I was out shooting gophers last week and came across 5 badgers on a friends farm. They hate badgers with a passion and I was able to shoot 3 of them. I kept 2 of the skulls as I think they would make good trophies to go with my coyote skull. I am doing the skulls myself and this is the first time I have ever tried cleaning a skull. So far I have got all the meat off and the brains from what I can tell are all gone. I then soaked the skull for like 7 hours in hydrogen peroxide because I read that it whitens up the skull a bit. Now here is my 2 questions.
1: I shot the badger while visiting my uncle and by the time I got home the head was starting to stink ( the flesh was removed in at my uncles by way of boiling however there was still brain matter inside ) now that the brains have been removed and the skull has soaked. There is still a smell on the skull. Does this smell go away once it has completely dried out? Or do I have to do something else?
2: on the top of the skull there are dark shades and the hydrogen peroxide didn't really bleach the dark spots. I'm trying to figure out what the dark spots are because they almost appear to be a shadow or something from inside the skull. I looked to see if there was chunks of brain left inside but couldn't see any. Do these dark spots go away once dried as well? What can I do? Oh also the dark spots are only toward the back of the skull there is none on the front. The front actually looks pretty good.
I will post pics of the skull tomorrow once it is dried. I'm hoping the smell and the dark spots go away.
Any advice is much appreciated thanks
1: I shot the badger while visiting my uncle and by the time I got home the head was starting to stink ( the flesh was removed in at my uncles by way of boiling however there was still brain matter inside ) now that the brains have been removed and the skull has soaked. There is still a smell on the skull. Does this smell go away once it has completely dried out? Or do I have to do something else?
2: on the top of the skull there are dark shades and the hydrogen peroxide didn't really bleach the dark spots. I'm trying to figure out what the dark spots are because they almost appear to be a shadow or something from inside the skull. I looked to see if there was chunks of brain left inside but couldn't see any. Do these dark spots go away once dried as well? What can I do? Oh also the dark spots are only toward the back of the skull there is none on the front. The front actually looks pretty good.
I will post pics of the skull tomorrow once it is dried. I'm hoping the smell and the dark spots go away.
Any advice is much appreciated thanks