OMG 1st time in 15 years!

[ILuvCowparsely]

Catching in earlier today, caught my mare in and livery helping catching another livery horse in, when i spotted something flying round the mares legs. and OMG I thought I was seeing things, first time in about 15 years. It was only a damn warble, there is was flying round long tail tucked in facing the horse making a *C* shape, trying to inject the horse with its egg. I quickly put my mare in and came back then another livery who had never seen one before saw it as we approached the gate, she put a head collar on where the other livery and me each side tried to swat it. Last time I did this I had a schooling whip, wacked it and fell on the ground and splat with my boot and eggs squirted out.


This time I wacked it and missed , other livery had been doing this all the time I put my mare away, then I watched it approach the mares elbow, and I lasherd out and wacked it. It fell to the floor and i stretched my foot under the horse to the inside hoof wall on the near side as I was on the off side. I squashed it, then horse moved and my livery squashed it into oblivion. Well and truly dead. Phew..... female livery learnt something as she had never seen one. Was a shock to see one again.

For those never seen one, they are like a small bee, they fly round horses legs, and curl their tail under like a *C* fly with their arse tail straight towards the horse to penetrate the leg. This leaves the egg to migrate up to the horses back where it stays, and turns into a maggot. It then stays there forming a lump, . You can ride the horse but must cut a hole in numnah so no pressure on the maggot to kill it. If it dies a vet must be called to remove the maggot which forms a hole in the back, likewise if you leave it to come out on its own aain it leaves a huge hole. This video show the flies long tail

stock picture

 

[HorseMaid]

Same here, I've never seen one in real life but my mare had eggs on her the other day. I bought a bot knife and removed them, yesterday she went bonkers in the field and was running round so I had a look and there was what looked like a small bumble bee buzzing round her. She literally stood still and allowed me to run round her like a mad woman whacking her to kill it bless her, I managed to knock in to the floor and bury it in the mud, horrid thing !

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I haven't seen one for over 30 years, in fact I had forgotten they even exist. They were a damn plague when I was a child I can always remember a vet having to come and excise quite a large area near a horse's withers, it was not for the squeamish. Awful damn things.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Same here, I've never seen one in real life but my mare had eggs on her the other day. I bought a bot knife and removed them, yesterday she went bonkers in the field and was running round so I had a look and there was what looked like a small bumble bee buzzing round her. She literally stood still and allowed me to run round her like a mad woman whacking her to kill it bless her, I managed to knock in to the floor and bury it in the mud, horrid thing !

They fly towards the horses with tail aiming at horses legs. When you watch it briefly before you try squash it, like the video above, it pokes its tube out to inject horse.

 

[SEL]

I thought they'd gone in the UK I can remember over 20 years ago going to the yard and seeing the mare herd at the gallop. I got my gelding in and he was coated in sweat - we couldn't work out why then the mares' owners spotted the flies.

Also remember one having to be removed from a mare's back

 

[w1bbler]

I thought they had been eradicated in the uk, are you sure it wasn't a bot?
Warble fly sightings used to be a notifiable incident, not sure if it still is?

 

[Cortez]

I saw herds of cattle galloping madly to evade them when I was a child, they make a distinctive noise when they fly. Also seen the holes left where the fly hatches from cows' backs. You sometimes see giant holes in leather hides that come from Argentina too.

 

[SEL]

Ok I just googled and they are covered under the notifiable diseases in Scotland!

 

[HorseMaid]

My bad, although when I looked them up this is what I found so I assumed they were one and the same?

 

[windswoo]

That sounds awful. Luckily I don't think I've ever seen one.
Hope horses ok.

 

[Birker2020]

bot flies are NOT the same as warbles, warbles inject the lava into the horses forelegs They fly towards the horses with tail aiming at horses leg and inject it

deleted

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I thought they had been eradicated in the uk, are you sure it wasn't a bot?
Warble fly sightings used to be a notifiable incident, not sure if it still is?

I would have taken a video or picture but we were too intent killing it and now squashed.

 

[littleshetland]

i don’t think I’ve ever seen one, they sound horrific!

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Warbles were vile! I remember one way back in the 70s on a ponies withers just in front of the saddle, squeezing it and the huge maggot coming out in a squirt of pus.
I too thought they had been eradicated last century!


