Mossy Oak Forum / Trophy Room / General Taxidermy / Ants? / Latest Posts

RE: Ants?

GaMeSLaYeR — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:26:47 GMT

I tried boiling last fall and think ill stick with nature doing the job. Not only did the skull not fit in the pot well but it stunk up the house something fierce. I saposs if I had a my turkey deep fryer pot it would of been big enough but that was stolen out of my Bros garage.
I sure do wish carpenters ants cleaned em out because I have plenty of those and with the cool summer we are having here in the north I have only seen flys a few times all summer, they have found my dogs yard bombs to be a better meal. Usually they are clean by mid summer but I think this year it going the distance.

RE: Ants?

jod — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:10:42 GMT

fire ants will definitely get the job done,where i used to work ,we killed a large rat one night and threw it on a mound,in about seven hours they had cleaned it down to the skeleton!that is the only good use for them other than getting rid of people who steal your cams,treestands,etc. j/k lol

RE: Ants?

jpg2esq — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:13:38 GMT

I have been told thats the best way to clean an Alligator Skull after harvesting a gator during gator season. Unfortunately though it only works if you live in a rural area. Cats and other animals would get to it and take it away here in the city.

RE: Ants?

stephendunn — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:02:21 GMT

i have an uncle that does that and it works, i tried it and somebodys dog pillaged em.

RE: Ants?

skinner0_2 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:34:14 GMT

Cabellas sells a kit to boil your skull in, and it comes with the peroxide for bleaching. Actually its the kit that Van Dykes Taxidermy Supply sells in there catalog, I think the two have merged in some way, i see alot of Van Dykes stuff there now. All you need is a knife, a deep pot(non aluminum as the powder that eats the meat also eats aluminum) and a fish fryer. Heck i have even used a deep pot, in the house with the wife gone for the day. Its one of the easyest self Taxidermy jobs you can undertake, however on the other hand, you will see why the Taxidermist wants so much to do them. It comes out clean, white, and most importantly, doesnt still smell dead as yours will. One tip I will leave you with about the smell, should it smell like road kill. You may not want the skull to shine, but you need to seal the bone, and the easyest way to do it is with clear gloss spray. Taxidermists use a fungicidal sealer, but clear gloss does the same thing. Spray it on the outside, and inside the brain cavity as well. I think the reason people think ants will clean a skull so well is because skulls are found every year, and other than the places where the skull was actually touching the ground, its white as snow, and doesnt stink. Well heck yah its clean and white, so are the antlers, its been there for a year and everything under the sun has cleaned it in one way or another. Boiling and scraping takes about two hours and your done, and unless you drove around for a week with the head in the bed of your truck before you decided to do something with the skull, I would have boiled it. Its so easy, that when i was a Taxidermist i used to talk guys into doing them instead of me. Not putting you down or anything, I wouldnt want to pay a Taxidermist to do a skull for me either, just sayin if you havent tried it you should. Heck you might start making extra money off your huntin buddies doin em.

RE: Ants?

kele — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:33:58 GMT

Them dang Cheasies?????????

RE: Ants?

NoDak_Hunter — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:43:05 GMT

No, don't worry. He's safe and sound.

The picture I got of the timeframe from when it was cut, was of our dog.

So I spose i'll never know...

My plan now will be to just boil the skull as is. Ther'll be a lot of flesh coming off, but I don't have a choice really....

RE: Ants?

kele — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:29:42 GMT

Mike,Tell me your Moose Head isn't missing that's bad,I'll come up there and help you get that..???? what ever took it,that would be horrible!!!!

RE: Ants?

NoDak_Hunter — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:05:28 GMT

Thats right, blame the government....

RE: Ants?

FL_Cracker — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:19:30 GMT

Ahh...sorry I guess you have some pics in there of it that I can't see... Mods must've made them invisible to me...

RE: Ants?

NoDak_Hunter — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:15:04 GMT

It's bailing twine.

Cracker, this is a MOOSE skull.

You know, those things that stand about 7ft at the shoulder, big flat antlers , big nose, about 1100lbs....

RE: Ants?

FL_Cracker — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:50:54 GMT

Dude, Question...what are you doing with a deer skull with flesh on it in June?

Roadkill?

RE: Ants?

Flintlock1776 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:13:13 GMT

I could not tell from the photo, did they paint it blue?

Nice, lets see pics of the criminals

RE: Ants?

NoDak_Hunter — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:25:56 GMT

Someone was messing with it...

I had tied it up to a dead tree, so that nothing could drag it away. I go out there yesterday, and find this...

I don't know who did it, but people seriously has too much time on their hands. I mean, really, what is the point?

Anyway, now that I know I can't trust people, it won't be going back out there. At least not in the same location.

Oh, but there is a brightside. I may have caught the culprit on the trail cam I had set up watching it...

RE: Ants?

Flintlock1776 — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:59:30 GMT

I hated Fire Ants when I lived in Georgia. Maybe that is the only good use for the buggers. Good luck giving it a try.

Maybe the ants in the Indiana Jones movies could do the job better?

RE: Ants?

NoDak_Hunter — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:14:54 GMT

We had a good soaking rain, so that softened the flesh up a bit. I'm glad I put large garbage bags over the antlers, because we had a long, pouding rain.

Anyway, it should be interesting now to see what the ants do.

I know something bigger though paid a visit. Part of the nose cartilidge that left on there was chewed off, and part of the nose bone was knawed a bit, and was moved 3ft from where I had it.

I'll report back in a few days for an update.

RE: Ants?

FL_Cracker — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:47:40 GMT

Dude,

That's the way I do all my euros. I got an old dog cage in the garden that I put the whole skull in after I saw it off the neck, and I let mother nature take care of it. Works like a charm...

RE: Ants?

pabowhunter — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:03:49 GMT

Yeah, lets see how it's progressing.

RE: Ants?

TrailCamMan — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:36:49 GMT

Thanks for the update. Post a pic up when the ants have finished the job.

RE: Ants?

NoDak_Hunter — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:07:52 GMT

I've had the skull out by the fire ant hill for about a week now, and I don't know if it's them or what, but the cheek area has been stripped to the bone, and about 30% of the bottom jaw is clean. Though, it's so dry that I think the ants are now having a hard time getting it off...

I think i'm going to wet it down a bit to soften the meat up, and see what they do. I'll report back.

RE: Ants?

INBowhunter — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:52:02 GMT

I've heard of that working. I've also heard that if you put it in a pond/lake the fish will pick it clean.

RE: Ants?

BowBo — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:48:59 GMT

I too have heard that it will work.............. but you better put some kind of a cage around it..... and then, even small rodents will chew it up. Squirrels and mice will chew on the antlers.... so beware!

RE: Ants?

pabowhunter — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:47:25 GMT

I've heard of that also. I have a feeling one of the neighbors dogs will clean up the whole thing, bones and all.

RE: Ants?

TrailCamMan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 07:42:56 GMT

Never heard that about ants but dermestid beetles work very well. Here is some more information if you are interested.

http://www.skulltaxidermy.com/kits.html

RE: Ants?

TheRomer — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:21:07 GMT

ive heard it works well too, but ive never tried it yet

RE: Ants?

NerdHick — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:06:09 GMT

Not sure what kind of critters will eat stuff off a skull but leaving it outside will do the trick, some work much better then others. If you do it and don't want the antlers bleached out, cover them up!

Ants?

NoDak_Hunter — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:27:34 GMT

I've heard of this being done before, don't know if it's true though. Put the fleshy skull close to a fire ant hill, and leave it for a while, and the ants will pick the flesh off the skull. Anyone ever tried it?