By Cheryl Conley, TWRC Wildlife Center
This is a difficult subject to talk about and some will find this article hard to read but it’s good information.
Nobody likes flies but at least we can do something about them. We have sprays, dusts, fogs, bait stations, electric fly zappers and when all else fails, the trusty old fly swatter. But wild animals have no defenses against them.
Flies will seek out injured or debilitated animals or other food sources to lay their eggs. Female flies begin laying eggs just a few days after they hatch. They will lay 75 to 100 at a time, five to seven times. The eggs are white and oval-shaped and will hatch into larvae 12 to 24 hours later. At this stage, they burrow into their food source often times an injured animal. From the larva stage, they hatch into maggots and begin eating away at the animal. Maggots eat continuously and although they don’t have legs, their mouths have hooks that help them grab the flesh of an animal. If medical help is not sought quickly, the animal will die.
If you see flies circling around an injured animal, it’s not good news. You need to get the animal to a wildlife center or a wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible. In the meantime, place it in a covered box with air holes so the flies can no longer get to it. If you can’t get the animal to a center or to a rehabber, you can use a pair of tweezers, a flea comb or a cleaned mascara brush to remove maggots and fly eggs. It is important that you get EVERY single maggot and every single egg. If you don’t, some of the maggots will still hatch and begin eating the animal's flesh. Newly hatched maggots can be difficult to pick off with a tweezers.
We recently admitted an opossum that had fly eggs on it and we were able to save the animal because we got to it quickly. The eggs were removed with a tweezers and a mascara brush. It’s a slow process and takes someone with a strong stomach and a lot of patience to do it.
TWRC Wildlife Center is your resource for information regarding wildlife issues. Please feel free to reach out to us with your questions and concerns. If you’re interested in volunteering, we have many opportunities available for ages 14 and up.
TWRC Wildlife Center 713-468-8972