At your request, Podorov’s taxidermy workshop will produce various trophy craft products from boar tusks. A large assortment, high quality, aesthetics appearance – distinctive features our works of taxidermy art.

Boar - animal symbolism

The wild boar has long been considered a powerful symbolic animal. He has strength, pressure, intelligence, cunning, perseverance. Another name for wild boar is boar. Not every hunter was ready to take on him alone, and only the most courageous, dexterous, and successful were able to defeat such a powerful enemy. Since then, the boar has been considered a symbol military valor. It is also a sign of perseverance in achieving a goal. All these meanings are carried by amulets made from boar tusks.

Quality plus attractiveness

Products made from boar tusks can become interior decorations and a nice gift for both men and women. We will design the craft according to your wishes. This can be either a client’s hunting trophy or a product made from raw materials that we select ourselves. We pay attention to raw materials great attention, we take the highest quality. Today it is not a problem to buy plastic imitation of fangs, animal claws, or “homemade” - real teeth, claws, filled with resin or varnish. However, such inexpensive trinkets are not durable. We use it in the manufacture of products modern technologies. The raw materials are carefully processed and high-quality materials are used.

Range of offers

In addition to the durability and attractiveness of the trophy, we seriously work on the design. In this regard, boar tusks are very convenient and profitable: they can be used to make great amount various products.

Thus, we offer boar tusks in the form of:

• amulet - the fang is placed in a frame equipped with a loop for a chain or cord; can be used as a pendant, neck pendant, keychain or other suitable quality;
• wall decoration - a pair or two pairs of animal fangs are used, this is especially suitable for immortalizing hunting trophies; a wooden or plastic medallion base is made, onto which the fangs themselves are attached, and decorated with appropriate decor.

We decorate products depending on their purpose. Thus, a wall decoration made from fangs will differ depending on the interior in some details that help the product fit more successfully into a particular style of the room. And the design of the amulet is chosen taking into account whether it is made for a man or a woman, the age of the future owner, and in what capacity it will be used. Silver, plastic, wood, leather and other materials can make completely different interesting jewelry from the same blank.

Good to know: Sometimes clients want to order the largest canines possible, believing that they carry the most powerful energy seasoned beast. And simply according to the principle, more means better. In fact, it is worth knowing that boar tusks of 20-22 cm with a width of approximately 25 mm are ideal for trophies. They are characteristic of boars 4-5 years old. Of course, with age, fangs still grow, but broken or worn-down elements are often found. If you need miniature, elegant, sharp fangs, for example, for feminine decoration, then these correspond to the age of a two-year-old pig.

It is important not only to make a high-quality product, which Podorov’s workshop guarantees, but also to store it correctly. Sudden changes in temperature, mechanical damage, excessive humidity, and for wall decorations - direct contact with sun rays. It is necessary to remove dirt and grease in a timely manner without using strong chemicals.
If handled correctly, our taxidermy product will delight its owners for a long time.

Kaliningrad hunting club

Boar tusks - a valuable trophy

At the IV All-Union Hunting Exhibition in 1985, first and second places with a score of 148.85 and 143.40 points were taken by wild boar tusks from the Vitebsk region. Vitebsk hunters have other wonderful trophies: at the World Exhibition in Plovdiv (1981), the fangs exhibited by hunter I. A. Shipulo were valued at 136.00 points; hunter I.F. Luzgin is the owner of the trophy with 129.90 points.

Most obvious reason The best trophy quality of wild boar in the Vitebsk region is the selectivity of the hunting method existing here. In the region, as in Belarus generally, there are practically no individual wild boar hunts; licenses are issued only to teams of hunters. During collective hunts, hunters prefer to go around the herd of wild boars, and then drive it out to a chain of shooters with the help of beaters with dogs, that is, conduct a round-up. The usual result of such hunts is young-of-the-year piglets and pigs attached to the herd. Choppers aged one and a half years and older, leading, as a rule, single image life, even if they find themselves in a salary, they are well oriented in the environment by sounds and smells. They are not afraid of the noise of the corral and the barking of dogs, they often hide and leave the enclosure unnoticed, and when raised, they leave unharmed through the flanks or a rare chain of beaters. As a result, the wild boar population has had a high proportion of old loppers for many years.

