Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-12-26
HORSE BOTS

! HORSE BO1S
Three distinct kinds of horse bots
are found in the United States,
| known as the common horse bot1iy !,
the throat bot" or chin tiy", and
| the nose botfiy". The first two are
widely distributed, but the latter is
still confined to the North Central
and Rocky Mountain states.
No whip could produce the fear in
| a horse that is caused by the attack
of the nose botfiy. This insect is
slightly smaller than the common
botfly and flies more rapidly. IL
, usually approaches a horse from
distance, hovers for an instant ana
darts at the lips with deadly pre-
cision. AS it strikes, an egg almost
| black is clamped to one of the minute
| hairs on the lips.
There is no injury to the skin. and
why the horse is so terror-strlcken
when the fly strikes is question.
But when the most docile horse is
attacked repeatedly he soon becomes
difficult to handle. Not infreauently
teams run away. Horses often cut
themselves by rubbing their noses
violently on the ground. rocks or
even barbed-wire fences.
Horses on pasture attempt to pro-
tect themselves by standing in
groups with their lips on the backs
of one another. When compelled TO
| walk the horses constantly jerk their
heads up and down, giving char
acteristic nodding appearance. Dur
| ing sunny days the horses keep up
constant fight against the flies and
are prevented from grazing.
The throat botfy also greatly wor-
ries the animals by darling at them
as it lays it's yollowish eggs under
| the jaws.
| The common horse bot, or init
| fly, is the largest of the three but
| the least worrisome while laying its
eggs. 1t usually buzzes around the
| horse, cementing its eggs to hairs
on various parts of the body.
The eggs are ready to hatch in
about week. When the horse
bites itself where the eggs are at
| tached the spiny little bots are
| Matched. cling to the lips and tongue
and soon reach the stomach, where
they attach. If the eggs are not dis
turbed the bots will remain alive in
! them for as long as three months
The eggs of the other two species
Some of the throat bots attach in
the gullet and produce swellings
which interfere with swallowing and
may even kill horse. They also at
tach freely in the small intestine
, Bots may become so numerous
, around the exit of the stomach as to
interfere with the passage of food
! and occasionally cause death.
, The botS renI,iyo about for ~
twelve months to complete their
growth. When fully grown they are
from three quarters to seven eighths
of an inch in length. When grown
they pass out and burrow slightly
into the soil or crawl beneath grass,
and transform in about a month to a
fly which is ready to mate and lay
eggs few hours later.
The bots leave the horses from the
middle of spring to late fall. The
nose BOTTLES begin to emerge and
worry horses by June fifteenth. the
other species little later. Their
attack Is continued until heavy
freezes stop their activity.
Many ideas are current for reduc-
Ing annoyance from the BOTTLES and
removing bots, but few are workable.
against the flies, but much relief can
be obtained by certain protective
devices. In the nose fly region it is
practically impossible to work horses
without nose protectors.
One of the simplest and most eff
fective protectors is a piece of belt
ing or leather seven or eight inches
long and four inches wide SUSPENDED
Nf he
the bit rings. Canvas placed under
the jaws, between the bit rings and
the throat latch, gives much protec-
ton from the throat botf1y and this
and the nose guard give good pro-
lection against all bots while horses
are in harness.
In 1897 two Italian veterinarians
found that the bots while, attached
in the digestive tract could be de-
sroyed by doses Of carbon bisulphide
in capsules. The United States Bu-
reau, of Animal Industry tried this
and found that If properly admins
tered excellent results were secured.
The treatment is comparatively
simple, but it is usually advisable to
have a veterinarian do the work.
especially If large number Of horses
are to be treated.
Studies made by the United States
Bureau of Entomology show the i'm
portance of treating horses at the
proper time of year. The best time
Is during December and January. IL
treatment is given earlier. some bot
flies may still be about and rein
fest the horses after treatment. IF
later, the bots are more resistant
and some NAV have passed down the
digestive tract where the material
will not kill them.
To prevent reinfestation from bots
which remain dormant in the eggs it
IS necessary to apply wash to the
horse where the eggs are attached.
This wash should contain per cent
Dhenol-carbolic acid. The coal-tar
creosote stock dips appear to be ex-
cellent for this purpose.
Horses are the only animals In
which horse bots will develop sue
cessfulIy and the treatments out
lined above will destroy all the bots
and all the eggs in a given locality
or throughout the entire country.
In a number of farming sections
where the nose bot occurs horse
owners have made much Roadway in
lighting bots. In no case have all
horse owners of community united
in drive against the pests, but even
with some not taking part striking
results were obtained. All agreed
that the horses wintered in better
shape and that the BOTTLES gave very
little trouble the following summer.