#since it’s buried kinda shallow but I put some rocks on top to hopefully deter them and also to mark the spot

[raeathnos]

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#I chickened out with macerating the d.eer skull #I left it out in the sun in a bucket for one day and like lots of progress #but it smelled so bad #and I live in a townhouse #I had it on the deck originally but I was afraid the neighbors were gonna be able to smell it #we don’t really have a backyard- it’s a little strip of land and then after that there’s a forested park behind the house #so I wasn’t sure I was gonna be able to bury it and was gonna have to macerate it on like the driveway or something #there’s a drought here and the ground was packed hard and there’s plants in the little backyard strip so there wasn’t much space #we’ve been having issues but my dad took notice and came out to help #found a spot just big enough that he managed to dig just deep enough to bury it #my only fear is coyotes are gonna smell it and dig it up #since it’s buried kinda shallow but I put some rocks on top to hopefully deter them and also to mark the spot #the bucket I was using smells so bad that I’m pretty sure I might need to toss it #which is bad cause I was using it to degrease and f.ox skull from the fox that died in my grandmas yard #gonna keep going with it for now since that can stay outside but we #second grossest thing I’ve ever smelled #first grosses was said f.ox #when it died it took my like four days to get over to my grandma’s to bury it #and it sat out and rotted in the hot sun for four days 🙃 #decay is like something I’m used to smelling because again I live near a forest and go hiking all the time #but I forget just how bad it smells when you get up close and personal with it 🙃 #it’s so much nicer when you find nature cleaned bones that just need to be sterilized 😞 #excited for new bones tho- the f.ox probably needs another month to decrease and I’m not even gonna attempt to dig up the d.eer #until it starts to cool down here so like September or October #but new bones for the bone shelf #I gotta start using them for life drawing studies #I’m doing good with finding bones this year #f.ox skull x 2 - f.ox tooth x2 - d.eer skull x1 - d.eer tooth x1 + I bought a m.ink skull #thinking about going back once the d.eer carcass has completely decayed and grabbing a vertebrae or anything else with an interesting shape #there’s also the d.eer pelvis I left in the creek out back after I slipped and bashed my hand (which not broken but still healing yikes)