Badger Hair Sources

[dabrock]

Maybe we can get a certified humane hair certification for the brush industry.

 

[dabrock]

Buy yourself a portuguese or italian boar. Problem solved

Or horse hair since no animals are harmed just trimmed!

 

[ouch]

After 4 months in rural China years ago, I understand the use of cats and dogs as food. Beatles and grubs are also food sources. This is not because they are barbarians, it is because of poverty and the lack of other food sources. Believe me, wealthy and middle class Chinese are not ordering dog, badger or anything like that for dinner. Theses "meats" are for the poorest of the poor and it is a tragic situation. So it is easy for me to be pragmatic about this "badger" food thing. Even if badger is banned from export in China, it will still be a food source. Yes, in China I know I ate:
dog
scorpions
bumble bees
grubs
larva, etc.
All are good sources of protein, especially scorpions. And all taste pretty good. I have purchased a live chicken and seen it butchered, and they do it just like we do. Most of rural China farms and livestock is rare seen so meat sources are very limited. My breakfast as "A Distinguish Visiting Professor" was over the top compared to what my students and the rest of the rural population would eat. I got scrambled eggs with tomato and either grubs or thin slices of dog meat. Everyone else basically had porridge. (the good part was I also had a beer with breakfast)

So let's end this discussion about food sources and focus on brushes again. Our moral outrage over eating badger is badly misplaced. IMHO

That explains the dinner I had at doc47's house.

 

[rokar]

 

[redrako]

 

[mightyeskimo]

I believe it may be difficult to find badger that doesn't come from China. However I'm by no means an expert, I'm sure some other guys can get you started.

 

[Bhugo]

We can trap badgers in Michigan. From what I understand, the Chinese buy the majority of the furs at the big auction. That's from the guy who buys my furs and takes them to the auction.

 

[NickMach007]

This is an interesting thread. My understanding is that all badger knots are coming from China, but now I have more questions than answers

 

[Charlie Van Dyke]

Let's stay on topic, more discussion on where the OP can find knots and less on what the Chinese eat.

Thank you, BigFoot. I understand that animal sourced products can be a topic of passionate and emotional reaction. It was not my intent to incite such a discussion, I just wanted to clarify my perspective on why I was looking for different producers.

Buy yourself a portuguese or italian boar. Problem solved

Brilliant. If only I had the space and the wife's permission. However, I do have some hairy, piggish neighbors I could offer haircut too; nevermind, too much of a hygiene issue.

Or horse hair since no animals are harmed just trimmed!

This is the direction I think I might start going. I'm thinking something sourced in the US. We have plenty of horses here and I think I remember a B&B member mentioning (on another post) trimming his horses and making knots for sale. I'm also looking into serviceable vintage brushes since they're already out there and many have more charm than modern, mass-produced brushes.
i read earlier that horsehair brushes were common fare until an early 1900's anthrax scare, from which the use of horsehair never recovered from.

We can trap badgers in Michigan. From what I understand, the Chinese buy the majority of the furs at the big auction. That's from the guy who buys my furs and takes them to the auction.

That sounds ridiculous. What beurocratic hypocrisy. If you are allowed to trap and harvest the animal, you should be allowed to process the meat and pelt as well. Doesn't make sense otherwise.