# Wolves in squirrels?



## lastofthebreed

When I was young, my Dad an I went squirrel hunting a lot.  The season typically opened around the 15th of September so we made quite a few hunts early in the fall.

A lot of the squirrels we shot had lumps under the skin and, when we dressed our game, an ugly gray worm would be found to be causing the lump.  I asked my Dad what these worms were called and he said "wolves".  I asked him why the squirrels we killed later in the season didn't have "wolves" and he said the frost killed them.

I've since learned these are the larvae of the bot fly.  The larvae leave the squirrel and fall to the ground to complete their life cycle.

My question is - Has anybody else heard of these larvae refered to as "wolves"?


----------



## hevishot

oh yea...all the time.


----------



## dawg2

A lot of people call them Wolf Worms.


----------



## lakelbr

I always heard of them as "wolves" and don't hunt prior to first frost.


----------



## MKW

*Yep*

"Wolves" is the only thing that I've ever heard them called.

Mike


----------



## Wishin I was Fishin

thats what we always called em
still do


----------



## crackerdave

That's what I've always heard 'em called,too. They are delicious breaded and deep-fried to a crispy golden brown.


----------



## LittleBocephus

thats what my dad always called them.
shot one this past weekend with a big lump on its neck


----------



## packrat

*wolves*



rangerdave said:


> That's what I've always heard 'em called,too. They are delicious breaded and deep-fried to a crispy golden brown.



McNuggets


----------



## ranger1977

rangerdave said:


> That's what I've always heard 'em called,too. They are delicious breaded and deep-fried to a crispy golden brown.



mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............


----------



## dawg2

packrat said:


> McNuggets



Actually they are Mc Maggots.


----------



## Jessehall

never heard em called anything other than wolves


----------



## lastofthebreed

I did a little research there is an interesting article about this phenomenon  at this link.  I guess, technically, they're called "warbles".
http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek040915.html


----------



## Wetzel

Jessehall said:


> never heard em called anything other than wolves


Same here.


----------



## MSU bowhunter

yeah, that is what i have always heard them called. 

kinda freaky, but i guess the squirrells don't mind.


----------



## Jody Hawk

That's why I don't like the season opening in August. Squirrells are full of wolves at this time, I seen one bowhunting a few weeks ago that had wolves. Most folks won't eat one that has wolves so it is thrown away.


----------



## OkieHunter

Must be an eastern thang cause I have never heard or seen such a thing on any squirrel I have ever killed


----------



## Son

Yep, wolves is the most common name. Found in all kinds of animals, squirrels, rabbits, even large game such as deer and in livestock.


----------



## Robust Redhorse

"Wolves" are what I've always heard them called.  

I've been told that squirrels don't usually have them until about the first of September.  

I killed a few during the first couple of weeks of the season that didn't have them, but I have seen wolves during the last few days on squirrels on my wife's birdfeeder.


----------



## ALLBEEF

Yeah - I've seen em' - and that is what I have always heard them called - They make me want to gag.


----------



## bnew17

yeah, they are called wolves and like many people have said so far they are about as nasty lookin thing as you can find. i killed a squirrel in early season 4 years ago and went to clean it and almost ralphed.


----------



## DSGB

lakelbr said:


> I always heard of them as "wolves" and don't hunt prior to first frost.



Same here.


----------



## crokseti

Dont let a bot fly bite ya, or you'll get one too.
Saw some guy on t.v. had one on his belly and tried to raise it. He eventually didnt have the stomache for it tho.


----------



## Twenty five ought six

> I always heard of them as "wolves" and don't hunt prior to first frost.



ditto.

Tell me the squirrels are safe to eat all you want to, I'm not eating them.

Never let the facts triumph over well founded prejudice.


----------



## GrlsHnt2

I have heard of them. The first frost kills them off and then they are safe to eat. My husband won't even hunt them before frost b/c he says they still have wolves in them and you can't eat them. I don't know if you really can't eat them at that time, but I wouldn't want to!


----------



## wandering cowboy

I've always heard em called wolves but the wife says they are warbles. ( she ain't from around heyah). We had a cat that recently had one.
Nathan


----------



## Tenderfoot

> We had a cat that recently had one.


 My MIL's cat has one. How did you get rid of it? 



> McMaggots


----------



## Goose 15

They look like a cross between a grub worm and a maggot.They attach to the outer skin of squirrels.They die off on the first freeze.


----------



## Muddyfoots

Tenderfoot said:


> My MIL's cat has one. How did you get rid of it?
> 
> We use to "boil" them out with peroxide....


----------



## Twenty five ought six

> Tell me the squirrels are safe to eat all you want to, I'm not eating them.



Yeppers, there are just some "facts" that even a college edification wo't overcome.


----------



## Mr. Fishunt

*Wolves*

If you guys really want to be disgusted, do a Google search on the "human botfly larvae".
The stories and pictures are not for the squeamish.


Regards,
Mr. Fishunt


----------



## wandering cowboy

Tenderfoot said:


> My MIL's cat has one. How did you get rid of it?




we actually pulled the wolve out with tweezers and then doctored the area. It was something you'd probably not want to do just before or just after dinner!  LOL
Nathan


----------



## potsticker

I kept telling you guys that the dnr released red wolves in ga. in the 70's.


