mouse in bottle

krisdean · Jan 12, 2004

Ok, I inherited my father's bottle collection he had stuck in the old dairy barn in 1975. The problem is that they were really dirty and one actually has a dead mouse/mole in it. Is there a safe acid I could use to "dissolve" the mouse (He sure isnt coming back out of that hole!)

any help would be appreciated. Oh, and I have cleaned the rest of them in an ultrasonic cleaner..Will that hurt them?

IRISH · Jan 12, 2004

Hi krisdean, welcome to the bottle forum,
Sulfuric acid will dissolve flesh and bone if it's over about 80% concentrated, don't use this stuff if you haven't had experience using somewhat dangerous chemicals due to the fact it will dissolve you too (that goes for anything that will dissolve a mouse [

] ).

I can't see an ultrasonic cleaner hurting most bottles unless they are an internally stoppered type (ie Codd's etc.) and the stopper dings the bottle, it may cause stress cracks in some bottles though.

Harry Pristis · Jan 13, 2004

Welcome to the forum, krisdean.

You can dissolve a mouse into a collection of tiny bones, and beyond that, I suppose, using a strong solution of laundry bleach. I had to do that very thing twice with demijohns.

I wouldn't put a bottle I cared about into an ultrasonic cleaner. I would worry that ultrasonic vibrations might amplify the stress already in the bottle glass.

The glass of an old bottle is under stress due to differential stretching of the outside and inside glass surfaces as it is blown.

A newly-blown bottle is put into an annealing oven to allow it to cool slowly. If it were cooled too quickly, a new bottle may shatter from the combination of stresses locked into the glass plus the stress of differential cooling (inside/outside, thick base/thin shoulders).

-------------Harry Pristis

mal · Jan 13, 2004

C'mon now--bottle hunters can't be squeamish--think about privy-digging! Use that dowell to break up the dried remains and tap out the debris.

krisdean · Jan 13, 2004

Well, talk about quick replies!! Thanks guys. I will go the route of the wooden dowel first I suppose, saving the flesh dissolving chemicals as a last resort. This one will have to go on the "honey do" list though because he is still quite mushy !!. Thanks for all of the tips so fast. I am going to have a lot more questions in the near future as I go through each of these bottles......finally, a website with answers for the newcomer!!

Kristie

mouse in bottle

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