BEND, Ore. Mark Thill's flesheating beetles are hungry.
As the retired fishermanturnedtaxidermist prepared to open the shed where he keeps his beetle colony, he said he had not given the insects fresh meat in a couple of days. He wanted to try and temper the putrid odor coming from their plexiglass and metal cage.
Thill, 42, is the only taxidermist in Central Oregon with a colony of dermestid beetles, according to local taxidermists. He uses the beetles to clean flesh from bones.
"You've got to wear gloves, they're so highly contagious," Thill said, stepping up into the dark shed. "Just a little peck will get north face fleece clearance so infected. You figure the rotten meat they eat is really septic."
Inside a homemade enclosure, Thill's 35,000 black Dermestes maculatus finished picking clean some animal skulls wrapped in towels. The beetles eat faster in the dark, he said.
Thill identified the nearly finished skulls: wild boar, buffalo, blacktailed deer, ram and bobcat. Clusters of the black, beansized beetles swarmed on top of the towels, a sign that their work is done.
"Now I just hang them up and let them crawl off when they want to and then for sure they've gotten all the meat," said Thill.
Dermestid beetle north face clearance jackets colonies have long been used by taxidermists and others in the scientific community for their ability to delicately eat the muscle and connective tissue from bones to prepare them for display, said experts.
There is no special license required to own dermestid beetles, although a permit is needed to carry certain types of beetles across state lines, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
Thill learned about the beetles as a student at the Missoula Valley School of Taxidermy in Montana, where a local woman kept a colony. Nearly two years ago, Thill decided that raising his own beetle colony could set him apart from other taxidermists in Central Oregon.
Thill began his colony with 25 beetles that he purchased through a colleague in Montana. Thill was elk hunting when the beetles arrived, so his wife, Dana, put them in their living room in a butter dish with air holes in it and fed them hamburger meat until her husband returned home.
As the colony grew, Thill moved them into a 50gallon drum, and finally, into his current setup. He has spent close to $5,000 raising and caring for the beetles, he said.
The biggest challenge is temperature sensitivity the beetles thrive at temperatures above 80 degrees, and will die in temperatures below 40 degrees, said Thill. There are other issues, including the smell and keeping the bugs secure.
"You've really got to babysit them," said Dana Thill, who wears a face mask and gloves when helping her husband care for the beetles.
The beetles can eat through wood and plastic, but Thill said they cannot escape their plexiglass cage.
"I have them well contained," he said. "If one or two did get out, I don't think they'd survive in Oregon. They certainly wouldn't make it through the winter."
According to the California Academy of Sciences, the dermestid beetle's accelerated life cycle makes them great bonecleaners. In approximately 45 days, a newly hatched beetle will reach adulthood, mate and begin laying eggs, often inside a food source.
"As soon as they get hatched out of their eggs, they're looking for their first meal," said Thill, who estimates that each of his beetles lays up to five eggs per day.
A typical female dermestid beetle will lay more than 400 eggs during her 100day life span, according to the California Academy of Sciences.
Thill said game hunters from as far as Florida and Tennessee have shipped heads to him for cleaning.
Many hunters prefer skull mounts to traditional head mounts because they have a cleaner look, said Thill. Also, skull mounts are less expensive.
Thill's work can cost as little as $75 for a finished alligator head up to 1 foot long, and as much as $175 for a moose.
Right now, Thill said he is pulling in close to $2,000 worth of business per month with his beetles, but he said he gets busier during hunting seasons.