Badger's Skull

A few days ago I found this badger skull sticking out of the soil in some woodland. I've seen quite a lot of skulls over the years but this was the first I'd found with the lower jaw attached. It was filled with soil and so I left it in a bucket of water to soak for a couple of days.  

Today I was cleaning and re-waterproofing my walking boots ready for the holiday (I hope that the waterproofing won't be needed of course!) While I was doing some washing I decided to clean the badger's skull. It was solid when I put it in the water so it gave me quite a start when I was lifting it out and it's jaw opened!  

I cleaned it with a toothbrush and this is the result.  It has a lot of marks still on but it looks much better now. It will reside on a shelf in my shed .