Why does all the HAIR FALL OUT,, suddenly fall out?

Submitted by Clay in West Virginia on 7/31/05 at 8:52 PM. ( countryboywv@aol.com ) 24.50.186.43

I have a friend who has many, many mounts in his home, every room... and last week his wife started noticing that there was hair in the floor. A few days later, over half of his mounts were almost hairless. We put the remaining mounts that still had most of their hair into freezers. The hair came out of deer, foxes, coyotes, everything with hair and it happend within a week. He had just gotten back a deer from the taxi. a week before and we're wondering if it could have brought something in with it. We couldn't see any bugs with the naked eye, and nothing get's on your hands or is bothersom to people but we have no idea why this would happen or how. Does anyone have any ideas? I had never heard of this and the taxi denies it emphatically and he says he's never heard of anything like this either. Any help or suggestions would be great, thanks.

Return to Lifesize Mammal Taxidermy Category Menu


Infessed with

This response submitted by HAPP on 7/31/05 at 9:08 PM. ( ) 12.176.253.254

Clothing moths. Take a close look at the hair folical area. You will probably see small maggots eating lunch. Take one of these critters to your local exterminator for verification as to what you have. Pyrithrin will take care of it. you can dust the mounts once in awhile with borax to help keep them after your get the house clean.


don't know

This response submitted by John W. on 7/31/05 at 9:12 PM. ( ) 12.214.100.233

This sounds like it could be some kind of bug.Are all of these mounts from the same taxidermist,does he have cats or dogs which could contribute to this?It sounds like it has to be the environment or some bug or bigger critter problem,cause I'm sure he has had some of these mounts for years and for it all to happen at the same time sounds suspicious to me .


TRY

This response submitted by Jeff on 7/31/05 at 9:31 PM. ( ) 162.39.58.36

Get some lysol concentrate,mix with water , and give your mounts a mist of this itll take care of any moths that might be living in there.apply a couple times a year.


What is Lysol supposed to do?

This response submitted by George on 7/31/05 at 10:34 PM. ( georoof@aol.com ) 205.188.117.6

The time frame makes me skeptical of dermistids, but the symptoms sound like it. Is there "sawdust" under the mounts. If so, it's dermistids. If it's an infestation, you need to spray your mounts with Mount Shield, not Lysol. Then you need to close the house off and set off a few boxes of Raid Fumigators (the ones you pour water into to activate, not the spray cans). Stay out of the house for about 4 hours and remove your pets before you set them off. It will rid your bugs but everything today is temporary. You'll still need to do it regularly.


I'm sure...

This response submitted by Jim B on 8/1/05 at 12:22 AM. ( ) 207.200.116.73

Happ is right.It sounds like clothing moths and this didn't happen in a week.It most likely came from the house not the taxidermist unless he has bald mounts in the showroom.I assure you,this did not happen in a week.


Mounts losing hair

This response submitted by Aaron honeycutt on 8/4/05 at 12:16 AM. ( mhoneyATmindspringDOTcom ) 207.69.0.186

Clay, When something like this happens the tendency is to look for wharever happened recently that might have caused it. Odds are against it being the new mount just added to the house. Jim is correct when he says, "...this didn't happen in a week." The critters at work here are probably generations old(in bug generations). Small damage went unnoticed and when enough hair was eaten to cause big chunks to fall off it seemed like it was all happening at once. Your friend most likely will need to remove all affected mounts and start a regular spray schedule to protect future mounts. This is not a unique situation- I know a guy who had very bad infestations in an elk, 5 deer, a bobcat and a few skins-all pretty much totaled by tiny little hair eating critters. Now, I think I'll go and dust and spray my shop. -Aaron H.


Return to Lifesize Mammal Taxidermy Category Menu