Other possible reason- traditions of caring attitude of Vitebsk hunters to feeding wild boar in winter. Even on the farms of the Belarusian Society of Hunters and Fishers, which are run on a voluntary basis, feeding areas where up to 40 wild boars gather are not uncommon. Feeding is carried out in an exemplary manner in farms with a ranger service. And the feeding conditions in the first two years of the animal’s life, according to the most authoritative expert on wild boar Professor from the GDR L. Briedermann (Briedermann, 1986), provide big influence on the development of fangs. Good trophies cannot be expected from piglets that are retarded in development due to poor feed harvest and harsh wintering conditions. There is another reason - low standards for wild boar production in the republic. The influence of good hereditary inclinations of the wild boar population in the north of the republic - the Belarusian Lake District - cannot be ruled out.

The size of the fangs depends primarily on the age of the animal. The prevailing opinion among hunters that the size of the tusks does not depend on the weight of the boar is apparently explained by the fact that the loppers participating in the rut lose a lot of weight. Of course, individual variability also matters. Already in a one-and-a-half-year-old pig, 3.5-4.0-centimeter fangs protrude from the lower jaw. Their width when emerging from the gums is about 14 mm, at the base about 21 mm. This unevenness in width is hallmark youth of the beast. Boars at the age of 2.5 years are the most dangerous for dogs; they are light (75 kg), fast animals, their fangs are sharply sharpened and protrude by 5-6 cm. However, only the tusks of a wild boar at the age of 4-5 years are of trophy value; they protrude a little more (6-7 cm) with a total length of about 21 cm, but their width evens out and is 24-26 mm. The fangs reach full development in cleavers at 7-8 years of age; their length is usually 21-23 cm, width - 28-29 mm.

Later, the tops of the fangs become less sharp and often break off. The development of fangs stops, and the length may even decrease due to wear. Such animals do not participate in the rut, their meat does not have a specific smell, and they are well nourished.

However, for the most part, our hunters do not know how to correctly remove boar tusks from the jaw or preserve them. It is a shame to see damaged fangs, which, if properly processed, could decorate any exhibition. Every boar hunter should know for sure that only a third of the lower canines are visible from the outside, and two-thirds are in the jaw. Attempts to cut out fangs with an ax, in which their lower ends are broken, are by no means uncommon. Most common cause The death of trophies is their cracking.

Processing of tusks consists of the following: the skin is removed from the boar's head, the tongue and the largest muscles are separated. Although the ends of the canines of the lower jaw are located at the level of the fourth premolar tooth, it is recommended that sawing be carried out behind the last molar. Of course, the lower jaw can be boiled whole, if the dishes allow it. There are no mistakes when sawing off the upper jaw; it is enough to step back 2-3 cm beyond the characteristic, highly developed ridge of the alveolus of the upper canines, which corresponds to the level of the third premolar tooth. Regular tool for this operation - a hacksaw.

Sawed-off jaws are placed in cold water and boiled for about an hour, from old animals - longer, then the water is allowed to cool. The fangs of old cleavers are extracted (pulled out) easily, but in young ones, due to the mentioned unevenness in width, they can be extracted only by sawing off the lower jaw at the level of the fourth premolar tooth and pushing them in the opposite direction.

From the extracted fangs, a thin adhesive layer of soft tissue is carefully removed with a blunt scraper, and the pulp is removed from the cavity using tweezers or a wire hook. The fangs are wiped and left to dry in a cool room. Here comes the most dangerous moment: in a village house later, and in a city apartment, where the air is very dry in winter, longitudinal cracks may appear on the fangs already on the third day, and then entire pieces often fall off.

Therefore, it is advisable to fill the fangs no later than 24 hours after drying. In the hunting literature there are recommendations to fill the fangs with paraffin, wax (M. Kulich, 1980), and rub them with paraffin (I. Roskopf, 1977). However, with sudden changes in air temperature, especially during winter transportation of trophies to exhibitions, and with very dry air, paraffin does not protect fangs from cracking. Filling fangs in several layers with BF glue is equally ineffective.

The most reliable product is a two-component epoxy-based casting composition (E. House, V. Vernits, 1975; M. Kulich, 1980; A. A. Fandeev, V. P. Nikolskaya, 1983).

Before filling, the internal cavities of the fangs must be degreased with gasoline, alcohol, ether, and acetone. The resin consumption for filling all four fangs is about 40 ml (the capacity of one lower fang is 9-12 cm 3, the capacity of the upper fang is about 4 cm 3). Before the resin hardens, it is recommended to insert a piece of copper wire into the cavity of the fangs, with which the fangs will be attached to the stand. You need to wear rubber gloves when working with the hardener. The fumes generated when mixing resin and hardener are undesirable for people prone to allergic diseases.

