I'm the new girl with a question

[indy]

hello everybody,

I'm new here, but i have been reading from this forum for about 3 months now...

and now i have a question for everyone

A customer brought in a pheasant tail. All feathers are intact and we're putting it on black suede. Question is has anyone ever tried spraying a thin coat of hairspray or anything on feathers to keep them intact? I was just going to leave it alone. but wanted your input too. Also how would you go about sticking this feather butt down to the mat board?

thanks!!

[Susan May]

First, Welcome to the grumble!

Now, the first thing I would do is contact a Taxadermist, and ask them thier opinion. Also, I would ask the customer if the feathers have been treated in anyway. If they have not been to a taxadermist, they might attract bugs.

After you have determined that they won't attract bugs, then deal with attaching the feathers by sewing them down.

[Kit]

What Sue said.

Especially the part about welcome to the Grumble.

Kit

[Marc Lizer]

I will asnwer your your questions with some questions.

Does hairspary make your hair last longer?

{(no), it just holds it in shape.}

Is hairspary good for your hair?

(debatable)

Is hairspray archivally acceptable?

(????)

While feathers are made of roughly the same base material, are they made in a different configuration from hair, and as such, need oiling, and flexible the ability to be flexible to preen out mis-allignment?

In other words, do birds normally use hairspray or oils to maintain feathers?

While the best answer is; What does a conservator do? The other answer is: In general don't mess with the feathers.

If you are worried about bugs, you will need to freeze them to arrest current infestetaion(but check with a consevator first).

The use of moth-ball type material as a preventitive should be done under expert advice.

And also: welcome to this strange an wonderful place called "The Grumble."

[Terry Scidmore CPF]

Hi Indy! Welcome to the Grumble!
I have a dead pheasant on my wall. He was road kill and was split, gutted, and air dried. He has been up for about 12 years.
I did not spray his feathers with anything, just shook them out and smoothed them. He has his body cavity (or what is left of it) over a little hump of foam core. The foam core was glued down to suede. I used fishing line sewn from the back of the suede, over the body in 2 places (you can hide the fishing line in the feathers). I did not sew into him. I used beige suede backing instead of black because there is always a little dust that will come off of feathers and black really shows it. I picked a deep frame, lined the sides with 1/8 foam core covered with the same suede as the back. Foam core backings and cc glass.
I found that his long tail made this gap at the bottom that didn't balance his body, so I cut thin strips of suede in the colors of his feathers and put them in a graduated L shaped pattern along the tail, the bottom of the L at the bottom of the frame, the long part of the L extending up the sides. There is one of these designs on each side of the tail. You may not need to do this because you don't have the little fella's body and head to deal with.
Hope this helps!

[Jack Cee]

Welcome Grumbler:

We have mounted pheasant feathers; for maintaing an even appearance and for arranging the feather shafts, apply a spray silicone, let it dry a bit and put the feathers in order with your fingers or a small brush. You probably won't have a lot of trouble with insects on the feathers if there is no skin ro flesh attached to the shaft; you might consider placing a few mothballs behind the mounting board to prevent any damage. You could overlay the feathers as in a live bird but it will still look re-created. Consider applying some velcro for attachment in at least two points.

And good luck to you,

Jack Cee

[CharlesL]

Welcome, Indy!!!

[indy]

thank you so much for all of your input!
I have a really good place to start with this now.

take care

[Marc Lizer]

don't be a stranger.

jump in 'round here anytime.