Bot Fly / Heavy Rains

[Jackie in Tampa]

I saw my first Bot Fly afflicted sq today. Fortunately a mild case....so far! With all the rain, we were expecting them.

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

They have got to be one of the most discusting things ever.
I hate to see the poor squirrels with these awful pests. Every year some of my squirrels show up with them.

[skye]

The poor little darling.
I hate them damn things and it's a wonder my yard buddies are not full with them for we had alot of rain for weeks. But so far they are fine haven't seen any yet this year and pray stays that way.

[Sciurus1]

Poor thing, that looks like two in one area! That has got to hurt some!

[Apple Corps]

Jackie - is that a fuzzer you can catch? If so............

[dustinn91]

Just wonderin What happens to the squirrelsin the wild that get them do they stay inside of them or do they leave on there own or... Does the squirrel Die?

[miraclesquirrel]

The squirrel gets the eyes from the nest where they gross flies lay them. They burrow into the squirrel and develop into larva. The larva then pops out of them when it matures. Science says it does not really hurt the squirrel. The holes heal over and you would never know the disgusting things were there. They usually will not kill the squirrel unless they get around the face or the chest in the lungs.
We see them every year in my area. The squirrels can feel them moving and they roll around trying to scratch the area on the ground. I'm always glad when the season is over. So far only one case in my yard this year under the arm.
There are a couple good articles out there about them if you have the time to do some web surfing.

[Jackie in Tampa]

Heads UP!


Bot fly in Tampa....
I will touch BIGGER bases on this later...
I do not advise removal, although for some reason many in the past on TSB think it is good idea...I DO NOT!
If you break off the larvea in the sq, a bad ass infection is 99% gonna follow. Often times causing toxic death..
it is my opinion to leave them alone!
If a sq has several in the same area and they are causing a limb to lose circulation, this would be a different criteria and may need intervention...otherwise they can handle this on their own,,,,pump up the food source if you NEED to do something!
Bot Flies are associated with heavy rain fall, so if you are in drought, this will not occur in your backyard buddies.
It is mating time/season and males fight...leading to common abcesses...sometimes confused with Bot warbles...
both will have fever and hair loss will be evident and redness and lumps will raise.
In the bot fly a black very symetrical dot will appear and as the lump grows and draws skin tight the redness may subside...and the dark dot will grow...after the nasty monsters exits...the skin will flaten immediately...and soon will close and fur will grow back...
I have seen this for years, really not a mediacl emergency at all and nothing we can do to prevent...bummer!

[Secret Squirrel]

We have them here too. I noticed my yard kiddos with them this weekend...this is the first time seeing them this year. I too feel sorry for my kidz but I agree that leaving the squirrels and bot fly larva alone is best.
Nature has a way of taking careing of it's self......as much as I want to fix EVERYTHING... LOL!!!!

[gs1]

How I hate those things...ugh!!!! rabbits get them too (although not the same ones as squirrels). I think they can only be removed by a vet - it's too dangerous otherwise.

It would drive me crazy to see them though ... good vibes to you guys dealing with them.

[heyjamai]

I have a question about bot flies... My Mom noticed a squirrel that has what appears to be bot flies in her yard. Is there an inexpensive medicine or home remedy she can feed to the squirrel to help get rid of it before it gets worse?

(It is a wild squirrel so it would have to be something it would eat on its own)

[island rehabber]

Best thing to do with a wild squirrel is leave it be. As gross as the whole thing seems to us, it really doesn't bother the squirrel that much. There is no medicine that will make the bot come out.

[FallensMommie]

The squirrels in my area are inundated with them...it's awful!

[momma2boo]

The rehabber who was teaching me how to care for my orphaned squirrels (after hurricane charlie) had to remove a bot fly from my baby Boo when he was just a baby. When I first rescued them (3 brothers) I noticed a puncture wound on Boo's neck but thought that it was from the fall from his tree. I began to see it swell and as I researched I realized what it was. It was the grossest thing I had ever seen. I watched her remove it from his neck ... she rolled it out like she was opening a can of sardines. My poor baby. He cried out and then pee peed all over. I scooped him back from her and placed him back down my shirt where he felt the safest.

I still have my Boo to this day.

[Pnerissa]

I hate those MF things! I remember one getting into the head of a kitten we had when I was a teenager. My mom took it to the vet and he removed it by grasping it with a pair of forceps and waiting for the worm to twist itself out. The vet called them "wolves" and "screwworms." He said if left on the head that the damn things would burrow in and usually kill the animal it infected. I don't know how much of that was true but it was the most disgusting damn parasite I've ever seen. GRRRRR.

[PBluejay2]

I hate those MF things! I remember one getting into the head of a kitten we had when I was a teenager. My mom took it to the vet and he removed it by grasping it with a pair of forceps and waiting for the worm to twist itself out. The vet called them "wolves" and "screwworms." He said if left on the head that the damn things would burrow in and usually kill the animal it infected. I don't know how much of that was true but it was the most disgusting damn parasite I've ever seen. GRRRRR.

Unless the animal is so heavily infested with them that they compromise its immune system and they develop other problems (such as infection), bots aren't usually fatal. They're gross as hell, for sure. I've removed a couple myself, and I hate the things, but usually it's best to just let them take their course. They can, however, misdirect, and rather than find their way to the skin, actually infect organs, including the brain. Somewhere I have a pic of a bot in a dog's brain.

[momma2boo]

Boo was so tiny and the position of the bot was beginning to interfere with his ability to swallow so we decided it was best to get it out.

[Rescue04]

We have just seen the first case of it in our area, we have recorded 3 babies so far with them. We caught 1 today who had 5 leisions on him. We removed 2 of them, and noticed one of the woulds was infected. We took him to our re-habber, and she showed us how to remove them, but she agrees not to bother with it unless there is more than three of them on a single squirrel. I was a little nervous about doing it myself, but it was actually not that hard. Once they start coming out - they will almost wiggle thier way out. We are going to keep him contained until we finish his meds....then back out he goes. It was interesting, he struggled a little when we were evaluating him, but after we took the first one out....he relaxed and let us examine him and get the last one out. It was so hard watching him struggle to climb with those things in him. Oh, and we also flushed the wounds out with hydrogen peroxide to clean the wounds. I took some photos for those to see......Not for the faint at heart.

[Rescue04]

Here are the pics.......warning to those with weak stomachs.

[pappy1264]

What ever possessed me to look at this WHEN I WAS EATIN!!!! lol But in all seriousness, I am not sure, but this morning, Fonzi had a bald spot on his back end (where his back and tail 'meet') I did not see anything there, but it has just rained three days straight here! (Are bot flies small? I think I had one one land on me...YUCK!) I will keep an eye on it.