Pet Care Tips, Advice and Information

Horse botflies specialize in attacking animals of the horse family, though occasionally a young larva, or bot, burrows into the skill oaf human being. Three of the four species of these flies are common in the United States.

The nose botfly hovers about the head of a horse and suddenly darts in to attach its eggs, one at a time, to hairs on the lips. When the eggs hatch, the young bets burrow for a month or so in the mucous membrane lining the mouth. They then pass to the stomach and intestines, where they remain 8 to 11 months, perforating the lining membranes and causing considerable damage in addition to paving the way for germ infections. Finally, grown to full size, they pass tithe rectum and thence leave the animal. On or in the ground, the larvae become pupae and then develop into flies.

The throat botfly attaches its eggs to hairs not on the lips but under the jaw. The young larvae crawl into the mouth and establish themselves in pockets in the gums, between the molars. Then they too pass to the stomach and intestines.

The common horse botfly attaches its eggs to hairs on the horse’s body and legs, usually on the inner side of the knee. These eggs will not hatch until the horse bites and rubs the infested spot. Then, stimulated by the warmth and rubbing, the larvae burst the eggs open, stick to the horse’s lips, burrow into the mucous membranes of the lips and tongue, and ultimately pass to the stomach and intestines.

The attacks of nose and throat botflies, especially the former, are maddening to horses, and they do everything they can to escape the creatures.

The adult flies cannot eat, and the females are simply egg-laying machines; hence they cannot be attracted to traps or poisoned bait.

Nor is there any practical way of killing the eggs. Three methods of are use, however.

1. As a protection against the attacks of the nose botfly, fasten broad hand, 4 to 6 inches wide, beneath the lips, attaching the ends to the bit rings. A piece of burlap hung under the jaw will similarly keep off the throat botfly. Unfortunately these simple devices cannot be used readily while the animals are grazing.
2. After heavy freezes have killed all common botfli.es, rub the infested parts of the horse’s legs with a swab or sponge soaked with warm water (105′ to 110°F.). This causes many of the eggs to hatch, and the exposed larvae soon die.
3. To destroy the bets in the stomach, use carbon disulfide as a worm medicine; preferably a single dose administered in gelatin capsules or by a stomach tube (1.5 fluid drams, or 6cubic centimeters, for each 250 pounds of body weight-6drams for a 1,000-pound horse). A veterinarian should dote dosing, and it should be done early in the winter-December or January, depending on the locality. Cooperative community campaigns in which all the horses in an area are rounded up and treated at one time by the local veterinarians have proved to be very successful.