Unfortunately, filling does not protect the enamel along the outer edge of the lower fangs from destruction; the enamel on the upper fangs also crumbles. Realizing that covering trophies with varnish or glue spoils them appearance, in this case, for the sake of preserving the trophy, we would recommend applying two layers of colorless PVA glue, produced by p/o Azot, to the surface susceptible to destruction. A.A. Fandeev and V.P. Nikolskaya (1983) advise covering the fangs with a thin layer of colorless synthetic varnish. L. Briderman (1986) advises soaking the outer surface of the fangs with a fatty composition to avoid drying out. But you need to know that all efforts to treat fangs will be in vain if you store them near heating devices.

It is not recommended to bleach fangs in hydrogen peroxide; it is advisable to leave a dark strip decorating them on the fangs just below the polishing. Bursted fangs should not be thrown away; they can still be saved by applying Moment glue and bandaging tightly with insulating tape, followed by filling.

The rules for evaluating boar tusks are the simplest in comparison with other trophies and are accessible to every hunter.

The length of the lower canines is measured to the nearest 1 mm from the base to the tip along the outer edge using a tape measure, the average value in centimeters serves as a score.

The width of the lower canines is measured to the nearest 0.1 mm using a caliper at the widest point; the average value in mm multiplied by a factor of 3 serves as the score.

The circumference of the upper canines is measured at the widest point with a narrow tape, the sum of the values ​​​​of both canines in centimeters serves as a score.

A markup of up to five points is given for the symmetry of the fangs, the curl of the upper fangs, and the presence of a dark stripe at the polishing. A discount is given for asymmetry of fangs and other shortcomings.

A bronze medal is awarded to canines that score from 110 to 114.9 points, a silver medal - from 115 to 119.9, and a gold medal - from 120 points and above.

As an example, we give the price of fangs that took first place at the All-Union Hunting Exhibition in 1985. Thus, the main thing when assessing canines is their width. If we look at exhibition catalogues, we will notice that the most common widths of fangs rated “for bronze” are 24-25 mm, “for silver” - 26-27 mm, “for gold” - 28-29 mm.

Index	Size	Sum	Average value	Coefficient	Point
Length of lower canines
left	27,5	54,7	27,35	1	27,35
right	27,2
Width of lower canines
left	33,0	67,0	33,5	3	100,5
right	34,0
Upper canine circumference
left	9,0	18,0		1	18,0
right	9,0
Surcharge					3,0
Discount					-
Final Score					148,85

The fangs are usually placed on round stands of commensurate size, painted with dark brown stain; against this background the fangs stand out well.

Boar tusks are one of the best hunting trophies! A boar hunting- this is definitely a dangerous activity with a lot of thrills, adrenaline in the blood, and, possibly, piercing wounds for the dog, which often falls under the sharp fangs of the cleaver. In this article we will talk about one of the best trophies of a hunter, how to correctly remove boar tusks, how and with what to process them to preserve them for a long time. long years and how to avoid cracking and deterioration of fangs.

To begin with, it is worth saying that the best fangs for a trophy are considered to be fangs 20-23 cm long and a uniform width of about 25 mm. Choppers at the age of 4-5 years have such fangs. In old boars, 6-8 years old, the tusks can reach 25 cm in length and 30 mm. in width. But in boars over seven years old, very often (compared to younger individuals) the fangs are broken off or ground down by several millimeters. A piglet at the age of one year already has small fangs about 2 cm long. And already at the age of 1.5 years they can reach 4 cm. After another year, the fangs protrude by 5 cm or more. At this time they become razor sharp.

If you have not yet removed tusks from a boar’s skull, then it is better to ask a more experienced hunter to help you the first time. If this is not possible, then use the recommendations below, and you will succeed!

First of all, we remove the skin from the boar’s head, cut out all the muscles in the jaw area and the tongue. After this we will need a hacksaw for metal. But we will not be sawing off fangs, but jaws. The lower jaw of the cleaver is sawed off at a distance of 10-15 cm from the fangs, the upper jaw - at a distance of 5-8 cm. The sawing should be parallel to the growth of the fangs.

