Animal pelt question

[Ken Y]

I realized while tying some flies that if you scrape some skins with your thumbnail, some type of clear liquid comes out. possibly water or some type of fat. It might be the way the skin was prepared. It also seems that this occurs with mostly bird pelts and un-tanned patches of skin from mammals. Currently I have no problems with bugs. Will it become a problem, or should I just forget it? Who else has this problem? Thanks for all the help.

[popperfly]

Ken,
You could always dust it with Borax whether it is a bird skin or animal pelt. The clear fluid is most likely the natural oils or the tanning solution. Borax is a white crystalline compound that consists of a hydrated sodium borate Na2B4O7?10H2O, that occurs as a mineral or is prepared from other minerals, and that is used especially as a flux, cleansing agent, and water softener, as a preservative, and as a fireproofing agent. Taxidermist us borax as a preservative all the time for preparing there animal skins