As luck would have it, shortly after getting my first deer I also trapped my first coyote that same fall. My father asked if I’d like to have the coyote’s skull as a souvenir, and suggested that I clean it by sticking it in the ant hills near our house. When I returned only two weeks later I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – the coyote’s skull was nearly all cleaned, but sort of yellow. Fascinated by the fact that ants could practically clean a coyote’s skull to the bone captivated my attention for years to come. I had found a new hobby and enthusiastically pursued it.

Over the next 20 years I began experimenting with the two different methods I had heard about for cleaning skulls and skeletons: boiling and maceration. Through trial and error it became clear that while both methods were relatively easy, each process requires a lot of attention. Although most people will boil a skull until the meat literally falls off, the melted fat from the boiling soaks into the bone, causing discoloration and results in a greasy yellow skull. Maceration utilizes bacteria that is already present to digest the animal’s flesh from the bone. Even though the both boiling and maceration processes work, neither method ever really gets a skull/skeleton either fully clean, or to an acceptable bone white color.

In my youth, as my passion for hunting grew so did the intensity of my desire to find the perfect method to clean my trophies to a dazzling white bone finish. So, in the mid-1980’s, I launched my hobby into a small business in my mom’s garage, and continued to search for the best way to clean osteological specimens. By the mid-1990’s, I learned about what I believe is the best method for cleaning skulls and skeletons, which is using Dermestid, or carrion, beetles. Dermestid beetles have proven to be the most efficient and best cleaners of skulls and skeletons. Dermestid beetles are fascinating creatures and are the insects in nature that clean animal carcasses. These beetles are scavengers that feed on a wide variety of organic matter, such as head mounts, stuffed birds, tanned hides, clothing, or any other material in nature. The advantages of using Dermestid beetles are many while the drawbacks are few.

The process of cleaning osteological specimens is a demanding one that requires time, care, and attention, to produce a beautiful white finish. A simplistic description of our proprietary cleaning process includes the following steps:

First we scrap away all the skin and tissue on the skull/skeleton, including the brains, eyes, etc. Next, after all the meat has been removed by hand from the skull/skeletion it must then be cleaned by the dermestid beetles. During the cleaning process, the dermestid larvae will clean off any and all remaining flesh from the bones

Because all skull/skeletons have a tremendous amount of oily matter and natural grease, after the dermestid beetles are done, the skulls/skeletons must be degreased. The degreasing process is necessary to make sure all the fatty and greasy matter has been removed. Degreasing the skulls is the most difficult – but very important – part of the cleaning process, and takes the longest period of time. Usually, degreasing a skull/skeleton can take up to a month or more to get it completely cleaned, but it also depends upon the size of the specimen.

The osteological specimen is now ready for whitening, and our proprietary solution is applied to the skull/skeleton, which produces a beautiful, bone white product (see picture). The final step to producing a museum quality skull/skeleton is to preserve the specimen by sealing it with a protective finish.

Since formally launching Skulptures in 1991, we have worked hard to perfect our proprietary cleaning process that today offers hunters and outdoor enthusiasts alike the opportunity to have their trophies cleaned to museum quality standards. Each year we clean hundreds of skulls and skeletons for customers throughout the U.S. and Canada that include hunters, taxidermists, collectors, museums, and zoos.

After nearly 30 years of hunting and trapping I still can’t sleep the night before opening day of deer season. I believe that for true hunters the anticipation and excitement never goes away. So cleaning the deer, bear, or elk trophies of my friends and fellow hunters is very satisfying because I know how much enjoyment they will get from having their cleaned trophies proudly displayed in their home or office.

Scott Sahlstrom / President