John, the small caterpillars of moths and beetles -that do all the eating- don't like light. Check deep into the cape feathers, right at the skin at the bases of the feathers, for a tunneling-like eating pattern. The tiny feather fragments will be bunched up along the edges of the eating path. You may even find a 'pillar in a cocoon. If you shake the cape over a white piece of paper, you'll also get tiny salt-sized droppings falling out, plus feather fragments. Also look in the bag corners for tiny pellets- a sure sign of infestation at some point in time.
And just because a cape has a lot of damaged feathers on it doesn't mean it's infected. DonO ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Martinez" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 10:25 PM Subject: Re: [VFB] Hackle Question > Ian- > > Other than the damage to the barbs, how can you tell > if feathers is infested with museum beetle? I recently > bought an Indian hen saddle on eBay, that I'm using > for throats and soft hackles. Some of the barbs look > like they've been cut off, they're shorter than the > rest of the barbs on the feather. I should have known > better, but when I got it I put in with the rest of my > necks and saddles. I have mothballs in the drawer, but > don't know if that will do any good or not. As soon as > I saw your email, I went and took the neck and put it > in the freezer, just worried that some my other items > might be damaged. > > -John > Oregon > > --- Ian Mitchell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Jimi, > > > > as a budget concious tier I have found that careful > > slection of > > indian/chinese hackles can give you a small quantity > > of different size > > hackles for your dry flies. > > > > If you are looking for flies to fish not to display, > > then you can trim the > > hackles to size. > > > > What to look for: > > > > 1) Make sure it is a cock hackle (rooster not a hen) > > 2) Avoid dyed capes.. naturals have much better > > feathers > > 3) Feathers should be stiff and shiny, with stiff > > barbs, not thin floppy > > dull or weak ones. > > 4) Examine feathers carefully as it maybee infected > > with museum beetle or > > similar.. eats the barbs of the feathers.. feathers > > will look as something > > has chewed bits of the barbs. > > 5) Examine the base of the feathers to make sure > > that the feathers are fully > > formed.. some time they kill them too early and the > > feathers arent all out. > > > > > > When tying with these feathers , use two back to > > back and wind in > > separately.. > > > > Homepage:- > > http://www.angelfire.com/on/theriverbank > > SwapPage > > > http://www.angelfire.com/on/theriverbank/ftswaps.html > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Choose an Internet access plan right for you -- try > > MSN! > > > http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp > > > > > ===== > The River- > You passers-by, who share my journey, > You move and change,I move and am the same; > You move and are gone, I move and remain. > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now > http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/
