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Cleaning a Skeleton

General

If you cant clean it immediately triple bag it and keep it in the deep freeze

Use sharp knives Work with surgical gloves (can be bought at any pharmacy) for extra safety

wear a mask as well. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY IF YOU

DONT NOW WHAT THE ANIMAL DIED OF

Dispose of the meat through incineration (ask the local vet they normally

have facilities) THE MEAT MAY NOT BE CONSUMED BY

HUMAN OR ANIMAL AS THE CAUSE OF DEATH MAY

NOT BE KNOWN AND OR THAT THE ANIMAL HAS

BEEN FROZEN FOR A PERIOD OF TIME AND THAWED

WHICH MAKES DISEASE OR INFECTION MORE

LIKELY Keep left and right and front and hind separate in clearly marked bowls

Take care not to nick or cut the bones while preparing the carcass

Bags can be the big (25kg) mielie-meel bags (plastic weave) or strong cotton

bags. Remember these are the bags that the bones will be cooked in so they

need to be strong and let the water through easily. If the bags break you might

loose some bones or mix sides

The drill can be a hand drill or a electric drill (3mm bit) make sure the drill is

not on hammer action.

DONT use jik or vinegar or anything else except what is given to clean the

bones as this could damage the bone structure and make it useless

Thaw completely if frozen

Skin the animal.

Take care not to separate the limbs or the toes from the carcass during

skinning.

Take of most of the meat from the carcass once again taking care not to

separate the limbs or toes.

Lay the carcass on its back with the front and hind limbs splayed.

Separate the front of the carcass from the hind by cutting between the last

thoracic and first lumbar vertebrae. Thus between the last vertebrae that has a

rib attached and the first one that does not.

Separate the head from the neck. Depending on the size of the animal it is

sometimes easy to separate cutting between the second and third cervical

vertebrae (neck vertebrae). This is also an easier cut for someone that does

not have much experience.

Place the head and mandible (lower jaw) in a bowl

If you used the neck cut place the two cervical vertebrae once removed from

the head in the bowl with the rest of the vertebrae

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Separate the front limbs from the rib cage one at a time by separating the

scapula (shoulder blade) from the rib cage. It might be easier to separate the

humerus (upper arm bone) from the scapula (shoulder blade)

Place the left and right front limbs in separate bowls.

Separate the hind limbs from the pelvis by separating the femur (upper legbone) at the joint. This is a difficult as the femur is attached by a strong

tendon.

Place the left and right hind limbs in separate bowls

You should now be left with the ribs, vertebrae and pelvis.

Cut through the cartilage that attaches the ribs to the sternum (breast bone) this

is sometimes easier with scissors

Place the sternum in a separate bowl

Carefully ease the ribs back to separate them from the vertebrae column

Place the ribs in the bowl with the sternum The pelvis is attached to the vertebrae column at the sacrum separate the

pelvis from the sacrum by working the knife between the two bones.

If the two halves of the pelvis separate this is not a problem

Place the pelvis in the bowl with the sternum and ribs

With each limb separate through the joint BUT with smaller animals leave the

lower long bones attached to the wrist and foot bones.

Place each limb into a bag and mark the bags clearly with tags.

Place the bags into a big pot of water with Sodium Perborate (this is not easily

obtained and is not an essential substance). Bring to a boil and keep boiling

for 4 6 hours depending on the size of the animal.

When complete take out of the pot and place the content of each bag into their

respective bowls. BE CAREFUL THE BONES ARE EXTREMELY HOT

AND COULD EASILY GIVE A NASTY BURN

Once all bones are cooked and cooled with your hand remove most of the

meat and tendons that can be seen.

Drill 2 holes in the shaft of the bone near to the head of the bone. Not right

through just into the marrow cavity. Shake out the marrow should come out

easily seeing that it is cooked. Pour in warm water into the bone shaft and

rinse the inside of the bone. This is important to do till the water comes out

clean as you are trying to clean the spongy bone in the heads of each bone to

get the blood, fat and marrow out.

With the skull the brain matter once cooked should fall out as the cooked

marrow does. Rinse the skull cavity as you do the long bones, as there are

blood vessels and fat deposits in the skull bones as well. The sinus cavities

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have to be rinsed through pouring water into the nose and shaking gently

**remember the sinus bones are VERY brittle and can break easily.

Place the bones in their respective bowls in boiling water and yellow or orange

dishwashing liquid. NOT GREEN DISH LIQUID AS THIS COLOUR THE

BONES. You will see a milky substance seeping from the bones this is thefat that is being dissolved by the boiling water and the dish liquid.

Once the water is cool enough to handle start scraping the bones clean (a

scalpel or small knife is the best). You will feel that the bone feels slimy (this

is the bone membrane and cartilage) and once you start scraping you will feel

the non-slimy surface of the bone this is how the bone should feel all over.

Each bone should be cleaned this way. Take special care with the heads of the

bones as this has the greatest concentration of cartilage and membrane. Be

careful not to scrape to deeply and thus damage the bone.

When the bowl you are working on has gone completely cold throw out the

water and refill with fresh boiling water and dish liquid and start on another

bowl. Rotate the water and the bowls you work on until all the bones are

clean. The bones will not get damage if they remain in the water it will also

help to dissolve the fat in the bones. DONT LEAVE THE BONES IN THE

WATER FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME NOT MORE THAN A

WEEK.

Once the bones are clean place them on paper to dry. Still keeping them

separated in left and right front and hind. DO NOT PLACE THEM IN

DIRECT SUNLIGHT OR OUT IN THE OPEN WHERE DOGS ANDINSECTS CAN GET TO THEM.

Depending on the time of year leave the bones to dry for at least a week.

You can place the skeleton still separated in bags. Place the bags in a box

with a block of VAPONA (can be bought at most supermarkets where the

insect repellents are sold). The bones can be stored indefinitely in this way or

until you are ready to reassemble the skeleton.

The bones should be checked at least twice a year for insect infestation or

discoloration due to fat seepage (this should not occur if the above is followedcarefully).

If there is seepage then place the effected bones into boiling water and dish

liquid and brush (soft bristle), scrape and rotate the water until no milky

substance is seen. Dry bones as explained above.