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skull smell

A buck that I shot two years ago was cleaned by the local processer (I'll never make that mistake again). It has been simmered in a borax/water solution for 6 hours. There is still a nasty odor coming out of the hole at the back of the skull. Is there anything that I can do at this point? Any suggestions? I was thinking about having the skull dipped in hopes of possibly sealing off what ever is smelling.

Thanks!

Its probably the rust:))))

Could be brain tissue in there yet or the lining around the brain. It should have been given to the flesh eating bugs. Might be too late for the bugs now though since he used borax, which is a good bug deterent.

Do you have a borescope? You could look up in there and see what's there. I'd try to look in there before I dipped it because if there's brain in there, it might be hard to get it to seal off. If you looked in there and saw nothing but the lining(not sure if you could see that with a borescope), you could try to fill the cavity with polyurethane and pour out the excess. I'd use satin or flat so if I decided to dip the whole skull it wouldn't be too glossy.

I work with a guy that has the flesh eating bugs. He also dips the skulls in camo hydrographics. When I see him, I'll get his opinion.

Nice Dale... :)

Thanks Jeff. I didn't think about filling the cavity.

Ya sure it's not the other back hole that's stinking?:)

I love you too, Roy!

I did something bad, I soaked in in bleach for about two hours. Let it sit outside all day. Smell is almost gone. I'm going to give it another day, then I may fill the cavity.

Thanks!

Yo Rust, I talked to 'the bug guy' today. I told him about your dilemma. This is what came from it...

He said the main problem with skulls is the tissue that resides between the brain and nasal cavity. If you look up through the spinal opening into the cranial cavity, or if you've ever looked into there after cutting one in half when cutting a rack from a skull, there are a few little holes toward the front of where the brain sits. I remembered seeing them.

Those lead to the nasal cavity, and they are full of 'tissue' that isn't easy to remove. If not removed, it can rot and stink. Between those holes and the nose are a few things that inhibit removal of the tissue that can rot. There is what he called a 'spiral bone' between the nasal and brain cavities that taxidermists should remove which helps open it up so more tissue(potential stink) can be removed by whatever means. From what he says, it's tough to get it all out.

He's The Bug Guy, so we talked about the bugs. He said they get in there pretty good, and will go into those holes if you make sure they're open for them, but when it's all said and done, they don't just leave when there's nothing left to eat. They can tend to 'nest' in the nasal cavity for extended periods, and he has to dig/force/persuade them out. This is what takes so much time to give skulls back to his customers. He wants to get all the bugs out of the skulls before he returns them... for the customer's benefit... bugs reproduce quickly and he doesn't need to retrieve them for his own use.

He said at this point, if it still stinks, he would poke through those nasal/cranial holes and put some chlorine down in there.

He also said not to boil any skull... that's how bone loses its own 'glue', how everything gets loose, teeth get loose and fall out... and bleach disintegrates bone... before he tried that he would soak in a strong cold hydrogen peroxide solution. When it comes to hydrogen peroxide, he uses a paste on the outer surface that he gets from Sally's Beauty Supply... and a Baquacil sanitizer liquid he gets from pool supply places on the inside.

2nd hand info, and he has the experience, not me, so I hope that helps....

Neighbor boils the skulls then uses pressure washer on them. They look very good when done. I was told bleach makes the skull brittle. I used peroxide on mine. Hope this helps.

thank you for the great information.

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