Picking up fur and feather

[GlassJet]

Hi folks,
Am staying on a farm in ireland at the moment, and there are lots of interesting feathers lying around the place. some individually and under nests etc. and some out on the boglands, where a bird of prey has made a kill of another bird, and left a big pile of interesting feathers behind!

Are there any precautions I need to take when bringing such feathers to the tying bench? I am concerned I might be introducing pests etc to my own collection of tying materials.

I keep my bought tying materials in sealed plastic bags, then in a lidded plastic box that has whatever is the replacement for moth balls in it.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Soft-hackle]

Hi Andrew,
I've always put my collected feathers in the freezer for a week, then with some moth balls, separate from other materials for a another week. This usually takes care of any pests.

Mark

[GlassJet]

Thanks Mark, yes, the freezer is a good idea - why didn't I think of that?

Andrew

[skunkaroo]

You should really wash them too--just a drop or two of detergent in warm water goes a long way to getting rid of baddies. Works best with feathers, but it doesn't hurt with fur as well. Just don't have the water to warm. I dry the washed materials in a meshed sieve with a blow dryer on low heat (the sieve stops them from blowing around).

Aaron

[gmwhipple]

Shell makes and sells a no pest strip for use in garbage cans. I cut small pieces off the strip and place one in each bag or drawer containing fur or feathers that I want to keep. I had a wild bird cape that developed creepy crawlies even though it was purchased from a reputable purveyor of such things , and a small square of the no pest strip stopped the infestation in its tracks. HTH


garthman