After we have extracted the jaw, it must be boiled. Pour cold water into some container (bucket or pan) and place it there. boar jaw and simmer over low heat. You need to boil until the tusks can be freely removed from the boar’s jaw. This is usually achieved by boiling for just over an hour. Then you need to wait for the water to cool and remove the fangs. After extracting the fangs, they must be freed from the soft tissue adjacent to the fang using hard tissue. Then the internal soft tissues of the tooth (pulp) are removed. Ordinary tweezers will help us with this, or, if this “tool” is not available, then ordinary wire. The fangs are wiped with a soft cloth inside and out. Some hunters wipe their fangs with a rag soaked in alcohol. Dry the fangs for no more than a day, since due to a sharp change in temperature they crack and fall apart. After drying, the fangs are poured.

Important!!! Before filling, the fangs must be degreased with gasoline or alcohol.

Some hunters use wax or paraffin for filling. But these materials are suitable for filling fangs that will be constantly in one temperature conditions. If the temperature changes, sooner or later they will crack. The most reasonable solution would be to fill the boar's tusks with epoxy resin. After pouring, until the resin hardens, it is recommended to insert a wire into the fangs (with its help we will attach the trophy to the stand board). But filling only protects the fangs from cracking, and it cannot prevent the destruction of the enamel. To preserve the enamel, boar tusks are coated with two layers of colorless varnish or colorless glue. Treating fangs with fat can also prevent enamel destruction.

The choice of place where the trophy will be stored is also important. There is no need to hang it in the kitchen, where there is constant heat from the stove, near heating appliances and wherever it gets sunlight. In short, avoid high temperatures! Good luck on your hunt and great trophies!

Boar tusk processing

To extract the tusks of a boar, a part of the animal’s muzzle is sawed off between the eyes and the tusks, as shown in Figure 69. This piece of the muzzle must be at least three and a half times longer than the visible part of the lower tusks. The sawn-off part is placed in a cauldron with cold water so that it completely disappears under water. The water is brought to a boil and simmered over low heat for 2–3 hours. After cooking, the jaws with fangs are removed from the cauldron and, without allowing them to cool, the fangs are removed. To avoid getting burns, use mittens or rags. The upper fangs are usually removed easily, but to remove the lower ones, they need to be pulled forward 3–5 cm, and then carefully open the jaw bones from the back so that the fangs come out freely. Then the fangs are placed in a cauldron of hot, oily water until it cools. They should not be left without water and should not be washed with cold water. The fang, cooling in oily water, becomes saturated with fat and acquires a protective layer. After cooling, the nerves are removed from the fangs and wiped inner surface cotton wool, dry in a damp and warm place to avoid cracking.

Rice. 69. Extracting boar tusks

After drying, the fangs are degreased with gasoline. Inner part It is recommended to fill the fangs with BF glue (any) and, holding it inside for 5–10 s, pour it out, repeating this two or three times at intervals of 30 minutes. Before this, the glue is heated in a container with warm water so that it pours out more easily. Instead of BF glue, the inside of the fangs can be filled with epoxy resin of the following composition: 80 parts filler and 20 hardener. Instead of glue, the cavities of the fangs can be filled with tweezers with cotton wool soaked in epoxy resin; after 12 hours the glue hardens, giving them greater strength.

To prevent fangs from deteriorating due to changes in humidity, they can be coated with a thin layer of colorless synthetic varnish. Fangs cannot be bleached.

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It is very important to properly skin a dead animal. The appearance of the trophy and its assessment depend on this. When skinning, the killed animal is laid on its back and, having pulled back the skin on the belly (near the anus), it is cut through sharp knife. The incision is made along midline belly from the anus to the angle of the lower jaw (to the chin), as well as along the underside of the tail to its end. The knife is inserted under the skin with the tip upward; in this position there is less risk of cutting through the muscular wall of the abdomen. On the front legs, skin incisions are made from the soles along the inner sides to the chest, and on the hind legs - from the soles on the inner sides to the anus, going around it with an incision in front as close as possible (Fig. 66).

Rice. 66. Cuts for skinning

Then the skin is separated from the hind legs to the claws. After this, the terminal phalanges of the fingers are cut so that only the claws remain with the skin (Fig. 67). To make it easier to photograph the skins of small animals (cats, lynx, wolves, etc.), they are hung by their hind legs. Skinning is carried out from the forelimbs in the same way as from the hind limbs.

