The Process of Cleaning Bones

Sophia Krieg

This is the mandible of a deer I found in the mountains.

I felt it was appropriate to treat it as a larger specimen since the teeth still had fragments of food in the cusps. In that bucket, I have a solution of 2 parts hydrogen peroxide and 1 part water. This solution would be more effective for a larger piece like this. It sat in this solution for about 4 months.

Here is the final product

I felt it was necessary to keep my appendages safe, so I used nitrile exam gloves to lift the specimen out of the hydrogen peroxide solution and rinse it in clean water. Upon doing so, I rested the mandible on the seran wrap to allow a sterile environment for it to dry.

Here I am examining the mandibular structure

The bone was fleshy and rotting when I received it, so I was able to examine the properties and integrity of the bone I could not have observed prior to the cleaning process.

The elk pelvis

This gigantic specimen will take me all summer to finish, and is the biggest out of my whole collection.

WARNING! DISTURBING IMAGES AHEAD

​

CONTAINS IMAGES OF DECEASED ANIMALS

Maggots and estimated time of death

These blowfly larva, or maggots were discovered in a layer of fatty tissue. I estimate the time of death for this deer to be 5-7 days prior to discovery because of the insect activity. The decedent was found in a manmade pond, so the eggs had to have been laid in between 8-24 hours before I found this.

Maggots continued

These larvae were found on the scapula of a whitetail deer. I brought this specimen to my house about 3 weeks ago and it is currently sitting in a bucket of dish soap and water to degrease, or remove the fat that adhered to the bone structure.

The deer itself

The image shown is of my dad and his boss dragging the deer after I pulled it out of the pond. The remains have been torn apart by animals native to the Colorado mountains.

Close up of the body

This was a truly remarkable find for me. I find a huge specimen like this gets me exhilarated.