Anyone who reads this blog knows that I am a card-carrying bird geek. I love them, I'm fascinated by them, I can't get enough of them. Same goes for bird's nests. I have one I bought in Tennessee many years ago (goes on the Christmas tree every year) and another I found after a windstorm, attached to a palm frond. And I bought this one on Saturday, at a really cool place to be blogged about tomorrow (an antique/curiosity/barn sale shop). So sweet...rather haphazard, but I'm sure it did the job nicely. Lots of materials utilized: animal hair (horse tail/mane?), twigs, straw, and even a bit of green webbing.
See the green plastic stuff? So amazing and cool.But here's where the "fail" comes in: I saw a teeny bug on the tissue paper it was wrapped in, so I set it outside to sort of bake in the sun. I just thought, "hmmm, a little bug." I decided to google how to "sterilize" nests--I thought in the oven at low heat, freezing?
And then: I encountered a million gross sites about--wait for it--BIRD MITES!!!!! Gross little mites that infest birds (particularly baby birds) and their nests apparently continue to reside in the nests after the birds have flown the coop. And these mites will infest houses, people, dogs, etc. Absolute horror stories abound about infestations that nothing will cure short of a nuclear blast or an acid bath. Advice was along the lines of "put on a Hazmat suit, pick up your 10-foot-long-tongs, and seal those suckers away in a lead case."
So, sadly, I double-bagged the sweet little nest and put in in the garbage. And then had a hallucinogenic itch attack. The end.
5 comments:
Okay, my scalp is itching out of control right now after reading your post. I guess it was horror-filled because it's almost THAT DAY: Halloween!!!!! Aaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
mativele: the ghost of Mativele's Mites infested the nest and then came to life!
Very scary!! I gues nature has its good and not so good features. Glad you looked it up!!
ANnette
I'm with Robin. I'm itching just thinking about it. WOW. It makes you wonder!
doustpro
You would need a doustpro to clean up all of those mites!
i have several bird nests in my house, one a weaver bird nest from africa. i've never seen any bugs or had any infestation. sometimes ignorance is bliss, no?
Okay, well then. I've had many a natural birds nest and feathers. Never once saw a "bug". I know that they can harbor lice but I've not seen any and, yes I know all about those nasties. All and all I'm so sorry that your little treasure was "contaminated". I would have done the same thing by throwing it out. Although... you might could've sealed it in plastic for a while to smother the creatures. That's what they recommend for lice and stuffed animals. Oh, well.
hugs!
kat
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