Do you simmer or boil a skull? Do you do it for money? 

If so you need to understand  why most professional taxidermists, almost every museum, other institutions  and most serious hobbyists do not use this method.

There are many people that do their own euro trophies and the vast majority do them by the simmer/boil method. This process may work well enough to make the skull owner happy, but there should be a higher standard for anyone producing Euros for clients.

These people should educate themselves on actually making a professional mount that has as little bone damage as possible. The problem with the simmer/boil method is it actually destroys the structure of bone by melting collagen which is the structural building block that makes bone hard.  This process will weaken skulls and cause the surface to become rough, flake or shed calcium dust, none of which is a good thing..

Add to the fact these people do not seem to know that bleaching a skull does not remove any grease and the heat process tends to drive fats deeper into the bone not out of it.

Mixing Dawn into water and simmering may remove the surface grease but it will not touch the deep grease. Oils left in the skull often migrates to the surface  producing a yellow or splotchy colored mount.

If you are doing skulls professionally you should provide a quality product and that takes time...there is no such thing as a one day quality Euro mount. There is information available in doing Euros that will stay white and not show damage and it is not hard to find!

One other point I want to make - just because you see something on U-Tube does not make it right. Especially when the do-er has no idea what is being done to their trophy.

Because it looks OK now and it is cheap is no reason to destroy what could be a skull of a lifetime!

SKULL CLEANING WITH DERMESTID BEETLES

Flesh eating beetles are a great way to clean skulls and bones.

A moderately large colony of dermestids can clean a deer or bear skull in just a few days. Every bit of tissue inside and out will be consumed by the hungry larvae. There is no spot to small to clean as the newly hatched larvae utilize these areas that the bigger ones cannot push into. Nature provides a place at the table for every size class of these insects. 

The larvae will clean the inside of the skull and the nasel cavity leaving the delicate nasel bones intact.

After just a few days your skull will look totally different from what you placed into that box. It is by no means a finished item but with a little more time and work it will be a work of art.

There are thousands of people who raise dermestid beetles. For many it is a hobby, they collect skulls or some even make art and jewelry from bones. Others clean skulls as a business. These people take a hunters's trophy and turn it into memories. 

A well done European style mount is a beautiful piece of nature.