Killing ticks

[JL]

I got fed up with ticks biting and walking all over me when skinning out a head for a mount, so I went to my farm supply store and had a heart to heart talk with the owner who is an entomologist. He suggested a permethrin dip to kill the ticks. I made up a batch as per the directions on the bottle and threw in the next deer head before skinning and left it on for 30 minutes then set it out to drain for another 30 minutes.When I skinned the head, every tick or bug I saw was D_E_A_D. I have solved one of my biggest shop problems.I also spray the floor of the area where I skin the deer with this mix. CAN'T BE TOO CAREFUL.[/img]

[JL]

By the way make sure you wear rubber gloves when handling or skinning the heads.

[Western Rivers]

I be a little nervous about soaking a cape like that.  Let us know how it all works out.

[RobinK]

Thanks JL i was thinking about a dip been scared to try let us know

[Jerry C]

Anything to kill the tics, but I was taught that water on a raw cape is courting disaster. Good luck.

[JL]

What happens to a cape when the deer was killed in a torrential downpour dragged for an hour through water puddles and mud then dumped into the bed of a pickup truck? If it's cooled, fleshed and salted, like in my walk-in cooler.....it survives just fine. Don't let it get hot.

[oldterryr]

here's how i handle them

1) i get a giant garbage bag
2) spray deer hide with raid
3) put deer in bag and fog the inside of the bag with raid and close bag
4) as i pull this one out to skin i put anouther in that way teh only one you are waiting for if th first one -
5) this kills approzimately 85-90% of the ticks and the ones that are left are definitely woosy

[wingman]

Heres another GREAT method. Take a gallon ziplock bag ,a roll of toilet paper and about 2 cups of LAQUER THINNER. Put the toilet paper in the ziplock bag along with about 2 or 3 cups of laquer thinner THEN in a large garbage bag put the capes, l/s fox coyote whatever you want the ticks killed off from and put the ziplock bag in with the capes etc, close up the garbage bag with the opened ziplock inside, leave for 15-30 minutes and ALL Critters will be dead works on fleas ticks everything and its reusable just close the ziplock when done till the next use, GOOD LUCK

[JL]

Wingman, your method may work fine, but you have to skin the critter before using this method. I don't want to deal with the ticks while skinning.....I want them DEAD before I do. I also did a couple of coyotes before the deer season and it seemed to work fine. I'm sure there are several ways to deal with these "Buggers" but this is mine for now. Will keep tabs on it. Good luck....JL

[T/C Taxidermy]

Or you can use a large plastic storage container they sell at places like wal-mart. I like using then instead of trashbags that can tear. Everything can fit inside antlers everything before you even start skinning the head

[wingman]

JL You DO not have to skin them at all before putting them in the bag UNLESS you want to kill ticks on multiple capes etc at once, I would prefer to worry about a few ticks than the chances of having the insecticide harming me. Anyway put the whole head in the bag, It may not work on elk etc because of thier size  but you cant SOAK any head that is excessivly large anyway.

[Ivan]

A proper pickle has always killed the ticks i come across. I recently tanned a moose cape. Pickled it for 4 days, then tanned. When I pulled it out to mount, a big fat tick comes crawling out of the hair. I can't believe it survived a bath at Ph 1.2 for 4 days (plus tan for 1 day)!

[Craig R]

I like the idea, JL. I tried the bag and Raid thing. Left one in for an hour. This thing was litterally crawling with ticks. It had been dead for four days. I don't think it killed anything. They were just as active after the bag as before.

I think George Roof mentioned he freezes the capes after skinning but this idea of yours takes care of it from the get go. You'll have to raise those prices again because you've added another step and additional supplies in your formulation, lol.

Makes me wonder how much more susceptible taxidermists are to being bitten by a tick than the ordinary Joe walking in the woods? Do these ticks accumulate on a taxidermist's property because of the influx of infected deer capes to these areas? They have to breed, right? I have to admit, I haven't killed a deer in my back yard that has ever had a tick on it, at least that I have found. But some deer, from say the southern tier part of NY, are infested with them.

[Michelle Nelson's Taxidermy]

I hate ticks, The toilet paper thing sounds like it will work.  But what if you can't get the cape to lay flat in the bag or tub and their are folds.  Will it kill the ticks that are layed up in those folds?  And what about the side of the hide that is laying on the ground?

[JLM "James Minton"]

Why not just throw the whole thing in the freezer!  That will kill them all, period.