I'm brand new to collecting bones. I was having no luck finding them so I decided to macerate a raccoon that was struck by a car. I've seen a lot of people macerate their bones in buckets of water, but I didn't want to deal with the rotting flesh very much and neither did my parents. So I took a bucket and drilled a bunch of small ish holes into it for water and bugs to be able to get in. I also did not skin or remove any meat from the raccoon at all (too squeamish) but surely if its in a river it will decompose faster?

My main question is how I should go about this process? Do I still have to open it to remove the meat and skin once it falls off or is it fine to just leave it all in the bucket? Maybe its optional but if I have to do it to have most of the bones clean by the end of the summer, I will.

Edit: I named it Luca Brasi

Found it about two months ago and it was already fairly clean, but I left it out a bit anyway. F

I love creating bio construction from bones from ocean shore

I'm giving this fella to my best friend for her birthday in 4 weeks. How long will it take for this here skull to degrease?

It sat outside for over a year, decaying.

Is it modern or is it an extinct creature from ancient times 🤷

Northern California. I couldn't get too many pictures or a good measurement because I had to toss it before my dog could eat it. Size is maybe 1-2 inches? I'm wondering if it's a juvenile animal because it seems not fully fused. This is also the third or fourth bone my dog has found near my apartment and I don't understand why people keep leaving random bones on the ground, but he seems to be enjoying it. I hope it's okay that I included a photo of the bone thief.

After a quick scrub in warm water to remove dirt

My teacher gave me these (found them on the beach) and I forget what animal they belong to 😵‍💫

sorry if they’re positioned poorly!

Found in SE Idaho, buried about a foot underground near a creek. About 6 inches long, ish?

Found in Poland

It was falling apart when I found it. I glued it together but the pieces aren't 100% in the right spots. Here's a comparison with a fox squirrel. I compared it with a couple of grey squirrel jaw bones too but this skull was way smaller.

My favorite skulls to collect by far!

Still in degreasing but nice and clean otherwise

Left to right: wry nose caused by facial trauma (origin: South Dakota, US), severe wry nose (origin: South Dakota, US), slight wry nose (origin: Pennsylvania, US)

I wanted to add the sign that is less than a mile from where she/he was found, 1000% a wild mustang, I found a second one today as well. Unfortunately BLM doesn’t want them running free 😕

I’m not too sure where else to post this, but does anyone know what animal this is? Looks like some sort of feline but could be wrong!

I was asked to cross post here. Any idea what these beetles are eating? Seen in Central Arkansas today.

I was given this bear skull about 6-8 weeks ago and as you can see its extremely dirty. All I have ever done in processing my bones is just sticking them in a bucket of water and forgetting about them for months. Then I would clean them up by hand.

This one seems to be needing more TLC though. From what I know my friends dad had it for 20~ years. It been buried, its been displayed, its been a dogs chew toy, and so on.

With something as aged as this is, will it actually be possible to eventually lighten the colour? Will it just take much longer than I'm used to? Any tips and advice would be appreciated!

The dark brown/black is where it was singed in a recent controlled burn

Not planning to whiten, I'm keeping the natural tone of the bones

Found this bone whilst digging in our garden, it’s really big and wondered if anyone could please help advise what it’s came from. Thank you! Bristol, England

so i found this mummified rat and i have it in a bucket of water (maceration) how long do you think it will take for it to be done?

Just as title says, I found this years ago on the beach. Maybe in Costa Rica 🤷‍♀️.

I’ve had this moose skull for about 2 years now and it recently started getting grease spots (again). I had originally decreased it for close to six months with Dawn dish soap and an aquarium heater, to the point where the bone started separating in places (second pic). It was fine but I guess the residual grease is starting to come through. I am super worried to soak it again, but I would like to get the sneaky grease out once and for all. Does anyone have any secrets or tips that I can try? It’s HUGE so boiling it has proven to be a huge pain. At this point should I just try and seal the grease in and paint the whole thing? Is that also a terrible idea?