these threads always get me laughing. Might as well just go exclusively to synthetic materials the way some folk think... ANY natural material MUST be frozen, thawed, microwaved, UV blasted, X-Rayed, run over with a tractor, bleached, baked, soaked, heated, cooled, frozen again, then stored in a vacuum for 17 years before it is SAFE !!!

There is however some very good, sane advise in this thread.

Bottom line: the "bugs" that you might find on live or just killed animals (fleas, ticks, lice, etc) are all blood-feeders and don't have anything to do with damaging the fly-tying parts of the animals. Those USUALLY come later, and are USUALLY dermestid beetles of various sorts, also to a much lesser degree a few species of moths and mites. ( I am not in any way referring to disease-causing microorganisms... )

The only reasonable way to deal with the concern is through chemical warfare, and the only really reasonable chemicals are the afore-mentioned paradichlorobenzene and Di-Chlorvos. Di-Chlorvos is apparently more toxic and some people are way more sensitive to it. Paradichlorobenzene is the way I go.

I also do like to wash and dry my killed materials- bucktails, coyote tails, etc. It is AMAZING how much dirt comes out of them, and how much nicer they look afterwards.

Everyone who thinks fur and feathers they buy have been intimately cared for through various and sundry steps to ensure they are sterile are sadly mistaken. Go buy a bucktail in a shop and give it a wash in warm water and woolite and you will see.