Edit, DEFRA link
Here

 

[Gloi]

I think it is a lot more likely to be a bot trying to lay her eggs, though they are rare too these days.
The pour on insecticides for cattle have got rid of warble fly.The last UK outbreak was 1990.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I think it is a lot more likely to be a bot trying to lay her eggs, though they are rare too these days.
The pour on insecticides for cattle have got rid of warble fly.The last UK outbreak was 1990.

It does sound like it, the warble struck fear into human, horse and cattle, vile distinctive sound!

 

[fetlock]

Bought a horse in early 1987 (bred and spent his first 3 years in the New Forest) who, in Spring, developed hard lumps all over his face, neck and shoulders mainly and the odd one on his legs and saddle area.

Vet (North based) has seen nothing like it. Second opinion vet likewise. After getting their heads together on the golf course they suggested Eqvalan fortnightly for six weeks.

Late Spring the little maggoty things started to burrow out and we had to pick them out with tweezers .

Thankfully that was the end of it. No scarring (horse bought as a show horse) and no lumps left but for one small and fairly flat one - typically in the saddle area - but which luckily never bothered him.

 

[Rowreach]

I haven't seen one for over 30 years, in fact I had forgotten they even exist. They were a damn plague when I was a child I can always remember a vet having to come and excise quite a large area near a horse's withers, it was not for the squeamish. Awful damn things.

I saw herds of cattle galloping madly to evade them when I was a child, they make a distinctive noise when they fly. Also seen the holes left where the fly hatches from cows' backs. You sometimes see giant holes in leather hides that come from Argentina too.

Erm, they are something I see every year up here

 

[YourValentine]

They sound vile, and very glad never to have met one!



(However, the environmentalist in me is rejoicing at the idea of an insect species recovering, when so many are in decline )

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Erm, they are something I see every year up here

Crikey, please don't send any down here. The last time I saw one was over 25 years ago in Norfolk, never seen one since I moved back here. Do you get many up there?????

 

[Gloi]

Hollywoozle mentioned bot eggs on her horse on here this week.
I don't know where you both are but glad it's years since I saw any.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I’ve no idea about this other bug of terror that’s been mentioned but if it was a bot fly then we’re in the same boat as @Gloi mentions. Not seen bot eggs in many, many years but found some on family pony this week and when I looked closer there were a few on the other horses too. All now removed but I was shocked to see them to be honest! Horses are kept in central Bedfordshire.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

This says we don't have any here, I think you need to be giving them a heads up Rowreach. Mind you their description does also refer to them as Bot flys that to my knowledge are a totally different thing.

Warble fly infestation

www.animalhealthsurveillance.agriculture.gov.ie

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

We do have bot fly eggs here every year. But they lay their little yellow eggs on the horse's hair, horse licks the eggs off and on their journey through the horse's insides they go. Definitely not the same thing as warble flys.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

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[Lamehorses]

The description sounds exactly how a bot lays its eggs, we get them every year & terrorise my cob
I too thought warbles had been eradicated, not seen one since the 70's

 

[Melody Grey]

Wow! I learnt something new today- never heard of the warble fly. Sounds like something from science fiction!

 

[Errin Paddywack]

At least these don't sting so you can catch them in your hand before squashing them. Used to see them a lot here but not seen one in years now. No horses in neighbouring fields and we worm against them so fingers crossed we don't get any.

 

[Fransurrey]

I thought they had been eradicated in the uk, are you sure it wasn't a bot?
Warble fly sightings used to be a notifiable incident, not sure if it still is?

How on earth would we be able to target an individual insect species for eradication? Serious question!

I remember my friend's pony always getting these in the late 80s/early 90s. She did live on a dairy farm, though, so they had lots of breeding ground. Yuck.

 

[Gloi]

How on earth would we be able to target an individual insect species for eradication? Serious question!

I remember my friend's pony always getting these in the late 80s/early 90s. She did live on a dairy farm, though, so they had lots of breeding ground. Yuck.

The warbles mainly lived on cattle and modern worming and insecticide drugs disrupted their breeding cycle. It was a notifiable pest so farmers had to report and treat.