**Trigger Warning (animal lovers)**
I've written about our farm before... we have a small cow-calf operation on 20 acres...
December two years ago we took a cow to the butcher... she was an older cow... destined for hamburger. Pete thought she had great horns though. He didn't want to just take her to the processing plant, that's why he took her to the butcher.
Now what... carve... paint.... nothing...
Then my thoughtful husband brought me the head. Sounds a wee bit Machiavellian. Pete told me he wanted to keep it... though neither one of us wanted a cow head eyeballing us while we ate our hamburgers. (Where would I hang such a thing in my tiny house?) So taxidermy was a hard no... he agreed the skull would do.
Taking the head out of the hole...
So there I stood with a massive cow head, wondering how I could get the skull out. I didn't want the scavengers and predators around any more than they already were. And the stench was definitely not something I wanted to deal with. I asked him how soon he wanted it... he replied was in no hurry...
Yet there I stood... still looking at a cow head. You know I love research... looking things up and sometimes chasing down rabbit holes. I didn't this time. I wanted to do something with this head as expeditiously as possible. I had heard if you want a bone cleaned, just bury it. So we buried it in the front raised garden bed we had made from an old water tank. We put plastic pipes over the horns to keep the cats and critters from nibbling the horn tips which stuck out. And we left it. (Hmmm... talk about burying one's problems... only to deal with it another day. Haha) Two summers' worth of butterflies flittering around and plenty of dill and parsley and other herbs above ground. Did wonders for the soil in the garden bed. Mayhaps I'm a wee bit macabre that I enjoyed the beautiful flowers and critters on my makeshift grave. Not to mention the tasty herbs in my salads.
Still looks a wee bit oogie here...
We dug it up this past spring... there were still a few tiny clingy bits... I hosed it off and left it for a summer of rain and sunshine...
After the first washing...
So now I have this nearly intact cow skull. I have to decide what's next.
Do I paint something on it? Do I try my hand at carving? Do I leave it?
Pete did lament that the part where the horns came in contact with the soil corroded a bit. So they didn't turn out as pretty as he would have liked. He said not to worry, it was just a great experiment anyway.
Another chance
And then he reminded me... we have another chance at it... since we have this one's daughter out there growing another set of beautiful horns... just wait a year or so...
Hmmm...