how long to keep wild feathers and fur

What is a good rule of thumb to keep wild fur and feathers apart from your other tying materials. I ask because the little lady keeps asking me when I plan to add in the deer fur hide and pheasent feather out of the hall closet, and into my tying desk she gave me.
She was nice enough not to complain about the feathers being in the freezer for 3 months taken out for a week and refrozen again for a month. But she wants her coat closet back and they have been keep away from the other materials for 3 months now, still without showing any signs of life in their plastic bags. She also did not complain about the deer hide, yak hair or emu feathers in the freezer but she would like them out of the coat closet at some point and wants me to give her a time frame.

hikepat,
You should be just fine adding them to your tying materials. I hunt and save my feathers and deer tails and some belly hair. I cure them outside with a basic salt salution for a week, then add them to my materials. I've been doing this for ten years and never had a parasite problem yet. After the parasites realize the feathers or furs no longer have warmth or life they usually leave within a couple of days, or just die off. Good luck,Dave [url=http://freewebs.com/davehazeltine:f4d7a]http://freewebs.com/davehazeltine[/url:f4d7a]

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Fly fishing is not a hobby, it's a way of life that we all should follow....

[This message has been edited by dragonfly1 (edited 02 May 2006).]

Have you had them in bags with moth crystals or other fumigants? If not, do that first/now before mingling them with your other materials. BTW They also should be with moth crystals. Freezing is not a guarantee that bugs and eggs if present are dead. It is not blood sucking bugs you are concerned with either. It is primarily carpet beetles. Moths too.

Happy Trails!
Ronn

ENOZ Noth crystals...Active ingredient is..

paradichlorobenzene..I think.. It kills insects, doesnt' just chase them away like a lot of other products. I have been using this for over 5 years and have never A: fouind a bug, B: had it effect the reaction of fish to my flies. It is the way to go, simple, clean, no muss, no fuss, no bugs..

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These are the idle thoughts that posses a man's mind when he's not able to fish.

In past posts there have been comments that Paradichlorobenzene will kill insects AND their larva while Napthalene will kill only the adults with stuff like cedar chips only keeping the adults away. I ALSO have seen comments with these roles reversed. I wish someone with an authoratative background would straighten this out.

[This message has been edited by Ray Kunz (edited 05 May 2006).]

Taking the word of an old geezer, I have necks that I bought from Herter's just about 50 years ago. The only indication of age is that the hackle "stems" are less flexible with the neck "skin" being completely inflexible. I don't use them anymore because by today's standards they are junk. The tanned animal skins are in good condition.

Does Enoz have the usual "mothball" smell?