Rice. 67. Processing the paws of predators

You must remove the skin from the head very carefully so as not to cut through the skin around the ears and eyes. Having reached the ears and exposing their bases, they cut off the ear cartilage near the skull and leave them with the skin. In the eye area, the skin is cut as close as possible to the bones of the skull and the eyeball, so as not to damage the eyelids. When skinning, the animal's mouth is opened and cuts are made along the edge of the mouth from the inside near the teeth, leaving the lips attached to the skin (Fig. 68). After the skin is separated from the carcass, the ear cartilage is removed so that the ear does not lose its shape as it dries. Separating ear skin from cartilage is a difficult operation. Cartilage fuses especially tightly with the skin on inside ear. Great care is needed here to avoid cutting or tearing the skin.

Rice. 68. Cuts along the edge of the mouth

To protect against spoilage, the removed skin is cleaned of meat and fat and covered with a thick layer of salt. For the skin of a lynx and wolf they spend 2–2.5 kg, for the skin of a bear - 5–6 kg. Having rubbed well with salt, the skin is left unfolded for several hours, and then rolled up with the flesh inward, hair outward, tied with rope and stored for 2–3 days. Then the salt is shaken off and the skin is hung in the shade to dry for 2–3 hours.

For long-term storage After drying, the skin is once again cleaned of any remaining meat and fat, salted a second time and dried. If diaper rash appears on the skin, wipe it off acetic acid.

Only tanned skins are presented at hunting trophy exhibitions. There are many methods of dressing, but we will not recommend them here, since dressing skins at home requires not only knowledge, but also a lot of practical skill.

If the skin of a bear, wolf, lynx or other predatory animal has a high score, the local hunting and fishing society can help practical help in organizing its production at the relevant plants. In exceptional cases, the board of the Russian Hunting and Fishing Union can help.

If, after dressing and complete drying, there are unevenness on the skin or it is dry, then use sandpaper to clean off all the unevenness, and then place the skin on a short time into wet sawdust. Having spread it on the boards with the fur down, pulling it slightly in width and length, straighten the paws, head and nail it along the edges with nails; then they are dried and the edges, perforated with cloves, are carefully trimmed (carefully at an angle, without touching the fur). The fur is combed with a brush. To dry, bear skins can be stretched on a frame made of poles or thick slats.

The finished skin is hemmed with cloth (preferably green) completely and only along the edges of the outline. The edges of the cloth are cut with teeth or other patterns. Then, in accordance with the contour, a linen or other lining is cut out and hemmed to the cloth with reverse side skins. Between the skin and the lining, it is good to lay batting in the shape of the skin. Metal rings are sewn to the head, tail, and paws at a distance of 30–50 cm from each other to attach the carpet to the wall. You can make a carpet from the skin with a head and an open mouth. However, this work requires a lot of knowledge and experience. If desired, the production of such a carpet can be ordered from a taxidermy workshop.

The next main task of the owner of the trophy is to preserve it so that neither moths nor skin beetles damage the skin. To do this, you need to keep an eye on the skin, shake it off periodically, and dry it in the sun.

The quality of trophies, preservation, and good display appearance largely depend on their processing and presentation. Great importance At national and international exhibitions and competitions, the design of the trophy is attached. Before starting to directly process the hunting trophy, the hunter must take care of it at the hunting site, since very often damage to trophies occurs during their transportation. If the animal carcass cannot be delivered with the trophy without damaging it, then it is best to separate the trophy from the carcass. Usually the skull is separated from the neck after the skin has been removed. In this case, special attention is paid to maintaining the integrity of the occipital parts of the skull. The head of an elk, deer, or roe deer is cut off along a line coinciding with the angle of the jaw bone. To do this, the head is pulled back and the neck muscles around the head are cut at the level of the movable joint of the skull and the first cervical vertebra, then the joint membrane is cut with the end of a knife and the head is separated from the cervical vertebra with a strong jerk. When transporting a boar, the head does not need to be separated from the carcass, but to prevent damage to the tusks, the jaws are tightly tied with a piece of hay placed between them, and the tusks are wrapped in paper.

Proper processing and design make it possible to identify the main advantages of trophies and draw the viewer’s attention to them. Processing and design are not very difficult and are accessible to everyone, but they require great care and attention. Processing and design of trophies consists of next operations: cleaning the skull, boiling, filing, degreasing and bleaching, choosing a stand and installation.

