Yesterday during my hike I stumbled across this beautiful little guy.
I have been SO excited, I’ve never found anything like it before! This is my first full body specimen that i’ve discovered completely on my own. I wasn’t able to take it with me in the moment, but I did drag it down quite a bit before hiding it in a tree and covering the area with rocks and bark to prevent anything else from getting to it.
Today I was finally able to go back up and get it, obviously prepared this time. He’s currently sitting in my backyard, I plan to macerate him for a month and retrieve the bones afterwards.
I am so unbelievably happy to have found something like this!! It’s by far the coolest thing i’ve ever found, and i’m elated to have all the bones. I’ll likely be using them for jewelry and other projects. Very excited to update this haha
Skunk Update I 🦨
This cutie has been macerating for about a month now, and so far this is what i’ve been able to retrieve :) 12 vertebrae, 15 ribs, skull & jaw, and some other miscellaneous remains. At least 3 of his ribs are broken. There is still quite a bit of tissue left to macerate, but for now these bones will be degreasing
Skunk Update II 🦨
⌖ On the left are the bones that have been degreasing, and on the right are the newest ones i’ve retrieved :)
It’s been about two weeks since i’ve started degreasing the first batch of bones. Yesterday, while changing out the water in my maceration bucket, I was able to fish out some more. Some of them weren’t quite ready yet (particularly the paws and some of the spine) but i’m impatient. I spent some time outside removing what flesh and tissue I could from the bone before tossing them into the degreasing pot.
As for maceration, i’m almost completely finished. I estimate that by April i’ll have the full thing degreasing. There’s virtually no fur left – it’s all tissue. (Which i’m very thankful for! It’s a little annoying, having to sift through the fur looking for smaller bones that may have been caught in it.)
I also included a side-by-side comparison of the difference degreasing makes! The degreased bones aren’t completely finished processing, but I thought the difference was notable and interesting. This most recent dump included a lot of the same stuff — ribs, vertebrae — but I also found quite a few claws!
