The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-09
nots-sevcraI Kinds.

The complaint of the OK MARBLE, a bot,
is very general this season. A cores
pondent asks what is the difference be-
tween the horse and OK bot, and how many
kinds of bots there are. and is there any
way to prevent their getting into the
stomachs of horses or in the backs of
cattle?
All kinds of animals, including even
man. are affected with bots. There are
gastric bots that get into the stomach of
animals. There are nose or cervical bots,
such as infest sheep more particularly,
and the cutaneOuS or skin bot that lntests
cattle. The various kinds exist in their
harmful state as grubs without legs. Ihey
are the larvae state of twO-winged flies
of the order diptera. These flies develop
from the pupa near the surface OF the
soil. and come forth in the spring and
summer and proceed TO lay their eggs on
their respective subjects. There are very
few. doubtless. who have anything to do
with horses or mules that have not OBJ
served the horse bot in its Attempts to
fasten its eggs on the forelegs or sides
of the animal along about midsummer.
1t is usually very terrifying, especially to
high-Strung horses, and we have seen
such driven almost distracted by the buzz
of the fly. Well-groomed horses ought to
be preserved from the presence of the
grubs but we doubt if there is one horse
in a hundred that is free from them con-
tinually 1t is a very rare thing that
they cause death, or create conditions
The sheep bot fly deposits its young
grub on the Shiny surface of the nose,
and II gradually works it's way upward
into the head. When full grown it is eject
ed through the operation of Sneezing. The
common preventative of the sheep bot is
to smear the nose with tar as soon as the
presence of the fly is threatened.
The cutaneos bot or ox-warble, is de-
posted in the backs of cattle in the
spring, and making its free growth just
under the skin. The result is the hide
when as many as a half dozen or more
infest an animal they cause a loss of
flesh through the excessive annoyance
caused, fretting the animal into long runs
in its unavailing efforts to get rid of the
enemy. We have seen as many as 20
Frubs extracted from the back of a milk
COW. Despite the best feeding and care,
this animal evidently lost a hundred
pounds or more of flesh in a few weeks
time.
Some protection from the attack of the
fly is found in smearing along the back
with fish oil or any greasy substance
tainted with the odor of kerosene oil or
carbolic acid. Spraying the back in due
time with the kerosene emulsion would,
no doubt prove a handy and convenient
remedy where there We're number OF
cattle to be protected. Tar and grease
lightly rubbed on might also prove eff
cacious. Apropos to this question, We
would like to know if any of these bot
flies have been caught in the jar-traps
such as have been found TO entrap some
injurious moths that fly at night
OF this much we are aSsured-Very few
stock owners observe any well defined
plan of protecting their animals from the
attacks of any of these insects Their
presence may be observed and commented
upon, but little done to reduce their num-
bers for another year.