To process hunting trophies, you must have two sharp knives - one with a long blade, the other with a short one; tweezers, scalpel and scraper for removing the brain. The scraper is made of steel in the form of a spoon, 2x2.5 cm in size and 15–20 cm long; a wooden handle is attached to the end of the scraper. The edges of the scraper must be sharpened.

Cleaning the skull

First, you should clear the skull of meat, which is most convenient to do at the site of cutting the carcass. To do this, use a sharp knife to cut off the largest muscles and remove the eyes and tongue. After liberal salting, the skull can be safely transported for several days, even in hot weather. To repel blow flies, it is a good idea to sprinkle the skull with mothballs. When transporting, it is advisable to place the horns along with the head on hay or straw.

The brain is removed with a scraper, mixing the brain until soft, through the foramen magnum, without expanding it. You can also use a wooden spatula or a wire hook or a stick with cotton wool wound at the end instead of a scraper. Then the skull is washed under a strong stream of water.

There are several methods for final cleaning of the skull, but the simplest and fastest is boiling the skull in water. The only drawback is that bones cleaned in this way, if you do not strictly adhere to the rules, sometimes are not snow-white, but retain a yellowish tint. To prevent the skull from darkening during cooking and to bleach it more easily in the future, it is first placed in running water for 10–20 hours. If the water is not running, it is changed several times. To better bleed the skull, add a 1% solution to the water. table salt.

Boil the skull in a large saucepan or cauldron so that the water constantly covers it completely, but does not reach the horns. To do this, the trophy is tied to two wooden blocks and with the help of this device the depth of immersion is adjusted. It is advisable to wrap the lower third of the horns (rosettes and lower processes) with a rag so that fat and water do not get on the horns.

The skull is never placed in hot water, and heated together with water. After boiling, the fatty foam is constantly removed, adding evaporated water, since the bone protruding from the water turns brown and then does not bleach. It is very good after half an hour of cooking to change the water and start boiling in clean water. When cooking, it is not recommended to add any chemicals (soda, ammonia, washing powder, alkali, etc.).

The duration of boiling the skull is 1.5–3.5 hours, depending on the size, type and age of the animal. Particular care should be taken when processing the skulls of small ungulates, whose bones do not fuse. When boiling such skulls, check every few minutes to see how the meat separates from the bones. When it separates easily, boiling is stopped so as not to destroy the bonds connecting some bones. When the muscles and tendons are cooked to sufficient softness, the skull is lowered into clean water for cooling and cleaning begins. The meat, softened by boiling, is separated with tweezers, and the ligaments fused to the skull are scraped off with a scalpel or knife. Then the skull is cleaned of the remains of the brain and films.

Before boiling the skulls of bovid animals (mountain sheep, goats, antelopes, etc.), it is necessary to remove the horns. To do this, they are immersed in water for one or two days so that it covers the entire horn to the base. The skull can remain above the water. Water soaks (macerates) the connective tissue formations connecting the horns to the bone base of the frontal bones, and they are easily removed from the bone bases. The removed horns must be washed well and dried in the shade, and the skulls must be boiled and cleaned in the usual way. After filing, degreasing and bleaching the skulls, the antlers are placed on bone rods.

Filing the skull

After thoroughly cleaning the skull from meat, ligaments and brain, it is important to skillfully file.

It is best to preserve entire skulls of deer, goats, and sheep. Such a trophy is more valuable, since the age of the animal can always be determined by the wear of the teeth. It is recommended to attach the lower jaw to the trophy with a cord or thin wire.

Sometimes only a small shapeless piece of the frontal bones is left with the horns, and the horns seem to lose their logical connection with the skull. Such horns look on their own, and not as a combat or tournament weapon for a male stag. To avoid this, the nasal, frontal and part of the parietal bones are left with the horns. If the horns are large and massive, then only the base of the skull with teeth is removed. In this case, not only the nasal bones, but also the premaxillary bones and the upper parts of the eye sockets are preserved.

The base of the skull is filed with a surgical or carpenter's saw with fine teeth, outlining the filing line in advance. To do this, the skull is immersed in water so that only those parts that need to be preserved with the horns remain above the water. Having secured it in this position, mark the water level with a pencil, then remove the skull from the water and cut along the line. When cutting, the skull must be wet, otherwise dry bones will crumble easily.

