May 22, 2012 – Importing Problems
QUESTION:
I work in a hospital for mental patients. One of the "services" provided here is to have Native American ceromonies for our Native American patients. One patient has asked if he can bring in dried Pheasant wings for one of the ceremonies and then they can remain here in the hospital. I have tried to explain about carpet beetles and even furniture or hide beetles. Am I wrong to be concerned about the possibility of secondary pests concerning these wings?
ANSWER:
I think it is a very good idea that this hospital has someone on staff who is familiar with pests and their possible sources, and you are correct in at least evaluating the possibility that some unusual materials brought into the facility could attract pests. I would guarantee that, given enough time, carpet beetles would eventually find feathers lying available within any building, even a hospital. Hide beetles could still be a concern, I suppose, since there will still be original skin on these wings.
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I work in a hospital for mental patients. One of the "services" provided here is to have Native American ceromonies for our Native American patients. One patient has asked if he can bring in dried Pheasant wings for one of the ceremonies and then they can remain here in the hospital. I have tried to explain about carpet beetles and even furniture or hide beetles. Am I wrong to be concerned about the possibility of secondary pests concerning these wings?
ANSWER:
I think it is a very good idea that this hospital has someone on staff who is familiar with pests and their possible sources, and you are correct in at least evaluating the possibility that some unusual materials brought into the facility could attract pests. I would guarantee that, given enough time, carpet beetles would eventually find feathers lying available within any building, even a hospital. Hide beetles could still be a concern, I suppose, since there will still be original skin on these wings.
I think it should be possible for these objects to be stored in the hospital in a manner that would be sure to exclude any pests. The trick would be to ensure they always are placed back into the sealed containers and kept there until used again. I don't know how large the overall area of these wings is, but in my mind I am picturing placing them within a plastic bag that has no holes in it, sealing this bag, and then placing the bag into a larger plastic tub with a tight lid so that the tub could easily be labeled and stored.
If you wanted to be extra cautious you could even place a Nuvan Prostrip in the bag periodically to absolutely ensure any beetles or their eggs or larvae are killed. If the use of a chemical is forbidden for these religious objects then perhaps you can find a way to place them in a large freezer, and this is going to take the cooperation of the dining facility staff and permission to store such an object in that food freezer. I don't know how often they would be used for ceremonies, but a month in a freezer should be adequate to ensure the kill of any bugs that may have managed to get on the feathers. Certainly a good visual inspection of the feathers each time they are brought out should show you any insects on them as well, since the hide beetles and their larvae are fairly large and carpet beetles are smaller but still fairly obvious.
I can see where this could be a ticklish situation that you need to be very sensitive to. Outright denial of the right of these folks to have their religious ceremonies in their traditional way could bring the media in to make a scene, and I'm sure that there are proper ways to accommodate the request.
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