If a crow comes into my shop this year, is there an organization that will test it for West Nile? I would like to know for sure before I begin any work. Thanks!
Becky
Return to Bird Taxidermy Category Menu
A necropsy will destroy the bird. You seem to be preoccupied with contracting the disease from a dead bird. Virul infections can be vectored this way, but they are rare, ESPECIALLY if you glove up before skinning. I always try to keep the cut feathers out of the air. On geese and ducks, I set my shop vaccuum hose on the table beside me while I make the incision, but a dusk mask will also work. Feathers in your breathing tract won't give you West Nile, but they play hell with your lungs even on GOOD birds. Taxidermy is inherently hazardous to your health and if the precautions necessary don't seem sufficient, maybe you should think about something else.
You are MUCH more likely to die from the flu!
Crows become deathly ill very quickly from West Nile, so if the bird was killed while it appeared healthy then it probably was.
If you receive one that was found dead then just wear gloves and skin it wet so there won't be airborne bits.
West Nile is bad for corvids and horses, plus a few other species, but the vast majority of humans shrug it off as a summer cold or flu and then become permanently immune.
I am just trying to be safe, especially now that I am a mother and have someone else to worry about, Lol!
George, your reply made me chuckle. I am about the least cautious taxidermist, and I am just NOW beginning to worry about things. I started taxidermy when I was 11 (that was 13 years ago!) and I would mount any dead thing I could find. People caught on, and started to give me dead birds, squirrels, and even a groundhog shipped from New York! For years, I shrugged off any thought of germs or disease.
Now that the West Nile Virus is so common, I cannot help but worry about it. I would not want to risk taking in a crow, which might potentially harm me or my little son. That is why I asked if there is a place to get crows tested, because I would still like to mount them. I just want to be safer in my practices, that's all! In all reality though, we are probably more likely to get the disease from a mosquito than a crow. I just want to be sure the crow is not sick before I begin work......
(Hmm, makes me want to rethink doing those nature center birds that were found dead from unknown reasons....taxidermy IS a dangerous profession!)
Becky
As you get older, the thoughts become more frequent. When we are young, we have Teflon skin and bulletproof asses. But when we survive to realize there are others influenced by our actions, it takes on a more serious reasoning. Yet you can't stop living simply because life is dangerous. I had West Nile, and as Nancy said, I was unable to tell the health department exactly when I thought I was infected. Small children are a whole nuther ballpark, however, and you are correct. They are in MUCH more danger from mosquito bite than they'll ever be from a crow vectoring it.