I am an artist using feathers in much of my art. A year ago I moved from CA to FL and have recently noticed that something is eating my stored feathers! In the past I would wash, dry, freeze for a week or so, then store them in ziplock bags. I've been working with feathers for almost 10 years and have never had problems til moving to FL. This week I noticed substantial damage to the feathers in the art pieces hanging on my walls AND I noticed what appears to be, nibbling along the edges of the ears of a mounted deer head I have. Can anyone help me to understand and combat this problem?
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I'm sitting up here in Indiana, but I'll venture a guess on your insect
problem. With your description, I would guess an insect called silver
fish, order thysanurus (sp) if I remember right. Use a Google search
for them and add dermestedes beetles to your search.
The silver fish is a silvery, some what fish shaped insect. It is secretive
and hides well during day light hours. If you lift up an object and see
one or more scurry away, then you probably have a whole herd of them.
The dermestedes beetle is a little black beetle with a green band.
Flea larvae can also subsist on just about any thing organic. There no
doubt is a lot of species that we can yet throw into the quo. The
bright side is, any insect that lives in Florida, can be killed in
Florida.
Pet shops and pet departments offer many differnt pesticides for licking
cats and preening birds that kill insects without killing the animal or
bird. Sprays that contain the active ingredient pyrethrin will yield
quickest results. I don't know what kind of dairy business Florida has,
but up here dairy parlor sprays can be bought that contain pyrethrin.
Freezing the feathers would have negative effect on eliminating insect
egg or larvae. Insects pop up after every freezing winter.
The quick fix I gave you will only be temporary, but it will give you
time to study for your course of attack over the long haul.
Roaches are quite willing to eat feathers. They chew small holes in them, sometimes all the way through, and sometimes just part way through so that it looks like a semi-transparent spot.
In Houston, a can full of decorative feathers would be chewed to shreds in a few months if roaches were present. I imagine Florida is the same.
I don't recall them eating hair though, so you may have more than one kind of insect pest. Possibilities? Dermested beetles/larvae, silverfish, roaches (large or small types), and also mice.
Nancy M.
Thanks for the quick responses! I have a few more questions if you don't mind: (1) Nancy, are you saying that roaches got into a sealed can and ate the feathers inside? (2) Do taxidermists encounter this problem often --- something starts nibbling at the feathers or ears on a mount? (3) If not, why? (4) Do I need to actually identify the culprits before I can do anything to remedy the situation? (5) Might I have to just fumigate my entire house every few months because the bugs here are relentless --- or are there other options (I hope so!)? --- THE BOTTOM LINE: (6) What can I do to remedy my situation? --- AND: (7) If I am posting in the wrong place because these are not issues that confront taxidernists, where should I go and who should I talk to? Once again, thank you everyone, for taking the time to share your advice with me. I am kind of "freaking out" right now so any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Lori
Lori,
The various feathers were just displayed in a decorative "bouquet", so they were exposed to air. The preferred to chew the parts which were concealed from view below the rim of the container. (and they had a FEAST, believe me!)
I have never had anything damage feathers in a sealed container or a sealed Ziploc bag. (knock on wood!) I suppose it is possible that feather mites or lice might manage to escape notice and continue their work in a sealed container for a while, but washed feathers should already be bug-free, so I doubt if that will happen.
In the case of the mounted deer, I recommend taking it down off of the wall and sealing it up tightly inside a garbage bag with a No-Pest strip enclosed. You want to leave it sealed up until any possible eggs have hatched, I would think at least a month.
Someone who knows more about dermested beetles than I do could give you a better time estimate. I also forgot to mention clothes moths as a possible culprit. Anything that eats wool is likely to also eat feathers.
Don't feel bad! I think a little "freaking out" is totally justified when bugs discover and start devouring your possesions!
Nancy M.
insect access to your bags was most likely done in this manner. Eggs
were laid next to a tiny opening in the bag. Eggs hatched into tiny
mobile larvae that made it to your feathers, where they could eat, grow,
pupate and turn into an adult. Here is the catch, If the bag was sealed
tight enough, the adult may not have been able to exit the bag, which
would leave a "corpse" and should have left a brownish to light yellowish
colored shed "skin" from the pupae. You should have something identifiable
in the bag. In the case of feather mites, like Nancy is speaking of,
you can tap the feathers on a piece of white paper to dislodge the mites,
if they are still present, they would show up as little crawly things
about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Feather mites
are species specific, meaning they eat feathers, not hair. So that still
leaves you with different possibilities. I would have to assume that
you would have access to a county extension agent through your county
government. A phone call there should help you get the information that you
need from the stand point of insect problems and treatments for same in
your area.
moth balls!
The active ingrediant in moth balls is enough to deter about anything especially when enclosed in a ziplock bag.