Years ago I shot a 2-1/2 year old Bison bull,
I had the head cooked out to save the skull
and had the hide tanned with the hair left on.
I put the hide in a rubbermaid tote and packed it away.
Then many years later I took the hide out and it stunk.
I decided to take it to a trade show and sell it,
I asked a guy who deals with such and he told me,
"if you'd put it in a cardboard box, the mites would have destroyed it".
So I guess it really doesn't matter where you are, if you want to preserve something you must seal it up.
AntiqueSledMan.