Bone Art & Craft

[delle]

Sure could do with one of these right about now.

Seems Mr. Delle is now pining for some experience at setting skeletons. A new hobby to clutter up the house!!! Yay!!!

I now find myself in the odd position of having to find a dealer for some flesh eating bugs before Christmas!


(truth be told, I'm really looking forward to this, should it happen.)

[Ratty]

Try

The Bone Room
A Natural History Salon
1573 Solano
Berkeley, CA 94707
(510) 526-5252
http://www.boneroompresents.com

They have a beetle pit.

If that's no help let me know. I have a friend licensed to pick up road kill. He takes it home to eat, tan, love.

[delle]

Wish we had one closer than 4,988 km's away. ...although Google Maps does say that it would take only 45hrs (46 in current traffic) to get there if I left immediately.

My hunting friends have all been alerted to our wishes. We're pretty much assured a fleshless but intact bunny this season. (starting small seemed wise) With any luck maybe a few random larger bones from the bigger fellas to create our own wee monsters.

I figure if they're there... might as well have fun with them!


That said, I AM getting a bit worried at the look I'm seeing in Ken as he eyes the neighbourhood squirrels.


(And thanks, Ratty, for the referral. Ken'll be chuffed that it came from you, of all people. He truly enjoyed your company at the M&G!!)

[Ratty]

I think carcasses can be boiled to get the flesh off but then you have a pot of bones. I think they get soft at that point. Now that's a puzzle worth putting back together. Or there's a combination of drain cleaner and dish soap used to remove the flesh. Yes. I'm a ghoul.

[delle]

From what I've seen so far, boiling isn't recommended because of the softening, but also because although it does whiten the bones well enough it will most probably give you transparent spots in the bones. It's all about industrial strength peroxide.

...which, of course, we probably won't be able to get ahold of easily either...

I'm already picturing the smell, if such a thing is even possible.

[unjonharley]

I think carcasses can be boiled to get the flesh off but then you have a pot of bones. I think they get soft at that point. Now that's a puzzle worth putting back together. Or there's a combination of drain cleaner and dish soap used to remove the flesh. Yes. I'm a ghoul.

You have to start in the spring for good sun bleached bones by halloween

[delle]

Fuck halloween. This would be every-day wear.

(says the girl who's been wearing a plushy raccoon suit daily for over a month now)

[Ratty]

This kid has put years into bone collecting. It's a great site for the beginner.

http://www.jakes-bones.com/p/how-to-cle ... bones.html

[Elorrum]

dermestid beetles. but bone preps we did in biology on small animals were just boiled... I can still smell the stench of boiled water and formaldehyde if I concentrate. ugh.

[theCryptofishist]

Email the Bone Room and ask if they know of a place in your area, or at least on the East Coast.

[delle]

What a great site, Ratty! Saved!!! The kid's ELEVEN, for crying in the sink outloud!


Fortunately, Elorrum, I grew up with the smell of formaldehyde, as my dad always had a corner of the house with jars full of strange critters and the odd removed body part (my eldest sister's appendix, for example).

I still have a jar with a starnosed mole in the office I'm not sure what to do with beyond saying "heya Frank" every time I pass it by.



And I had considered that, Fishy, but although I'm sure I could find someone in the area who would do the service the wish is to do it ourselves rather than have it done. That's half the fun!!!

[theCryptofishist]

I meant to get the beetles from...

[delle]

Ooooooooooooh!!!! Well now. That's different!!!!

Good idea!!!

[delle]

According to this article I may well already have some in the house: http://espacepourlavie.ca/en/insects-ar ... ermestidae

...making Yiggy's daughter's roommate's room look like a freaking holiday.

Back to boiling maybe?????

[ygmir]

too cold for ants already?
I know out in the desert we'd leave stuff near an ant hill and it'd be clean in no time.

[unjonharley]

You guys have been watching "way" to much TV (Bones on Monday evenings)

[Drawingablank]

Your local university's Bio department probably has a culture of those beetles. They are hard to maintain unless you have a steady supply of carcasses or feed them regularly.

Although a bit messier than beetles, for occasional use I use sal soda. http://www.mckenziesp.com/SS5-P20410.aspx It works well but cannot be used in an aluminum pot. After a quick boil in a solution of that, hose it off then soak in peroxide and you have a brite white skull.

I normally use regular peroxide, but lately taxidermy shops are advocating hair bleach and I'll try that next time since I always have hair bleach these days. Taxidermy supply shops offer 40 volume developer which is normally combined with bleaching powder and is commonly used for bleaching hair so should be available at Sally's or any othe salon supply place.

[delle]

"This useful product is helpful in dissolving meat, fat and grease when boiling skulls and antler plates. If meat, membrane, and grease are not removed, the decaying tissue will attract insects to the mount in the future. To use, simply add a small amount of Sal Soda to salt water in a non-aluminum pan, bring to a boil and immerse the skull or antler plate in the solution. Check the progress occasionally and remove when the flesh turns into a jelly-like substance (within about a half-hour -- no longer). The tissue can then be easily removed by scraping off. Repeat if necessary for an additional 15 minutes. After rinsing, the cleaned antler plate is ready for mounting. To bleach out a skull after boiling and removing the meat, soak the skull in hydrogen peroxide overnight, rinse, and allow the skull to bleach out white in the sun. Re-attach any loose teeth with Zap-a-Gap."

