In 2015, Indian law enforcement seized 14,000 mongoose-hair paintbrushes from a distributor in a coastal town of southwestern India, the Times of India reported. The middlemen consolidate hair from many villages and sell it to factories to produce paintbrushes. One mongoose provides a small handful of hair. Hunters pull the fur off the skin, keeping the meat for themselves and selling the hair to middlemen. Indigenous hunters typically trap mongooses using snares or nets and then beat them to death with clubs, according to a documentary the Wildlife Trust of India produced. These brushes are sometimes sold directly to buyers in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, and sometimes they’re passed off as sable or badger paintbrushes, which are legal. How does a mongoose stand up to a cobra? You might be surprised at the outcome. Mongoose brushes are considered as fine brushes by artists across the world.” “The domestic trade is down, but the international trade is what drives the trade. “The production of mongoose-hair brushes is still ongoing,” says Jose Louies, of the Wildlife Trust of India. Although we don’t know how many are killed today, experts say the black market continues to thrive. In the early 2000s some 50,000 mongooses-the most recent data available, according to the nonprofit Wildlife Trust of India-were being killed annually. As recently as August, Indian officials arrested people suspected of smuggling 12 pounds of mongoose hair, the equivalent of more than 130 animals, the New Indian Express reported. Yet the poaching and the black market continue to this day. Their fur makes expensive-and illegal-paintbrushes for artists.Īs long ago as 1972, India prohibited the hunting, selling, and buying of mongooses and mongoose parts, including their hair, because of overhunting for their fur. It can fight a cobra, kill a snake with one bite, and keep a farmer’s field clear of mice, rats, and insects.īut to some in India, which is home to six species of the ferret-like animal, they’re valuable in another way. I know they don't make the brushes from this type of squirrel, but the concept is still the same.Įven though they can be a nuisance and my mom tries to keep them out of her yard, I don't like the idea of using their hair to apply my makeup.The fearsome mongoose. If I have ever bought one to use for myself, I was unaware that it was made with squirrel hair.Īs I watch the squirrels outside my window run up and down the trees, I have a hard time thinking about using their hair on my face. I never knew they used squirrel hair for makeup brushes and applicators. These are probably not made from squirrel hair, which is fine with me.įrom now on, I will probably make sure to notice what type of material my makeup brushes are made of. Someone told me once to go to an art supply store and you can buy great brushes for a much more reasonable price.Įven though they are sold as art brushes, they work great for your makeup as well. I know some makeup brushes can be quite expensive. I guess I never thought much about what type of hair they use for makeup brushes. Since squirrel brushes are considered higher quality, I probably have never used one. I usually use whatever comes with the blush or buy my makeup brushes at a discount store. I have never spent a lot of money on my blush brushes. What is the Difference Between a Squirrel and a Chipmunk?.
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