How long will it naturally take a mummified fox to decay and leave a skeleton?
I found a dead fox in an abandoned barn, it’s already pretty mummified. I was wondering how long it would take for the skin to naturally decay away so that I could mount the skeleton? Should it be removed from the shelter of the barn? I’m in Maine so the weather is in the upper 70’s now but when fall rolls around the decaying process might come to a halt?
Any advice is appreciated!
Tagged with: fox • maine • skeleton • Weather
Filed under: Weather
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My not-extensive experience is as follows. If it’s mummified, then it’s down to things that are now pretty resistant to decomposition. Basically, I’m guessing you have a skeleton held together by dried tendons, covered in some dried skin that may or may not have fur attached. My experience is that at this stage, just leaving it will work - if you don’t mind taking a few more years! You could try a few things to speed that up.
!) bury it, not too deep, in fairly dry soil. Having some aerobic soil bacteria speed up the work can be good. Don’t bury in clayey soil, or water-saturated soil. The bones will dissolve! Not a great solution - bones can disappear, either through bacterial action or neighbor dogs finding a nasty-but-tasty chew-snack. Trust me, I’ve watched a neighbor’s dog dig up and proudly carry off a rotting elk skull. And just try asking the owners for it back! You will NOT be invited to the neighborhood christmas party!
2) Purchase some dermestid beetles to finish cleaning the skeleton. A number of Companies sell them. They will chew the rest away. I haven’t done this, but have considered it. One possible advantage (you should double check!) is that I think they often leave skeleton articulated, might make it easier for mounting.
3) I’ve had decent success throwing a pretty far along carcass (like what you have) into a tub of weak bleach solution and letting it sit for a week or so. You’ll still have some bones to hand clean, and you better not be too averse to a somewhat grungy bucket o’ decomposition. It’s not too bad - nothing a person willing to pull mummified foxes out of a barn would mind, but you are forewarned. You end up with a pile of mostly cleaned bones at the bottom of the barrel. And note - as I learned the hard way, even a weak solution of bleach, when poured on your lawn, kills a big old patch of it dead for a long long time. So try to dispose of properly.
Finally, you might get hands-on help or suggestions from teachers of vertebrate biology courses if you are near a college/university. Ask specific profs, esp ones that teach vertebrate biology - asking the front desk receptionist might get a freaked out response!
Back when I did this sort of thing myself, several professors at both the local community college and the local university were pretty helpful and interested - especially when offered some of the skeletons to use in class! Although one was obviously disturbed. (Where did he think the skeletons he bought from the Biological Supply Company come from I wonder?)