----------



## MustangMAtt30

lastofthebreed said:


> When I was young, my Dad an I went squirrel hunting a lot.  The season typically opened around the 15th of September so we made quite a few hunts early in the fall.
> 
> A lot of the squirrels we shot had lumps under the skin and, when we dressed our game, an ugly gray worm would be found to be causing the lump.  I asked my Dad what these worms were called and he said "wolves".  I asked him why the squirrels we killed later in the season didn't have "wolves" and he said the frost killed them.
> 
> I've since learned these are the larvae of the bot fly.  The larvae leave the squirrel and fall to the ground to complete their life cycle.
> 
> My question is - Has anybody else heard of these larvae refered to as "wolves"?




Yes that is what we called them.  I have seen them when I used to rabbit hunt in Coweta County. We found some on rabbits.  I am not sure if the frost kills them though.  It was pretty dang cold when we were killing rabbits.  

They don't infect waterfowl do they?


----------



## heyfuji

I know up north alot of small game has them until the first frost, up there they called them Warbles


----------



## Vernon Holt

*Wolves in Squirrels*



heyfuji said:


> *"I know up north alot of small game has them until the first frost, up there they called them Warbles*."


 
Down south, "Warbles" are the little gray songbirds that visit my feeder daily. 

"First frost" has nothing to do with their disappearance.  They have a life cycle just like every other creature.  When their larval stage of the cycle is complete, they depart the host animal, fall to the ground, bury into the soil where they pupate until hatching as adults.

It just so happens that the ending of the larval stage coincides with the arrival of cold weather.


----------



## redneckcamo

yepp we always called em wolves too.........gaggggggg


----------



## CassGA

What do you call "wolves" found on an actual wolf?


----------



## Andrew256

lakelbr said:


> I always heard of them as "wolves" and don't hunt prior to first frost.



+1.


----------



## Jayrod

I usually don't squirrel hunt before November because of the wolves in the squirrels.  

Most of our cows would get them in their back during the summer...we'd put their head in a vice(you know a cow holder thing-a-majig) and put a coke bottle top side down over where the wolf was... hit the bottom of the bottle with the palm of our hand and the wolf would shoot up into the bottle....kind of gross huh...then we'd pour turpinetine into the hole to prevent infection.  The cows didn't like that a bit   Once had a cat get one in his nose... by the time we got around to getting it out, it had eaten away the membrane between the nostrils...made for a funny looking cat, but he lived a long happy life afterwards.

Jayrod


----------



## Vernon Holt

When growing up on a farm, we would occasionally have a cow with Bots on her back.  My Dad would place a layer of table salt over the infested area.  The salt would penetrate into the sac that contained the Bot and would within a few days result in death of the parasite.

Jayrod, might you be speaking of a stanchion??  This is a device that we used in the barn for restraining a cow while being milked.


----------



## Snakeman

Vernon Holt said:


> Jayrod, might you be speaking of a stanchion??  This is a device that we used in the barn for restraining a cow while being milked.


I was thinking more along the lines of a head gate.

The Snakeman


----------



## Vernon Holt

*Wolves in Squirrels*



Snakeman said:


> "*I was thinking more along the lines of a head gate." *The Snakeman


 

And I was thinking along the lines of a stantion


----------



## dawg2

Vernon Holt said:


> When growing up on a farm, we would occasionally have a cow with Bots on her back.  My Dad would place a layer of table salt over the infested area.  The salt would penetrate into the sac that contained the Bot and would within a few days result in death of the parasite.
> 
> Jayrod, might you be speaking of a stanchion??  This is a device that we used in the barn for restraining a cow while being milked.



Mr. Holt, are "Wolves" the same thing that get into cats too?  We had a cat got a "worm" right in the front of the neck where she could not even meow.  That was a botfly too, right?


----------



## Vernon Holt

I have only seen them in rabbits, squirrels, and cattle.  Have never seen them infesting a cat.  I would suspect that a cat could well be infested with them.

There is a nasal bot that infests the nasal and sinus passages of animals.  If the bot was in the facial area it could be a nasal bot, but if it was in the neck area it would be the more common bot.


----------



## Jayrod

Yep those are the restraints we had...ours was home-made though, made out of wood.   

Dawg2 ...we had another cat get one in its neck...it didn't live a long and happy life like the previous cat described

Jayrod


----------



## deersled

I killed a doe this year that had them things in her lungs. When I dressed her I noticed a "grub-like" thing moving around in the bullet hole in her lungs. I spoke with a biologist and he explained the bot fly. Nothing wrong with the meat. Matter of fact, I had some of her backstrap last night......mmmmmmm-mmmmmmm!!!! Never ate a squirrel with em, but I reckon it would be fine.


----------



## dawg2

Vernon Holt said:


> I have only seen them in rabbits, squirrels, and cattle.  Have never seen them infesting a cat.  I would suspect that a cat could well be infested with them.
> 
> There is a nasal bot that infests the nasal and sinus passages of animals.  If the bot was in the facial area it could be a nasal bot, but if it was in the neck area it would be the more common bot.



It was on the front of the neck.  This was years ago, and there was a nasty sore.  Took it to the vet and it seems like they said it was some kind of fly larvae.  This was nearly 20 years ago.  


Jayrod said:


> Yep those are the restraints we had...ours was home-made though, made out of wood.
> 
> Dawg2 ...we had another cat get one in its neck...it didn't live a long and happy life like the previous cat described
> 
> Jayrod


It looked really nasty.  I am thinking it could easily kill a cat with infection if not treated.


----------



## abrannon

I have seen the nasal Bot flys in Hogs.  As if the smell was not bad enough when you are cleaning the hog, to see "Maggots" falling out of the nose, is just great.  It makes you want to fire up the grill right away.

I have seen the "Wolves" in squirels, and rabbits. After cleaning, the ones that dont have wolves I keep, the ones that do get "donated" to friends  . 

Anyone want some rabbit?????


----------

