Bucks & Bugs

Bucks & Bugs Creator of European mounts and beetle cleaning of skulls.

A couple of pig skulls the beetles finished up last month. Waiting to go into the degreasing tank. Pigs are very greasy ...
01/07/2024

A couple of pig skulls the beetles finished up last month. Waiting to go into the degreasing tank. Pigs are very greasy and these will take a long time.

The bugs have been working nonstop all year. I've had several heads degreasing. The degreasing freezer broke down, so I ...
11/07/2023

The bugs have been working nonstop all year. I've had several heads degreasing. The degreasing freezer broke down, so I did ambient temperature degreasing most of the summer.
Derek Roach one of these is yours.

I'd never seen this in person until today. I guess they're called 'vestigial fangs'. Some species of deer still have the...
05/08/2023

I'd never seen this in person until today. I guess they're called 'vestigial fangs'. Some species of deer still have them as a much more prominent feature. Musk deer and Water deer are the best known

Sometimes it is necessary to soak heads in just plain water.After they come out of the beetles it's good to soak them ju...
04/29/2023

Sometimes it is necessary to soak heads in just plain water.
After they come out of the beetles it's good to soak them just to get anything the beetles left behind off. It also rehydrates any tissue still on the skull and if there's very much I can drop it back intl with the beetles and they'll clean it up. This is what's happening with the skull on the left.
The one on the right was a dead deer I found this past fall. I went back this spring and picked up the head, got a salvage permit which *IS* required in Indiana to pick up a dead head. It went straight to the freezer for a few weeks to kill anything that might've still been on or in it. Now it is in plain water to rehydrate any tissue left before going into the beetles.

New addition to the shop. The degreasing tank. This is another nonworking freezer that is outfitted with heat bulbs and ...
04/26/2023

New addition to the shop. The degreasing tank. This is another nonworking freezer that is outfitted with heat bulbs and a temperature regulator. The heads go in a bucket of water with Dawn or ammonia and the temperature is kept about 120°. The amount of time needed varies depending on species, how long it was dead before skinned and put in with the beetles and a couple of other things. Weeks to months is the time needed with water added as it evaporates and a water change every week or when the water is not clear. Currently soaking are 2 of my deer from past years. Since this is my first time, I want to make sure I do it right and would rather ruin my own deer than someone else's. The little container in the corner has a coyote, rabbit and a vole or shrew in it.

I haven't posted in a while but the bugs have been busy!I have all the, what I call, "Clean" heads almost finished up. T...
04/22/2023

I haven't posted in a while but the bugs have been busy!
I have all the, what I call, "Clean" heads almost finished up. These are the ones that come to me skinned and most of the extra meat taken off. These go the quickest.
What I have left in the freezer are the ones that aren't so "Clean". These come to me with fur still on them and maybe they've been laying around for a while, not in a freezer. They're pretty disgusting, that's why they're in bags. But the bugs don't care.

Look what I got in the mail.
01/16/2023

Look what I got in the mail.

Current state of the freezer. I have a lot to do. Or better stated, these bugs have a lot to do!
12/13/2022

Current state of the freezer. I have a lot to do. Or better stated, these bugs have a lot to do!

12/05/2022

The bugs weren't working to their full potential. One of the electric bases got cooked from the heat. The one base struggled to keep it 60 on the cold nights. Now I have 2 back in and it's keeping the Temps where they should be.

09/12/2022

I got 3000 new bugs this weekend. So production will be ramping up again.

In 46 hours my beetles took a whole squirrel and reduced it to bones.
09/10/2022

In 46 hours my beetles took a whole squirrel and reduced it to bones.

Bear skull
09/10/2022

Bear skull

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5800 N Cty Road 650 W
West Baden Springs, IN
47469

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The bugs weren't working to their full potential. One of the electric bases got cooked from the heat. The one base struggled to keep it 60 on the cold nights. Now I have 2 back in and it's keeping the Temps where they should be.

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