As
I was grooming some horses yesterday, I noticed little yellowish specs stuck to
the horses' hairs, mostly on the hindlimbs and barrel. Did I say stuck? More
liked glued. And a few were epoxy'd. I was told that these were Bot Fly Eggs. I
was handed a grooming block (rectangular piece of pumice stone) and a Bot knife
(fairly sharp and serrated outer curved edge).
Each
tool worked about the same. Some areas it was easy and other areas it was
tedious to remove the eggs. I would own both tools.
And
then there was this bee that was bothering the horses. I shooed it away as
carefully as I could.
This
post is stuck here because I had to look up Bot Fly to find out about them
since I had become exposed to them. So what I did was Google Image Search for
bot fly and found the following in just the first few sites….
Three
types of this internal parasite affect horses, mules, and donkeys.
- Common -
Because it is easiest to find.
- Throat - Yes, that is where they are.
- Nose - You
guessed it.
Eggs
are attached to the hair. (Again, some were epoxy'd) Larvae live in the gut and
when ready leave the horse to the ground. Pupae turn into adults from the
ground. Adults are about the same size as bees and are hairy bodied. (I just
thought I saw a bee.)
They
don't bite. (That's good news but the horses sure knew that they didn't like
him being around.) And they don't eat. The flies are active in the warm weather
months until the first frost. Only one generation life cycle per year. All lay
eggs directly to hair. Site of egg laying differs as well as sites of internal
infestation.
Common
bot eggs are found along the forelegs and flanks. The horse rubs its muzzle and
tongue over the area which cause the larvae to emerge from the eggs. The larvae
are picked up on the tongue where they invade the mucous membrane.
Throat
bot eggs are found under the jaw or throat area. Larva hatch within three to
five days and crawl along the jaw to enter the mouth and penetrate the gumline.
Nose
bot eggs are found on the very fine hairs around the lips, particularly the
upper lip close to the mouth. The eggs hatch in as little as two days and
penetrate the lip and tongue membranes.
The
flies can make the horse unruly and difficult to manage. Mild, moderate, or
severe symptoms can appear from internal infestation. Ulcer perforation and
death can be an extreme case.
You
must break the insect's life cycle and stop its development. More on
medications, deworming, and veterinarians later.
