15 Strange Uses for Shedded Dog, Cat and Horse Hair
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If you’re anything like me, (and I suspect you are or you wouldn’t be reading this) dog, cat and horse hair and fur is an ongoing problem.
For people like us, shedding “season” is every single day. Long haired cats, short-haired dogs, horse mane and tail hair; there is no shortage of this highly renewable resource!
So we decided to take on the challenge of finding useful ways to dispose of it.
Here are fifteen unique (and often a bit disturbing) ways to utilize your pet’s excess fur. (And if that’s not enough for us, we have 10 more ways to use fur in 10 Creative Uses for Hair and Hairballs and even some creative ways you can use hairballs in this article, 15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Hairballs!)
But here are our favorites…
[heading style=”1″ color=”#006666″ style_color=”#006666″]1. Help Birds make Nests[/heading]Birds like to stay warm in winter and many of them seek out specialty fur to build their nests nice and comfy. Not only does fur insulate, but it is very soft and most birds love it as a nest building material.
We learned that we can help birds by putting our dog and cat fur into a suet feeder like this:
(Credit: Wild About Birds)
But if you have a husky or Persian cat, you may want to consider a larger feeder. This is one the husky lovers use:
(Credit: husky lovers )
[heading style=”1″ color=”#006666″ style_color=”#006666″]2. Make Fishing Lures[/heading]It’s a little known fact that strands of your horse’s mane and tail make excellent fishing lures. Apparently, the furry portion of your dog and cat’s fur can be “dubbed onto the body of the fishing lure” to create more lifelike movement.
(Credit: HookHack)
If you’re out in the wilderness, don’t forget to look for deer and elk hair! Their hair (and we suspect a horse’s mane and tail hair) can be used on the lure as they have very unique “flaring” properties.
[heading style=”1″ color=”#006666″ style_color=”#006666″]3. Protect Your Garden from Pests[/heading]If you have dogs, chances are good you won’t have many problems with this, but just in case, you can stuff the fur into some old pantyhose and hang around the garden to help keep deer and rabbits out of your garden.
According to the Post-Gazette, a woman named Joyce Zilliot “…stuffs dog hair into panty hose, which she arranges “spread-eagled” around her vegetable gardens and flower beds.”
Apparently, she’s been doing this for years, and she swears deer and rabbits don’t eat her plantings.
(Photo credit: Almanac)
[heading style=”1″ color=”#006666″ style_color=”#006666″]4. Spin Into Yarn[/heading]Dog fur that’s been spun into yarn is known as Cheingora. It’s remarkable properties include being even warmer than sheep’s wool and more repellent to water! If you have a long haired breed, this is the choicest fur to use for spinning, but pretty much any type of fur can be spun into yarn and then knitted into a nice, warm sweater or comfy pair of socks.
Remember that it’s easier to spin hair that’s been brushed rather than cut!
Here’s part one of several instructional videos that have been put together by the German Shepherd community and show you how carding and spinning dog fur is actually done.
[bt_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZowsUs0JHw” width=”600″ height=”400″ responsive=”yes” autoplay=”no”][/bt_youtube]How does a nice warm pair of cat fur socks sound to you? Why not take a spinning class to learn how to put your pet’s fur to good use? The book, Crafting with Cat Hair will teach you how to do this and more!
