I once skeletonized a raccoon by letting nature do the work. I used a couple of sticks like tongs, and moved it under a log that was covered over with ivy. I marked the place in my memory (it was out on a forest trail), and then went back over the next several months, checking on the progress of its decomposition. After four months, the skull was clean enough that I stuck it in a plastic bag, took it home, and scrubbed it off with soap and water, then dried it in the sun.
I once skeltonised a rabbit using biological washing powder. I made the mistake of boiling (and this denaturing the enzymes) but I'd recommend burying the pigeon in a convenient planter if available for a couple of months.
But washing powder is your best bet.
Burial may not be an option, as the ground in our back garden is incredibly hard - I don't think I'd be able to dig it deep enough to prevent it being dug up again (unless I just stick a paving slab on top of it).
But I have bio washing powder and BioTex, so perhaps a bucket will work? Thanks Debi (and Callan - perhaps a bit too urban for me to be able to leave it).
Arm & Hammer makes (or used to; I haven't seen it in a while) a powdered laundry detergent that is a fairly potent degreaser; I've prepped a couple of skeletons by simmering (NOT boiling!) them stovetop in pots of water with some of this detergent added. It definitely helps speed the process to get as much meat off the bones ahead of time as possible, but it should work regardless. The problem with this method, or any method using water, is that the longer the bone is exposed to the water, the more it will demineralize and become brittle and crumbly -- finding the right time to extract the bones from the water for maximum defleshing/degreasing and minimum demineralization is tricky, and I haven't found it yet. I've also heard that hydrogen peroxide (strong stuff, probably more than the 2-3% commonly available) will degrease bones without demineralizing them, but haven't had an opportunity to try it.
Hmm - might have to get the barbecue or my gas stove out to do the simmering, as Paul would not be impressed if I did it in the kitchen, but that sounds like a plan - thanks Jerry. We don't have much in the way of Arm & Hammer products, but I can find an equivalent. In fact, Vanish Oxy might work - it gets "stubborn stains" out...
Leigh Van Valen published a short note many years ago describing his experimental use of pill bugs (=sow bugs, =woodlice ... I think the preferred term in British English may be slaters) as an alternative to dermestids for skeletonizing small vertebrates: as I recall he thought they did in some respects a better job.
Only article I've ever seen with an acknowledgement thanking the author's cat for providing specimens.
(I see by your later post that you have another solution.)
Thanks Allen - Leigh himself actually e-mailed me his paper yesterday (I liked the cat reference too!), so I'm going to have a look and see if I can acquire some. If they're the same as what we know as woodlice, then all I need to do is harvest them from just under the slates on my potted plants - there are hundreds of them.
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