Cleaning and Preserving Animal Skulls Can Very Well for Most Any Skull

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Cleaning and Preserving Animal Skulls Can Very Well for Most Any Skull Cooperative Extension Cleaning and Preserving Animal Skulls 0196 There are several reasons to clean by inserting a wire with a loop at the and preserve animal skulls. Often end into the brain cavity and using the examination of an animal skull a mixing action. The wire or is used to determine the species. other instrument can be inserted Among the characteristics used into the brain cavity through the to identify species, dentition (the opening at the posterior of the number and description of teeth) upper skull where the spinal is a key feature. The examination cord passes through. Brain of dentition is much easier on tissue can be washed out by cleaned skulls. Animal skulls are filling the brain cavity with also valuable teaching tools. Also, water and shaking water and animal skulls are frequently used as tissue out. A large syringe may be used to interesting, decorative displays in homes and inject water and suck out brain tissue. If the offices. head will not be worked on immediately, it is Skulls can be used to teach students many best to keep it frozen until ready to process. aspects of an animal’s life history including anatomy, diet, behavior, and habitat. Students can Methods to Clean Skulls sketch skulls for art projects, measure skulls to practice math skills, tell stories about the animal, or 1. Cold Water Maceration research the life history of the animal. The actual Maceration is the simplest method and can work process of cleaning and preserving animal skulls can very well for most any skull. Maceration is simply be an additional hands-on learning experience for soaking the fleshed-out skull in water until all the students. A separate publication Wildlife Skull remaining flesh has been removed. The time required Activities is available from the Arizona 4-H Youth to remove all the flesh varies with the size of the skull Development publications catalog. and the temperature of the water. The ideal water Regardless of the specific process used to clean temperature is about 90 0 F. Time may vary from a few skulls, the initial step is to skin the head and remove days to several weeks. In this method, the skinned most of the flesh. Tissue may be removed with a head is simply placed in an appropriate sized variety of knives, scalpels and other tools, such as container (can, bucket, barrel, etc.), covered with dental instruments, depending on the size of the water and left to stand. About 2 tablespoons of an head. It is not necessary to remove all the tissue, but “enzyme” laundry detergent per gallon of water will the more flesh removed the shorter the processing time. When removing tissue, be careful not to scrape too hard and scratch bone surfaces or break thin 10/99 AZ1144 bone tissue. Removing most of the brain tissue before processing will be beneficial. (See CAUTION state- THE U NIVERSITY OF A RIZONA ment at the end of this publication) This is especially COLLEGE OF A GRICULTURE true when processing skulls from young or very TUCSON, ARIZONA 85721 small animals with more fragile skulls. If most of the brain tissue is not removed, it may expand during Lawrence M. Sullivan processing and force the brain case apart. Removing Extension Specialist, School of Renewable Natural brain tissue from skulls prior to placing them in a Resources bug box, will greatly reduce the amount of odor C. Park Romney produced. Soaking the skinned head overnight or for Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development at least a few hours in warm water will facilitate removing the brain tissue. After the head has been This information has been reviewed by university faculty. soaked, the brain tissue should be broken apart or ag.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1144.pdf “scrambled.” This scrambling can be accomplished Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, James A. Christenson, Director, Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture, The University of Arizona. The University of Arizona College of Agriculture is an equal opportunity employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to sex, religion, color, national origin, age, Vietnam era Veteran’s status, or handicapping condition. help de-grease the skull. Water should be added if The advantage of hot water maceration over cold evaporation has exposed part of the skull. The putrid water is that the process is much faster. A disadvan- water should be poured off periodically and replaced tage is the potential for causing damage and shrink- with fresh water. The water should be poured off age to the skull. through a sieve or wire screen to recover teeth that have loosened and fallen out of the skull. The skull may be removed from the water periodically and 3. “Bug Box” flesh may be pulled or rinsed off. Final cleaning can Several species of beetles in the genus Dermestes be accomplished with a tooth brush, dental pick, or feed on dried flesh and can be very effective skull similar tool. If the skulls are soaked outdoors, try to cleaners. Both the adult Dermestid beetles and the keep leaves, soot and other debris out of the water. larvae feed on flesh, but the larvae consume a greater These contaminants can discolor the skulls. After amounts of flesh and are much more efficient bone removing all the remaining flesh, a couple of 24 hour cleaners. A sufficient number of adult beetles to start soaks in fresh water helps in eliminating odor. After a colony may be collected from the decaying car- all the soaking, let the skull dry thoroughly. casses of vertebrates that have been exposed out- The advantages of cold water maceration is that doors for a few days. it is easily done and will not damage or shrink When collecting Dermestids, avoid the various skulls. The disadvantages are that it is smelly, very fly larvae (“maggots”). Fly larvae will not do a slow and teeth will most likely fall out. sufficient job of cleaning skulls and some maggots can stain skulls. Look for Dermestid beetle adults 2. Hot Water Maceration (“cooking”) and larvae on carcasses which have been exposed for Cooking is simply a speeded up process of a period long enough to be dried out. Fly larvae or maceration. Cooking skulls in water must be done maggots will be legless, a lighter color, and will not carefully and the skull checked often. Cooking have an obvious head. Dermestid larvae or “grubs” should be done outdoors when possible. Boiling will have three pairs of legs, a darker gray to almost skulls can destroy disease causing organisms, but black color, a fuzzy appearance and have an obvious rigorous boiling can damage skulls. Larger, heavier head. Adult Dermestids are 1/4" to 1/2" inch long, skulls can be gently boiled and smaller, more delicate gray to black in color and may be mottled or banded. skulls should be gently simmered to prevent damage. After fleshing out a skull, place it in a cool, dry After removing most of the flesh and removing the place until it dries — generally at least a day or two. brain tissue as described earlier, simply cook the After air drying, the skull can be placed in a “bug skull in enough water to cover the entire skull. The box” containing Dermestes and be cleaned extremely skull should be placed on a rack to avoid contact well without any damage to the skull. Very small and with the heat source. Adding the enzyme detergent, fragile skulls (e.g. bird skulls) may be damaged if left as indicated for cold water maceration, will de- in the bug box too long. Monitor the progress periodi- grease skulls even better in the hot water. When cally. The time required to clean a skull in a bug box cooking, check the skull frequently. The entire will vary with the size of the skull, the size of the process can take from a few minutes to a several Dermestid colony, and the temperature in the box. hours - again depending on the size of the skull. A The time required will vary from several hours for good practice when using the cooking technique is to small skull to several weeks for larger skulls. remove as much flesh as possible, cook for a short A bug box can be almost any container large time, remove skull and clean off more of the tissue enough to hold the skulls being cleaned. A steel and repeat this process until the skull is clean. Tying drum, bucket or even a coffee can be used. Open top a string to the skull will facilitate picking it out of the containers should be tightly covered with screen or hot water. The cooked flesh is fairly easy to remove other material to prevent the beetles from escaping. If with a knife, scalpel, or pliers. It is important to a wooden box is used or constructed, the joints must check the cooking skull frequently. Cooking too long be tight to prevent beetles from escaping. If a com- can damage skulls and actually dissolve bone tissue. pletely closed container is used, air holes must be IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT HOT WATER provided. These air holes should be covered with MACERATION WILL LIKELY CAUSE SOME screen. Put the skull and beetles in the box with an SHRINKAGE OF THE SKULL. THIS CAN BE open bottle or pan of water to provide humidity. IMPORTANT IF THE FINISHED SKULL IS TO BE Using a wick made of cotton or similar material MEASURED FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES OR TO placed in the water source will provide the necessary RECORD A TROPHY.
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