# Bot Fly in GA?



## mdgreco191

I was reading about how squirrels and rabbits, as well as other game animals, can have Bot Fly larvae under their skin.  Do we have those in GA?  I was gonna do some small game hunting for the first time this year and wanted to be safe.  Can you eat an animal that had these if you remove them?


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## Bkeepr

My dog got a bot fly, ewww!  Squirrel bots are called "wolfs", just cut away that part and eat the rest!


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## state159

Yes some squirrels will have them until it cools down. They look really nasty and I cannot talk myself into eating one that's infected.


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## mdgreco191

Anyone have a picture?


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## Jim Thompson

state159 said:


> Yes some squirrels will have them until it cools down. They look really nasty and I cannot talk myself into eating one that's infected.



same here, I quit squirrell hunting the early season to keep from wasting them


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## Twenty five ought six

state159 said:


> Yes some squirrels will have them until it cools down. They look really nasty and I cannot talk myself into eating one that's infected.



Andrew Zimmer would eat the squirrel AND the wolf.

You're not saying he's a better man than you are you?

Some folks call the larva "warbles."


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## Twenty five ought six

mdgreco191 said:


> Anyone have a picture?



<img src="http://www.michigan.gov/images/warbles_20091_7.jpg" style="width: 400px; height: 273px; border: 0" alt="imgTag"  />


<img src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcST4se1UTXEuIq2t_gvSbhHs_xlGAoU2yF8GoJ8sM9mF1syluWusg" style="width: 240px; height: 210px; border: 0" alt="imgTag"  />


<img src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRx0LbuuQvGwlkhWTlQgnbj6p7oca9jKuW4eq42IKHQ8Hxg_gHB" style="width: 259px; height: 194px; border: 0" alt="imgTag"  />


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## CAL

Twenty five ought six said:


> Andrew Zimmer would eat the squirrel AND the wolf.
> 
> You're not saying he's a better man than you are you?
> 
> Some folks call the larva "warbles."



I ain't caring what kind of man he is.I ain't eating one of them nasty infected critters.


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## mdgreco191

That gives me goose bumps!  I don't think I could eat one with that image in the back of my head!

Are infected squirrels common?  I have never seen one and I have tons in my backyard.


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## Chuck Terry

My Dad would not let my shoot squirrels until a couple of weeks after the first frost so they would not likely have "wolves" or sores.  It would probably be okay to cut out the wound and eat the rest but we threw them away and waited before hunting again.  When season opened in August it seemed like an eternity waiting for frost (normally October)!


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## gemcgrew

Twenty five ought six said:


> Some folks call the larva "warbles."



That is what we always called them. I have not seen any in rabbits here but it is mid November before we get up close and personal.


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## bowkill71

dont believe i could eat one either


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## goose buster

I've seen them in rabbits but it's been awhile.


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## arrendale8105

Killed a many a squirrel with them here in south georgia.  Like said in earlier post just cut away infected spot and the rest is fine.  No different that intestional parasites all wild animals have.  Eats just fine


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## Brian Groce

The one I seen on a squirrel came off with the skin. It only left a bright pink spot where it was.


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## brian lancaster

Iheard to put that in your soup beans while cooking to flavor em good.


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## pine nut

While they are not common they will occasionally get into a dog or cat, usually a pup or kitten but I have seen them in adults on one occasion. Dogs and cats aren't the usual host.   If you see a round hole watch the hole for a few seconds to a couple of minutes, you will see the larva stick its rear up into the hole to breathe.  Care should be exercised in removal to prevent anaphalactic shock in the patient.  Do not rupture the larva!  Its protiens inside of it may cause the shock to come on if tyou rupture it while trying to remove it.  First enlarge the hole and then carefully grasp to worm/maggot and extract it.  It takes a while for the wound to quit weeping and heal up.  They are really gross when they surface in an eye or ear!  The maggot has barbs which help it grip the walls of the hole it is in.
It is rare in a dog or cat but does happen.  Cows get them too!


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## jigman29

I will hunt hard for the first 2 weeks of season then they start to show up bad.I will usually wait till a couple of weeks after the first frost then they are pretty much gone.I know people who will cut off the part they are in and eat the rest but I can't bring myself to eat them after I saw that nasty stuff on them.If you want a real treat squeeze one out lol that will tell you how strong your stomach is.


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## Coastie

They aren't infected, they merely have a Bot Fly Larvae under their skin. There is nothing wrong or harmful about the meat, the larvae is typically just under the skin and you cannot tell where it was after the skin has been removed.


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## Son

I've seen em in the rumen too.


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## wclawrence

I heard Chuck Norris eats em.


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## flsurveyor34

Dogs on ivomec cant get them.


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## Whiteeagle

They are under the dermis on top of the epidermis and pose no health hazzard to either animal or human. Kinda like blackheads on your teenager.


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## Forest Grump

Yes, we have bot flies in GA: bot flies lay eggs on the skin which hatch when the animal licks them, stick to the tongue, & are swallowed & take up residence in the stomach. Ivermectin will kill them, but not at the dose used in dogs to prevent heart worm.

What you are describing is called a cuterebra. Its normal host is rabbits & squirrels, but it will occasionally parasitize cats or dogs, as described above by pine nut. 
They need to be surgically removed, carefully, because of the risk of anaphylactic reaction if the parasite ruptures, so if in a pet or a cow, consult your veterinarian. Ivermectin is not used to kill or prevent them. If in a wild animal, they may be miserable for a bit, but seem to ignore it & it is not fatal. I don't know that I would suggest eating an affected animal, but the parasite is confined to the skin & subcutaneous tissue, it's just grotesque, having a big black maggot the diameter of a pencil in a big cystic cavity yak!


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## tim scott

"the diameter of a pencil"??????? first one i ever saw up close was out west. i was with three friends and had been rabbit hunting and we were standing around an old table cleaning the rabbits when this thing the size of a mans thumb rolled out from under the skin. hate to admit it but i know we all sounded like a bunch of little girls...eeeek. two of the guys turned around and threw up, the third started making these gagging sounds.... that was enough for me. picked up my knife and gun, told them they could have my rabbits and left. eat the rabbits??? no way!!!!! in fact i couldn't gag down anything for two days, that ugly gross thing was awful. i knew what it was as i'd seen the lumps on the backs of cattle and had been told all about them and how to remove them from the cattle by an old wrangler friend that taught me how to ride but still i wasn't ready for the sight of it up close.
tim


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## Y.T.

I read somewhere that if you tie a few strips of bacon around the embedded larva that after a couple of days it will have moved itself into the bacon...


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## dwh8417

Pour hydrogen peroxide over the wound and the worm will start to crawl out, then grab it and pull slowly.  They are just big fat grub worms and are great for fishing


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