...and under 20$!!! Awesome, Dab! I'd never even heard of such a thing!


And Unjon? Yes. Most definitely. Only the show that sparked the interest was marathon sessions of "Oddities" on netflix rather than Bones on Monday evenings. Lotsa stellar freaky skeletons on that show.

[FIGJAM]

We use 50/50 bleach and water to whiten cactus skeletons.

Apply with a spray bottle or garden sprayer.

Gotta be cheaper than peroxide.

[delle]

Bleach may be cheaper, but is really not recommended for a couple of important reasons.

When I looked for back-up on that, I came to this site first, which is kind of interesting: http://bone-lust.blogspot.ca/2013/06/wh ... oxide.html

For Dab, in case he doesn't read it:

DO NOT use hair developer type peroxide on bones, ever.

There are additional ingredients in it besides H2O2 and it is MUCH stronger than regular corner store purchased H2O2. Which I think is only 3%. I have experimented with this myself and the developer turned huge deer vertebrae to literally mush in my hands. Likewise, do not use the powdered hair bleach packets. The same results will happen. So you've been warned!

Now......... I think we might have to change the subject before Trilo gets pissed off, because the only thing this has to do with Burning Man was the original picture and the fact that I'm now obviously spending my entire day talking with my Burning Man Buddies....

[Patsh]

I came across a fresh deer skull, and set it in a wire cage (so it wouldn't get dragged off) over a huge ant hill. In less than a month, it was spotless. All the fur and skin and were gone, and the skull and teeth were intact. No evidence left of a brain, even.

[ygmir]

I came across a fresh deer skull, and set it in a wire cage (so it wouldn't get dragged off) over a huge ant hill. In less than a month, it was spotless. All the fur and skin and were gone, and the skull and teeth were intact. No evidence left of a brain, even.

this^^ and we'd find very nice, clean bones and skulls out in the desert, if they were anywhere near an ant hill.

[Popeye]

We used to slow boil walrus heads (back when it was legal) to get the flesh off. Really stink but half a 55 gallon drum over a fire on the beach works well. You have to pull the teeth out and remove the root and flesh by hand. Clorox damages bone and teeth.

[Ratty]

It gladdens my heart to see that I'm not the only one, (I already knew), with a ghoulish preoccupation. Some people like their dead to have the outer covering. Taxidermy. Some only like the outer covering. Fur, leather, sea shells. Rock on you bone hunters. It's a fascinating hobby.

[The Rod]

I usually live in rural areas and I just keep a bone cage somewhere far enough away from any dwellings so the stench and flies don't become a nuisance.

Once the flesh has been taken care of I'll soak smaller bones in 3% peroxide for a couple days to whiten. I haven't found it practical to soak larger bones in peroxide, due to the cost and the fac that the cheapest way to buy it seems to be from Walgreens in lots of smaller bottles. For bigger bones like cow skulls, femurs, hips etc, I'll leave em in the sun for a few months, my roof is covered in jawbones and skulls... If I need larger bones whitened quickly I'll use Clorox, its cheap and while I've seen it soften or dissolve smaller bones for something big it usually isn't an issue.

If you can find owl pellets they are a great source of all sorts of little tiny skulls and bones...

[ygmir]

a lot of pot growers out here buy h2o2 very strong, in bulk, for something.......maybe it'd be cheaper at a farm/garden supply?

[MyDearFriend]

Having actually done the found carcass of a fawn and turned it (well, half of it so far) into art-worthy bones, I advocate the slow method, ie letting nature take its course outdoors until the flesh is gone, then scrubbing & soaking in plain water (changing frequently until the bacteria fail to broth up) then treating it with regular hydrogen peroxide until it looks & smells clean.

It's not quick, but, requires very little investment of time or money and yields a very nice result.

Delle if you have bones I would love to play Bone Farm with you next week.

[Ratty]

I live in Northern Califa. How long can I let a carcass be buried and then dig it up expecting to find bones, skull and anything except a toxic revulsion? I've been watching Oddities. It's gotten me to thinking about all the animals I've buried in my yard. (I've lived here 35 years.) Chihuahuas, Emu, shar pei dog, mutt etc....... People come into a store and say, " Oh, I dug up my dog. Can you make this into something great? I'll give you $3,000". Hey! In MY backyard there are turtles and an emu. Can I make that into something that doesn't stink?

[Drawingablank]

In my experience, stuff buried directly in the ground breaks down very quickly. Seems there are loads of microbes that will break it down into it component atoms. Exposed to the elements works well if you keep an eye on it for a couple weeks.

[ygmir]

well, in my business, during construction on monuments and such, we run across old bones from time to time.......seems to depend on how moist the soil stays, for how long. and what it's composition is.