I have a large crate with skulls, horns, and tanned skins from Africa. It will be necessary to store the crate for a while. Should I use any insecticide/rodent repellant before sealing the crate? The plastic bag that has the skins has some sort of powder on it, not sure what it is?

Any help will be appreciated!

Jim,

I'd consult a taxidermist that is familiar with Arican mounts. Tom Hardesty Sr. of Atcheson Taxidermy could advise you. 406-782-0569 Tell him I referred you.

Mark

Mice and Rat's will chew up salted hides and horn normally, but I suspect the white powder you speak of is an insect/pesticide. First thing of order: email your dip/pack provider and ask if the powder is as suspected. That should prevent most problems but here's another issue: dry, salted skins won't last a long time. Trouble can arise in the form of cracked skins, super dehydration (prevents the future tanning process from giving a quality tan), mold/mildew/rot (from excess moisture via condensation). If possible, I would have my capes tanned and then they can be frozen (properly mind you) and stored for future mounting. Any capes your not going to mount should be sold now, not later. As Mark said, talk to a professional Taxidermist for advice. It might save you in the long run. LDK

If you are storing them in a controlled environment, with a constant, moderate temperature and stable low humidity you will probably be ok for a while with salt dried hides not molding or otherwise deteriorating. Protection against vermin such as mice and rats etc. is a concern and while not nearly as rampant in central California as in some areas hide and horn eating dermestids can be tough to control. Some varieties may have come along in your shipment from Africa and they are not a target species for the decontamination your hides were subjected to in order to meet USDA standards. (Animal diseases are their major concerns not the protection of your trophies!)

So before I subjected anything to storage I would first completely up pack it all, remove and discard all of the packing material, make sure that the horns and skulls are completely clean of any meat or animal tissue and treat them all with a heavy dose of any insecticide containing a "Permethryn" typically found in many flea and tick sprays and fumigation bombs".
Hides can be treated with it as well but it is not as effective and getting them completely treated since they are typically folded and dried hard. So I would also recommend your getting the hides and capes tanned. This can take several months so it might elapse much of the time you are needing to store the items. Once tanned I would still opt for storing them in a freezer.

Best regards
Mike O