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mybadhabit

My big surprise

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I went looking for some turkey feathers the other day and got a huge surprise, I'd been infested with bugs!!!! I had most of my feathers in a plastic tub that I keep closed for just this reason. I'd purchased some feathers at an auction from another tyer and I think they came with the saddles. I lost 2 full saddles, part of a Whiting ginger saddle and some turkey feathers. In other words, I got very lucky that it didn't take the whole 18"x24"15" tub of feathers. It is now loaded with moth balls and has been nuked to take care of any leftovers. One would think after reading this forum every day for a couple of years that I would have learned to not take chances with feathers and skins, BUT NOOOOOOO, I HAVE TO LEARN THE HARD WAY. Now fur and feather boxes and drawers are moth balled and I won't let it happen again, hopefully.

 

Blane

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Its a constant worry, open up a bag and WHAM! Touch wood, not had an issue yet but found some dead moths last year that I thought may have laid eggs but no sign thankfully

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I once purchased someone's entire fly tying material stash. I put it away for about six months and when I decided to organize the stash it was all chewed up and infested.

Thankfully, I kept it separated from my materials or I would have faced disaster.

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Our best friend in this regard is the Zip Loc bag. I keep every skin in its own bag and add a few crystals of para-dichloro-benzene every time I put it away. If I get an infestation it will take out, at most, a single skin.

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I have periodically rotated skin and feathers through the freezer, and so far, my infestations have been limited to inconsequential stuff, but I have always wondered if the freezer is really effective in killing eggs/larvae, or if it just keeps them dormant for a while and I've been lucky. Any freezer experiences to share?

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Hi Andy, if you freeze a fresh skin/feathers you freeze living crawling bugs and that should kill them. But eggs may well lie dormant and hatch later when materials are at room temp. If you freeze, warm up and zap in microwave and freeze again you hopefully break the cycle.

But I don't normally bother with second freezing and haven't had problems yet.

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