Degreasing and bleaching

No matter how the skull is cleaned, fat remains in the bones, which gives them yellow, so the bones need to be degreased. The most in a simple way involves soaking the skull for 24 hours in pure gasoline, then immersing it in water and boiling quickly. In this case, measures should be taken especially carefully fire safety.

For bleaching, you can use a 30% solution of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2). The skull is immersed in the solution, making sure that it does not get on the horns, keeping it for 15 minutes (no more). A hydrogen peroxide solution of this concentration must be used extremely carefully so as not to damage the skin of your hands or burn your clothes. The bleached skull is washed with water and dried.

The third method of quick whitening is boiling the skull for 5–15 minutes (depending on the size of the skull) in a 25% solution of ammonia (250 cm 3 per 1 liter of water). Make sure that the horns do not touch the water. At the end of boiling, a 33% solution of hydrogen peroxide is applied several times to the hot bones with a brush and, without washing it off, the skull is dried. It is better to work with hydrogen peroxide while wearing rubber gloves.

The fourth method is to cover the washed skull with cotton wool or gauze soaked in a 7–10% solution of hydrogen peroxide with the addition of 5 ml of a 25% ammonia solution per 1 liter of water. Bleaching is carried out for 4–5 hours per dark place.

Fifth method - the skull is soaked for 1–2 hours in water, then boiled for several minutes, after which it is removed from the water, slightly dried and a 33% solution of hydrogen peroxide is applied to it, mixed until sour cream thick with fine chalk or magnesium powder, placed him into the dark damp place for 10–24 hours. Then the skull is washed with water and a brush, and dried in the sun. Make sure that this solution does not get on the horns. After bleaching, light cosmetics of the horns and skull are allowed; light horns can be slightly tinted with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or infusion of shells walnuts To do this, the shell is immersed in hot water and left for several hours.

You need to tint the horns very carefully, since experts can give a discount for light-colored horns during the evaluation, and remove them from the competition for ineptly tinted ones.

Coating the horns with varnish or other dyes is not permitted, otherwise they will not be allowed to participate in competitions and exhibitions.

Before applying cosmetics, the skull should be tied in a plastic bag. The tips of the deer's antlers can be polished white with fine sandpaper. To add shine, dry horns are brushed with paraffin or stearin dissolved in gasoline. After the solution has dried, the horns are polished to a shine with a shoe brush.

In order to eliminate any roughness on the skull, it is polished with fine sandpaper and wiped with chalk powder dissolved in denatured alcohol. Talc is applied to a cleanly wiped bone and covered with a thin layer of a liquid solution of colorless synthetic varnish, or the bones are wiped with cotton wool soaked in polish. This type of varnishing is usually carried out on the skulls of predatory animals.

Boar tusk processing

To extract the tusks of a boar, a part of the animal’s muzzle is sawed off between the eyes and the tusks, as shown in Figure 69. This piece of the muzzle must be at least three and a half times longer than the visible part of the lower tusks. The sawn-off part is placed in a cauldron with cold water so that it is completely hidden under water. The water is brought to a boil and simmered over low heat for 2–3 hours. After cooking, the jaws with fangs are removed from the cauldron and, without allowing them to cool, the fangs are removed. To avoid getting burns, use mittens or rags. The upper fangs are usually removed easily, but to remove the lower ones, they need to be pulled forward 3–5 cm, and then carefully open the jaw bones from the back so that the fangs come out freely. Then the fangs are placed in a cauldron of hot, oily water until it cools. They should not be left without water and should not be washed with cold water. The fang, cooling in oily water, becomes saturated with fat and acquires a protective layer. After cooling, the nerves are removed from the fangs and the inner surface is wiped with cotton wool, dried in a damp and warm place to avoid cracking.

Rice. 69. Extracting boar tusks

After drying, the fangs are degreased with gasoline. It is recommended to fill the inside of the fangs with BF glue (any) and, after holding it inside for 5–10 s, pour it out, repeating this two or three times at intervals of 30 minutes. Before doing this, the glue is heated in a bowl with warm water so that it pours out more easily. Instead of BF glue, the inside of the fangs can be filled with epoxy resin of the following composition: 80 parts filler and 20 hardener. Instead of glue, the cavities of the fangs can be filled with tweezers with cotton wool soaked in epoxy resin; after 12 hours the glue hardens, giving them greater strength.

To prevent fangs from deteriorating due to changes in humidity, they can be coated with a thin layer of colorless synthetic varnish. Fangs cannot be bleached.