skull preservation

[second shot]

I was scouting today and found a mountail lion skull. It's starting to deteriorate but is still in good shape. If anyone could tell me what to put on the skull to preserve it I would appreciate it. And I did see one 3x3, I spooked him and tried to chase him down on foot but you can imagine how that turned out.

[25-06]

Second Shot, I'am suprised nobody's replied yet...I don't know about preserven it the right way? But meybe clear apoxie and a paint brush might just do it....By the way what unit did you find it in, and was he vary big, or have any puncture wounds on its skull or any thing that may indicate its cause of death Also I think you have found the ultimate shed or find. Mt. lions like most cats die in very hard to find places....Congrats and thanks for sharing your great find

[More D]

I'd love to see a picture of that!

 

 

 

 

 

[CouesWhitetail]

Second shot,

 

You don't really have to do anything to preserve it, other than keep it out of the sun. If it's already cleaned (no meat or flesh on it), and you keep it out of the sun it will last as long or longer than you do .

 

However, if you want to clean it up a bit, soak it in hydrogren peroxide overnight. You can buy the 3% Hyd. Per. at any drugstore. Cover the whole skull and let it soak. It will whiten it up some. Don't soak it in bleach, bleach will deteriorate the bone.

 

If some of the teeth are loose you can use superglue to put them back in. I tend to spray mine with clear enamel after I clean them, but that's just because it makes them look nice and it makes it easier to dust them off. You can buy a can of spray enamel at any hardware store.

 

There is a website for taxidermy questions that I used quite a bit when I was learning to clean skulls and tan skins and such. It's called Taxidermy.net and is a great forum for finding info on anything related to taxidermy. Here is a link to that site: Taxidermy.net forums

Make sure you search the archives for info before posting a new question there. There is a ton of valuable info in the archives.

 

Amanda

[second shot]

Thanks for the information on preserving the skull, I appreciate it. If I can get a digital camera I will post a picture sometime. As for where I found it; I was in unit 33. The skull is doesn't have any puncture wounds in it. I don't know how to judge of it's a big mountian lion or not but the skull is a little over 7" long and 5 1/2" wide. One of it's canine teeth is broken but the othe one is big enough that I wouldn't want to mess with it. I've seen lion tracks in this area but no live ones yet. thanks again for the info.

[105Coues]

That is an awesome find!! All I usually find are weaner buck antlers. I killed a 160lb. tom in 33 in 94 and its measurements added up to 14 6/8".

[Couesi1]

That's a good find. I'm sure the lion was a deer kill,......you know they'll eat about one lion a week. If I did the math correctly, within a year or so all lions will be wiped out! Maybe the 3X3 you saw was the culprit that killed the lion. They're everywhere!!!!!!! Purchase a deer tag for your next lion hunt cause you never know when you're gonna see a lion killing deer.

c-1

[grizzly]