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How do I preserve a duck's head? ?
I want to mount the head of the first duck I ever shot, just to have a silly mount. I kind of want to do it myself, because I'm poor and cheap. It's in my freezer. Can I get a home taxidermy kit or something? How about just somehow removing the flesh and having the skull and bill? (Will the bill rot away, or is it bone? What do I do with the tongue?) Thanks a lot for the help!
Here is the deal with mounting birds.
You can do it on the cheap. I used to do it myself and did a pretty fair job of it myself.
To mount birds, the preservative used is Borax. Just find a place that sells Borax as a laundry detergent additive and use it to preserve the skin.
Once you remove the head from the freezer, you can't dilly dally around. You have to start skinning the bird once it thaws, so that the flesh and muscle does not to start to rot and deterioate.
The best way to try to skin the head and neck area is to try to pull the neck muscle/bone/meat outward and try to pull it wasy from the skin which holds the feather. If that fails, then the best best way is to use a very very sharp knife (scalpel, xacto knife or razorblade) to cut down the BACK of the neck and skull. This will allow you to remove the muscle/flesh from the other parts.
You will need to remove as much flesh as possible from the skull itself. Also the brain material from the inside of the skull.
Once you have the flesh and brain mostly removed, sprinkle the borax over everything. Be liberal about it. Over the inisde of the skin and even the outside with the feathers. Allow it to sit for a day or two and repeat the process. The idea here is to allow the flesh to cure with the Borax.
When the skin has dried a bit (but not too dry), you will need to put some modeling clay on the duck's skull to rebuild the areas where the flesh was. You will also need to get some suitable glass eyes to replace the ones you have removed. (If you are just starting out, perhaps find some small marbles or even some glass stones from an arts and crafts store like Michael's Stores).
In order to rebuild the neck, you will need a length of wire (like from a wire coathanger) and some of that stuff that they use in Easter baskets. You wrap the easter basket stuffing around the wire and then wrap that with thread or small string or twine to get the desired shape of the neck area. (The coathanger wire is acting as the spine and the stuffing is acting as the flesh and muscle.)
Attach the wire to the base of the skull as best you can (before or after you do wrap the stuffing around it. Then, gently and carefully pull the "cape" of the head and neck down over the skull and neck.
If you cut the back of the neck and head area, you will need to sew it back together using needle and thread.
You may also need to use some model glue around the eye sockets of the head to keep it firmly in place at the skull/head.
A finaly touch may be to paint the duck's bill to proper color using a suitable oil based paint. (Don't overdo this. The beak/bill will fade in color, so you need to repaint it. But don't go overboard with a paint color that is too bright.
So, here is your shopping list of things you will need to mount a duck head on the very cheap (most of this stuff you probably already have)...
Borax
Modeling clay
Two marbles (or suitable glass eyes)
Wire hanger
Easter basket stuffing
Needle and thread
String
Oil paint and hobby paint brush
Your first attempt may not be something we will want to diplay in the American Museum of Natural History. But, everyone has to start somewhere.
Good luck on your future taxidermy projects (plural).
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