I was sifting through the refuse portion of my fly tying cabinet and came across a rooster cape that had some suspicious mold on it. Then I started thinking of the recent article in Fly Tyer Magazine about H1N1 virus and the possibilities of contracting it while tying flies. Hmmm maybe I should call hazmat? Or maybe I'm just over reacting to simple taxidermy mold. I decided to unwrap the neck and further investigate so I scraped a biopsy sized sample stuck it in a fly bin cup with a cover and tossed it in my car. I took it to my sons lab science hall. He teaches biology so I thought he may be able to enlighten me on my newly acquired specimen. He first put it under a stereoscope, then moved to the high power Nikon Optiphot 66 thing a ma jig. He quickly smiled and told me my offering was simply a type of black mold “Stachybotrys atra” He said that it is harmless unless fully inhaled, swallowed, or exposed to for long periods of time. He also said not to lick my fingers while applying dubbing because it could make me sick. So I decided I was going to simply wash the neck with warm dove soapy water. It did the trick. Stuck a little silica gel pack from the gun store in with it and now can sleep well knowing I'm not going to be found slumped over dead at my fly tying desk.
Dave
