tortoise pick problem

[mandomaker]

Does anyone else ever have problems with a tortoise shell pick being damaged by some parasite or organism in such a way that it looks like a slice of brown swiss cheese? Some critter has messed up my pick and there are no teeth marks, just clean holes. #I am bummed out about it and would like to prevent a recurrance, but don't know what I'm dealing with. #It may be a relative of the little thing that chomped its way across my fiddle bow's horsehair as clean as you please. Thanks. #PS I'm told mothballs help keep the latter critter down, but I am sure some member of this elite forum can help.

[sunburst]

It's the same critter that eats the bow hair.
Keep them in a tin with a tight lid, or any tight-closing container.

[danb]

what critter is it? Never heard of a critter that eats picks & bow hair?

[Martin Jonas]

Carpet or cabinet beetles, according to Ralf Leenen here.

Martin

[sunburst]

I'm told 'bow mites'. Don't really know what a bow mite is...

I know bow mites eat horse hair, I've never heard of them eating tortoise picks but heck, anything is possible. It could also be divine retribution for using one of them endangered species picks.

I did a Google image search for "bow mite" and I got this picture. Personally I'm shocked that the folks at Oscar Meyer would anything to do with eating a horsehair bow.

[Ted Eschliman]

Simply, moths...

Our repair shop crew hate to have to tell customers about this when they bring their long-stored and hairless violin bows in. It's not like telling them they have leprosy or anything; really this is quite common, at least in our part of the world.

Cured by putting (you guessed it) moth balls in the case.

[danb]

I just tried that Ted, but how do you get their little legs apart to remove them?

[Scott Tichenor]

<me_slaps_head>

[sunburst]

OK, this is so far off topic that I should be punished, but I once met one of those weinermobiles out on the interstate. If you have your fiddle case in the car when you see one of those things on the road, it's the back of the SUV in front of you that is likely to eat your bow hair, along with the whole fiddle, before you get your eyes back on the road!

[JEStanek]

I just tried that Ted, but how do you get their little legs apart to remove them?

Mercy! "I love the smell of naptha in the morning. It smells like an Old Time jam."

Hair and fingernails are made of the protien keratin. The outerlayers of turtle shell is keratin as well. Whatever eats horsehair bows will likely eat TS picks given the chance.

"The inner layer of a turtle's shell is made up of about 60 bones that includes portions of the backbone and the ribs, meaning the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell. In most turtles, the outer layer of the shell is covered by horny scales called scutes that are part of its outer skin, or epidermis. Scutes are made up of a fibrous protein called keratin that also makes up the scales of other reptiles. These scutes overlap the seams between the shell bones and add strength to the shell." Wikipedia.

There are also many microorganisms that produce keratinases (enzymes that break down keratin protien). Many of these organisms are common to soils which means they're all over the place. Many of these organisms could be very useful in the tannery industry as a natural means of de-hairing hides for leather production.

Dr. Science stepping off the podium.

Jamie

I stand in awe. First that anyone used the old mothballs joke and second that anyone had a plausible explanation of the connection between horsehair and tortoise shell.

[Jerry Byers]

On the positive side, that little critter was adding a grip to your pick - naturally.

[otterly2k]

Thanks, Dr. Science!!

[Dale Ludewig]

Ya know, I always have thought that the cafe was a wonderful place to learn things. Now I'm positive. So how many of you did offensive things to little critters with a magnifying glass when you were children?

[Lane Pryce]

Camphor crystals are a very nice alternative to moth balls. Clean case don't hurt none either!! Lp

So how many of you did offensive things to little critters with a magnifying glass when you were children?

That's kind of a personal question don't ya think?

[Tim Saxton]

I ran into one of those bugs just in the last few couple months. He was so damn hungry he ate the entire pick!!!

[Rick Lindstrom]

With all the weiner talk going on,I don't know if anyone mentioned that these bugs are called dermestid beetles. Here's a link:

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg154.html

I used to do a lot of bow rehairing, and these varmints are indeed the scourge of bowhair and other protein/ keratin items. The key is that they like to do their work undisturbed, so they damage bows that aren't in frequent use. The moral of the story is to play often.

Dermestids are also sometimes known as "museum beetles" because they attack mounted animals and the like. Some museums also keep colonies of the beetles for a legitimate purpose: drop the corpse of any small animal in a jar full of these bugs, and eventually you get a clean-picked skeleton with not a trace of flesh remaining. Then you mount the skeleton for display purposes.

Mandolin (sort of) content: Remember to "pick it clean".

Rick

[Flowerpot]

"It's the same critter that eats the bow hair.
Keep them in a tin with a tight lid, or any tight-closing container."

Of course, the tricky part is getting the bugs to jump inside the tin...

(This is turning into a whole thread of bad jokes...)

Of course, the tricky part is getting the bugs to jump inside the tin...

That's the easy part. Just throw one of your tortoise shell picks in the tin. They really like those.

We've gone full circle.

[gschmidt]

Weirdest thread ever?

[ronlane3]

to be politically correct you should not be using TS, so my suggestion is that you send all of the TS to me and I will put it in a safe place guarded at all times, so that noone will be tempted to use this material.

Can you protect the picks from the bugs? As a matter of course I always keep my picks in the can with the exception of those that I keep in the kitchen but that's another story.

[Strange1]

no one ever seem to think about the poor bugs. They gotta have food just like the rest of us. How would you like it if everything you ate had moth balls in it or was locked up. Viva la bugs.

Jack