Before anyone starts, I am on a work computer and it doesn’t allow me to go many places.
My buddy gave me a pheasant tail clump and some wings (not the entire skin). How best should I preserve them? I have them in a freezer right now. I’ve read a few days in there will kill any bugs. Is that all I need to do?
PS. I think the secondary tail feathers are called “the reeves.” Are there any uses for them?
It must have something to do with where people live because I have gathered many grouse skins, wings, bucktails, squirrel tails etc and have never had a bug issue. Nothing has gone into my freezer. I simply salt them or use borax until they dry and bag them in plastic (sometimes). They last forever. The only issue I did have (once) was some molding on some bucktails that got damp thru storing them in a basement that could have been drier.
I’d suggest tossing a couple sections of flea collar in the packages, just to play it safe. I was given some chickens to skin, thought I had them clean, but spent a lot of time cleaning out my supplies.
Reeve’s Pheasant is a species of bird, not a particular feather.
As for preservation, I’d remove any flesh or fat, apply borax to the skin, allow to dry thoroughly and then bag it.
You have been given some good information. I always keep the new wild stuff separate from my main fly tying stuff for a couple months. You need to get all the meat and skin off the feathers that you can. Plucking them may be the easiest way to do that. I always toss mine in a paper bag with some borax to completely dry them out. The paper bag will allow the feathers to breath and dry faster. You can put it in a plastic later if your want to. The piece of a flea collar is always a good idea. It not only kill bugs, it keeps them out of your stuff.