisle. It takes some time to do but eventually you'll get nice results and good solid bone. In your climate it should not take all that long, hot weather hastens the process. Boiling can weaken the bone.

If you get some algae not to worry, on your last soak add a tablespoon or two of common household bleach to clean water. Let it soak over night and you are done. Just don't make it too strong, you don't need to. Only do the bleach soak after the skull is completely clean of debris.

I finished up a nice fox skull this way and will post a photo of it after I get it sprayed with some matte polyurathane. I've also done deer, bear and big stuff up to bison with excellent results.



I always wanted to moon someone! Ha ha, Bakesly, you got to be the lucky one!

We use wood for the fire and a 45 gal. drum laid sideways, but then we usually we have several heads in there at at time. I can fit 2-3 pigs and two buffalo in there at one time, if I work it right. I have tried the let em soak method, but pigs got a lot of meat and fat on there, I beieve it would take a couple weeks and the smell would be something SPECIAL!

hey Bakes - cant you use natures little helpers ( a.k.a ants ) to do the job for you ? No shortage of ants in your part of the world - peg the piggy down in a wire cage of some nature to keep the dogs away and let nature do its own thing....

Just a thought .

Ann,

I've heard of that method but it would proberly get me divorced.....hang on a minute That and I would proberly spew

Oh and right back at ya

Muzza, they are working on the last bits of meat in the cavitys as we speak Big red meat eating buggers!

The FLIES are way faster than the ants! I've left a lot of heads sitting out and they get a real special aroma to them, but they don't get very clean. After you boil them and get almost everything major off then as bakes said they do do a good job of cleaning up the last bits. I do recommend sling the tusks out and removing the nerves from the inside. We had a hunter take a skull back without doing that and they found that they were full of "rice" at customs!

The blowies made an apperance today and have blowen the skull. Once they do their thing I'll boil it again and give it a peroxide bath.

It wasn't the smell of the pig's head that kept your mum inside, I've heard that you shower VERY infrequently!

quote:

Originally posted by Bakes:
I was cleaning out the big freezer today (getting ready for the move to Darwin)and found I still had whole pig skull in there. I boiled it out and under all the meat was a bloody great hole in its brain box The pig was shot (quick snap shot) as it climbed out of a creek. I caped out the head and kept the skull for a complete skull mount, the location of the wound went un-noticed till I boiled it out. Anybody boil a whole skull before....what a bloody mess I cut the skull down from behind the eyes and will mount it and the lower jaw coming straight out of a slice of African Mahagony. I've got the parents up for a visit and the smell of boiling pork kept mum indoors for most of the day.

Water IS precious Pete.

Hows the freezer?