Two weeks ago I asked on here about washing birds. I got some good advice. Yesterday I washed my first bird. A sage Grouse. I tumbled in a mixture of sawdust and Borax. Some of the feathers turned out great. However, many of them dried with a bunch of borax stuck to the base of the feathers. A lot of the feathers were even stuck together with a glue-like mixture of borax. What did I do wrong?
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Bob; If you would, give me a call (520) 328-6311 and I'll see if I can help...Dan
Bob,
You didn't finish drying them enough in the tumbler. If your feathers are truly dry, sawdust and borax will not stick to them. They were allowed to set idle and the "mud" to harden. Rewash your birds and put them back in the tumbler for no less than 20 minutes. Finish drying them with a hair dryer. Once the down feathers are completely dry, nothing will adhere to them.
Bob, I like to use the ol' corn cob grit for tumbling. I use 75% coarse and 25% fine grit and no problems. Good luck. ...Rick
Dear Bob,
There are many ways to approach washing bird skins for purposes of taxidermy or Scientific Preparation. One refernce you may go back to examine would be one I published in Taxidermy Today back in 1990 - the Summer and Fall Editions, I think volume 10. I have read most of the literature available in print about this subject (including the archived messages in this forum) and there is often contradictory information published in many sources. The two articles in Taxidermy Today still appear to be as valid today as they were then. If you cannot obtain access to the articles, let me know and I may be able
to send you reprints of the specific articles.
[If Bill Yox is reading this posting, let me know if you would like a reprint of the Turtle incubation papers we have on file. We have in the collection roughly 10,000 newly hatched preserved turtles resulting from numerous research projects completed by Dissertations and Post Docs of past when years this phenomenon was being explored. And Leanne, I'm sorry but I did not attempt to use big words in any manner, it is just that being around all these Phd researchers, I end up talking that way. Shucks, I'm just a good ole boy from Ridgway in North Central Pennsylvania - A small town if there ever was one - Heck, there ain't even a McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King, or Pizza Hut in this county seat of Elk County.
Good Luck Bob!
Steve, as intelligent as you sound, Im sure you knew you were going to become the brunt of our anemic humor! It sounds as though you took it well. We have a hard enough time trying to get folks to reread past posts and not have repeat answers on here, so language like yours was not only fun to read, but worthy of our sarcasm! Yes, guys, we do joke! As for the archives having mixed answers, thats a problem we shall always have, as theres many opinions out there. When a guy uses one that doesnt work, he will start to sort them out I guess. Good luck Bob...for what its worth, I was one of the guys who said not to put borax in to the tumbling material...use it to dust the skin after cleaning. I dont dry them all the way until after its mounted, too.
Please let me apologize if I made you feel out of sorts. I realize it came across as me poking fun at you when all I really was trying to do was to prove to George and Bill (who I pick on incessantly on purpose) that I too know some big words, in a sick and sort of humorous way. I truly loved your intelligence and story on the sea turtles. I read it probably 4 times to try and soak every thing up. I love scientific stuff and any thing to do with animals. Truly, if you met me you'd realize what a perfect marvel of idiocy I really am! You keep answering here and I for one will be looking forward to a good read!