Keep an eye on your mounts for bugs
Contributors to this thread:Equipment
From: Jasper
10-Feb-25
Walked into my basement trophy room recently and noticed some feathers and dust on the floor underneath a full body mount gobbler. My taxidermist informed me it was caused by beetles or moths. Fortunately they hadn’t moved to any of my other mounts but this one is ruined. It was a Merriam from Nebraska and I put a lot of time in building the base for it so it was a heartbreaker. He told me to keep an eye on the ears and antler bases of the other animals as that’s where the bugs often start. I sealed off both rooms with plastic and set off bug bombs twice so hopefully that should take care of it. I think I’ll retreat the rooms every year just to be sure. I’ve never had bug issues in all the years I’ve had mounts so never thought anything about it. I’ll definitely keep an eye out from here on. Just wanted to spread the word….
From: Jasper
10-Feb-25
From: Jasper
10-Feb-25
From: Jasper
10-Feb-25
From: Dale06
10-Feb-25
Wow, I’ve had mounts for 40 years and have never had a bug issue.
From: Medicinemann
10-Feb-25
Years ago, I was told by a taxidermist that bird mounts seem to be the most prone to insect damage, As a result, I had plexiglas enclosures built for my turkey mounts, with a few moth balls hidden in each habitat for good measure.
From: TREESTANDWOLF
10-Feb-25
Jasper can the mount be repaired and bugs removed?
From: Charlie Rehor
10-Feb-25
Turks are often the reason for a bug problem. Make sure your taxi explains what he does to avoid this.
From: Jasper
10-Feb-25
Rich, possibly if you catch it soon enough. This mount of mine is ruined
From: Buckdeer
11-Feb-25
I had them get in the ears of a couple deer,I mix alittle Bifan in a spray bottle and give them a spray every so often
From: JRABQ
11-Feb-25
That's terrible. I've had some issues with a couple of duck mounts and an elk mount. I put out moth traps and check them periodically, but there is a difference between pantry moths and clothing moths, both are very small. I've never seen bettles in the house but they frequently show up on any hide or skulls left outside, so never bring that stuff inside. I also use bug zappers in my garage and den. I seem to get some moth traffic coming through my garage once the weather warms up. Another thing you can do for smaller mounts is put them in the freezer for a couple of days, periodically. Bigger stuff gets sprayed with permethrin. But I still worry about this problem, one reason for just doing skull mounts on big game.
From: Glunt@work
11-Feb-25
A buddy lost a musk ox. Noticed a little spot and it was already too late.
From: Jasper
11-Feb-25
That’s interesting JR. Do you think the moth traps help? I’ve never heard of them
From: JRABQ
12-Feb-25
Jasper, they should help to some extent. And if you check them regularly you will at least notice if you have a problem, maybe before it's too late. I think I have Dr Killigans clothing moth traps from Amazon.
From: butcherboy
12-Feb-25
Definitely put some kind of traps out and spray your mounts in the spring and then maybe again in early fall. Also, they like to lay eggs behind the mount in the hair where it goes against the wall. That’s one of the reasons why I always cut the cape even with back of the manikin. With good hide paste and a few pins the cape won’t move during the drying period.
From: kscowboy
13-Feb-25
Just a heads up, Permethrin is toxic to cats. Not the voice of experience here but would hate to have someone lose a family pet due to this issue. I was told above 1% is toxic.
I catch a bunch of Indian Meal Moths in my traps. They are your typical pantry moth. Only the males will get caught in the traps due to the pheromones released.
I used Biffen before but believe Permethrin is the better choice of what most of you are wanting. I got a lot of help from a gentleman on Taxidermy.net
From: Jasper
13-Feb-25
So spray the mounts with the same permethrin used to keep ticks off you?
From: Dutch oven
13-Feb-25
I'll bet you most mount damage is due to dermestid beetles, not moths. Same family of beetles taxidermists use to remove flesh/hair from a skull mount.
From: Mertyman
14-Feb-25
"A buddy lost a musk ox. Noticed a little spot and it was already too late."
I've been told musk ox are bad, as it's extremely difficult to get 100% of the flesh out and treated around and underneath the bosses on the skull. I know more than one guy that has never had issues with bugs until an ox mount was brought in, both from Canada as well as Greenland (via the taxi in Denmark).
From: Schmitty78
16-Feb-25
I’m always worried something like that could happen to mine. I spray a product from “Mount Medix” on all my mounts every couple of years, and so far so good.
From: Mule Power
16-Feb-25
Turkeys are always the first to have them moths. An occasional misting of permethrin on your mounts will help.
