Cleaning a gar head

[Hilltop]

Have a gar head I want to clean for display. I have heard the some taxidermists have bugs or worms that eat the flesh off small animals and fish. Anyone know anyone that does this?

[WarblerWatcher]

Never heard about those taxidermist worms before Hilltop. But seems to me you could just set it up someplace and the maggots would do the same thing, like they do in the wild.

How bout maybe just boiling the meat off?

Shouldn't be too hard to figure out some way to clean it without having to pay someone. But then I could be wrong....again, because I've never cleaned anything like that before.

[CP]

Hilltop, I was told that to de-meat a game head you could put it in a large fire ant bed and they would do the job for you...I can't confirm this...

Here is a link on how to clean a deer head for a skull mount...might work on fish heads.

http://www.southernvisuals.com/LeBouf/european_deer_skull_mount.htm

[Tony Harris]

I "accidently" killed a copperhead down at deer camp and threw it on a fire ant mound because I had heard the same thing. That was early on Friday and by Saturday afternoon there was no meat left. Nothing but a rib cage and head. Might be worth a try.

[rjet]

fire ant bed will work, just cage it somehow so some other critter doesnt run off with it. For deer heads I usually boil them and the meat will come right off. Add a little bleach to the water and will whiten it up real nice. Sure it would work for a gar head also.

[lil e fan]

what you heard about the bugs that taxidermist use is true. They buy them and it takes them so long to adjust to their enviroment then they put the head in there and the bugs do their job. I heard this from the taxidermist thats mounting a deer for me. Also heard the bugs secret some kind of liquid during this that leaves the head kinda shiny.

[ARMallardSlayer]

That's a new one on me........

[Rattle-m-up™]

could you do a drum head the same way? graemlins/thumb.gif

[CP]

Dermestid Beetle...."Bugs 'R Us

http://www.geocities.com/bugsrus12000/BugsRUs.html