Okay....where to begin with this one?
As many of you know, I am a biology student. I have worked with flesh eating dermestid beetles to prepare skeletal specimens for the University. I also have my own personal skull collection in my room. One skull that has been eluding me for a while is a dog skull. I'm sure I could find a dead dog along the side of the road, but I don't want some poor kid to not only find their dog hit by a truck, but headless.
Luckily (for me, not the dog), I found someone who was friends with a animal control officer. In this area, they used to take viscous dogs out and shoot them in a wooded area. The person was selling some of the half mummified, half skeletal skulls. So I bought one!
When I received the head, I realized it needed quite a bit of work. My school no longer had the dermestid beetle colony running, due to space, and the beetles would not have eaten the mummified flesh anyway. They prefer fresh meat, or beef jerky consistency meat.
So, I bagged up the head and put it in the freezer, to await the warmer spring months and the promise of maceration.
Of course, having a dog head in the freezer made my mom somewhat...displeased. So, after hearing "Is that dog head still in the freezer?", "Why is there a dog head in the freezer?", "Get that dog head out of the freezer!" and "What is wrong with my daughter?!?!?" all winter, I finally broke it out today.
Maceration is the process of rotting away flesh using water. Just like your aquarium is full of wonderful bacteria converting one product into another product, bacteria can also be used to break down flesh into nutrients for bacteria. Maceration is a useful process, but has some limitations. First of all, the water has to be kept warm, which is why I had to wait until summer. Second, it REEKS BEYOND ALL REASONABLE BELIEF. You are creating a vat of rotting flesh and bacteria. I have a pretty strong stomach for odors, due to my habit of poking dead things with sticks. This will raise the bile up in my throat. Unless you have a really good full hood, this needs to be done outside, and as far away from the house as possible. Unfortunately, in my case, that is around 60 ft away...but beggars can't be choosers. Third, this technique will break down cartilage. Not a problem with a skull, but if I was doing a cat skeleton, it would be nearly impossible to reassemble all the little toe bones, tail bones, etc. Also, it breaks down cartilaginous ribs. The teeth will likely fall out, but they are easy to put back.
I have never macerated something this large before, but the smaller critter skulls I've done (squirrels, mice, shrews, etc) usually took several weeks. I expect this could take a decent amount of time, especially since it is still rather cold. I will check on it in a month or so, and see how things are progressing.
A quick warning. While doing this, I ALWAYS use gloves. Any mammal carries the risk of having had rabies, and dogs are well know carriers. Many other diseases can be contracted from animals remains. Unless you know what you are doing, do NOT touch dead animals.
Now the pictures! Remember, these are a little graphic.
The head was VERY well wrapped. I used 2 large ziploc bags, 2 grocery bags, and several layers of foil.
Here is the unwrapped skull. You can see the bullet hole at the top of the head. The nose is somewhat foreshortened and the skull wide, so the dog likely had some bully breed in him. The head is actually cleaner than it was when I got it. I removed several hunks of dried flesh, but the remaining stuff is too dried, and I would likely break bones trying to remove it.
A nice frontal shot of the skull. You can see how dried on the flesh is. Trying to remove this stuff would break delicate bones. The bacteria will do a lot of the work for me!
I filled the bucket with hose water. I might add a little Dawn dish detergent later. I know it seems odd, but the enzymes help break down fat trapped inside the bones. Right now, it is just pure water. Won't be for long though...
I put a few holes in the lid to allow for gas exchange. Having a lid will reduce the odor somewhat, but some of the bacteria need air.
Now we wait...
As many of you know, I am a biology student. I have worked with flesh eating dermestid beetles to prepare skeletal specimens for the University. I also have my own personal skull collection in my room. One skull that has been eluding me for a while is a dog skull. I'm sure I could find a dead dog along the side of the road, but I don't want some poor kid to not only find their dog hit by a truck, but headless.
Luckily (for me, not the dog), I found someone who was friends with a animal control officer. In this area, they used to take viscous dogs out and shoot them in a wooded area. The person was selling some of the half mummified, half skeletal skulls. So I bought one!
When I received the head, I realized it needed quite a bit of work. My school no longer had the dermestid beetle colony running, due to space, and the beetles would not have eaten the mummified flesh anyway. They prefer fresh meat, or beef jerky consistency meat.
So, I bagged up the head and put it in the freezer, to await the warmer spring months and the promise of maceration.
Of course, having a dog head in the freezer made my mom somewhat...displeased. So, after hearing "Is that dog head still in the freezer?", "Why is there a dog head in the freezer?", "Get that dog head out of the freezer!" and "What is wrong with my daughter?!?!?" all winter, I finally broke it out today.
Maceration is the process of rotting away flesh using water. Just like your aquarium is full of wonderful bacteria converting one product into another product, bacteria can also be used to break down flesh into nutrients for bacteria. Maceration is a useful process, but has some limitations. First of all, the water has to be kept warm, which is why I had to wait until summer. Second, it REEKS BEYOND ALL REASONABLE BELIEF. You are creating a vat of rotting flesh and bacteria. I have a pretty strong stomach for odors, due to my habit of poking dead things with sticks. This will raise the bile up in my throat. Unless you have a really good full hood, this needs to be done outside, and as far away from the house as possible. Unfortunately, in my case, that is around 60 ft away...but beggars can't be choosers. Third, this technique will break down cartilage. Not a problem with a skull, but if I was doing a cat skeleton, it would be nearly impossible to reassemble all the little toe bones, tail bones, etc. Also, it breaks down cartilaginous ribs. The teeth will likely fall out, but they are easy to put back.
I have never macerated something this large before, but the smaller critter skulls I've done (squirrels, mice, shrews, etc) usually took several weeks. I expect this could take a decent amount of time, especially since it is still rather cold. I will check on it in a month or so, and see how things are progressing.
A quick warning. While doing this, I ALWAYS use gloves. Any mammal carries the risk of having had rabies, and dogs are well know carriers. Many other diseases can be contracted from animals remains. Unless you know what you are doing, do NOT touch dead animals.
Now the pictures! Remember, these are a little graphic.
The head was VERY well wrapped. I used 2 large ziploc bags, 2 grocery bags, and several layers of foil.
Here is the unwrapped skull. You can see the bullet hole at the top of the head. The nose is somewhat foreshortened and the skull wide, so the dog likely had some bully breed in him. The head is actually cleaner than it was when I got it. I removed several hunks of dried flesh, but the remaining stuff is too dried, and I would likely break bones trying to remove it.
A nice frontal shot of the skull. You can see how dried on the flesh is. Trying to remove this stuff would break delicate bones. The bacteria will do a lot of the work for me!
I filled the bucket with hose water. I might add a little Dawn dish detergent later. I know it seems odd, but the enzymes help break down fat trapped inside the bones. Right now, it is just pure water. Won't be for long though...
I put a few holes in the lid to allow for gas exchange. Having a lid will reduce the odor somewhat, but some of the bacteria need air.
Now we wait...
