A 22-year-old American was arrested earlier this week for the alleged theft of 299 rare bird skins from a British museum. Authorities believe the young man was selling the pelts to people who tie full-dress Atlantic salmon flies.
The young American - Edwin Rist of Claverack, N.Y., a student in London - knew full well the value of the birds he's accused of stealing from the Natural History Museum at Tring. Rist had been a salmon fly tier since his mid-teens. The flies he tied often contained period-accurate feathers, which he reportedly purchased with money earned by doing odd jobs.
LINK (Via: The Charlestown Gazette)
The next time you see an old mount or ladies hat at your local yard sale consider this:
Most of the feathers available legally were plucked from old taxidermy mounts or Victorian-era ladies' hats, and routinely sell for $8 to $15 or more per feather.