Turkey skull..

[wooly]

Decided to give a turkey euro a try today.

I didn't realize how many nuts and bolts were in one of these things.

Fortunately I took LOTS of reference photos had some spare parts laying around in the bone pile just in case.

 I had to swap a few out that must have got misplaced or broken during the shootout.

Still gotta add some finishing touches to it (nasal bones), but it's done for the most part. Most likely paint this one white.

 

I'm not crazy about the look of bird skulls, but it was a fun/relaxing little project, and sure beat the heck out of mowing the grass......, again!

 

 

 

[Ford]

Why not? Looks good to me. Nice man cave/ shed/ camp hanger.

[G-Man]

glad someone has time to relax and do cool things...lol

[ny hunter]

Thats pretty cool...

[letinmfly]

You're a patient man my friend!! lol

[sidewinder]

very nice. job well done.

 

[Terry]

Cool Wooly! I have the head from my tom in the freezer so that I can do the same thing. Any tips?

[wooly]

Thanks guys!

 

Cool Wooly! I have the head from my tom in the freezer so that I can do the same thing. Any tips?

 

Sure... unplug your freezer and prop the door open so the bugs can get to work,lol

 

Seriously, there wasn't much too it once the maggots and beetles cleaned everything up for me. Take plenty of pics before you dis-assemble the skull, and be very gentle with the delicate nasal bones inside the beak. Not that all will be lost if you break one.... I put everything back together with super glue anyhow, so a broken bone ain't no big deal.

After I got everything picked and scraped off the bones, I gave them a bath in a tub of bleach for a few minutes then pulled them out to dry and whiten. Then I just put it all back together and gave it a paint job. I did a little reading up on the process before hand and heard it's best to degrease/whiten with acetone, but that was a bunch of taxidermists suggesting that.

In "my studio", everything gets bleached and I never argue with the guy doing my work(me),lol

 

Got the rest of the bones added to the inside today to get rid of that hollow skull look, and broke out the Rustoleum!

Another masterpiece to my most important customer(me)!

 

 

 

 

[Terry]

I was going to boil mine, I don't have beetles. For pics, I probably will use yours, lol

[wooly]

I was going to boil mine, I don't have beetles. For pics, I probably will use yours, lol

 

I can't say for sure because I never tried it, but that might be really tricky. Most of the bones in these things are extremely brittle. Go slow if you go that route.

I'd be afraid to try one that way now that I got one under my belt this way.

 

Besides, everybody has beetles even if you're like me and don't own your own beetle colony.

I didn't pull this off under ideal laboratory conditions. Heck, I just chucked the carcass in the woods where the furry critters wouldn't get to it and waited for the bugs to break this thing down naturally for me. I checked it every couple days, and kept the head on a flat rock so the bones wouldn't get lost in the leaf littler once the flesh decomposed.

 

First the flys showed up and within a day the carcass was crawling with maggots.

Then the Carrion Beetles arrived to get their slice of the pie.

 

 

The mites on the Carrion's back are opportunistic parasites that just hitch a ride to the carcass. They don't eat the meat. Instead they are just there to eat the maggots and fly larva. That leaves more grub for the beetles, so it's a win/win for everone except the maggots,lol

The Carrion Beetle larva are beginning to hatch now and those little guys are finishing off the leftovers.

 

I'm not sure yet if I have the right I.D. on these guys, but they show up around the same time. I think they might be called 'brown and gold rove beetles', but I'm not sure yet. All these naturally occurring little buggers are out there waiting for us to feed them in very abundant numbers. You don't even need to go looking for them.... they'll find you as long as you supply the lunch!

 

Edited June 16, 2014 by wooly

[Elmo]

That's pretty awesome.  Great pictures too.

[Terry]

Thanks Wooly for the info. Seems I better change my game plan. How long did it take for the bugs to clean it?

Edited June 16, 2014 by Terry

[wooly]

It took about 1 1/2- 2 weeks.

They cleaned the rest of the carcass before they got to work on the head.

[Pygmy]

Wooly, you never cease to amaze me...<<grin>>..

 

A female friend of mine, who happens to be a veterinarian, has a hobby of collecting skulls.

 

I don't believe that SHE even has a turkey skull, and she's a very successful turkey hunter, with a couple of world slams to her credit.

 

However, she also wears shorts and her legs are much prettier than yours.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Pygmy

[Elmo]

Wooly, you never cease to amaze me...<<grin>>..

 

A female friend of mine, who happens to be a veterinarian, has a hobby of collecting skulls.

 

I don't believe that SHE even has a turkey skull, and she's a very successful turkey hunter, with a couple of world slams to her credit.

 

However, she also wears shorts and her legs are much prettier than yours.

 

Have you seen Wooly's legs?  You never know, maybe his legs aren't anything to scuff at.

[wooly]

A female friend of mine, who happens to be a veterinarian, has a hobby of collecting skulls.

 

I dated a skull collector gal like that once.

It was nice...., every now and then she'd give me a little head,lol

[NFA-ADK]

LOL  good one!  Very nice!

[chiefbkt]

Nice project that turned out pretty sweet.  Great job Wooly!

[beachpeaz]

way cool.

 

 

[Paula]

Bad

 

[wooly]

Bad

[josephmrtn]

super cool

Edited June 18, 2014 by josephmrtn

[Pygmy]

I dated a skull collector gal like that once.

It was nice...., every now and then she'd give me a little head,lol

 

Now that's FUNNY right there..

 

That's the funniest post since Elmer's " HITLER" thread...

[ny hunter]

TOO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!

[landtracdeerhunter]

Sure looks good wooly. Wouldn't it be cool to do the whole body!