Gray Squirrels and Bot Flies (1 Viewer)

[billhiltonjr]

Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) at Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History near York, South Carolina are occasionally parasitized by bot flies.

For a photo essay about this curious relationship, please visit
http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek040915.html

Happy Nature Watching!

BILL

 

[Kevin Mac]

Thanks for the info! Geez, ticks, fleas and now maggots chewing on living hosts. I'm getting the heebie-jeebies. I've seen mice and shrews heavily infested with ticks. Life is tough in rodent world.

 

[billhiltonjr]

Thanks for the info! Geez, ticks, fleas and now maggots chewing on living hosts. I'm getting the heebie-jeebies. I've seen mice and shrews heavily infested with ticks. Life is tough in rodent world.

Indeed. We humans don't know how lucky we are to have so few parasites in these modern days. Nonetheless, residents of the tropics still have many more ecto- and endoparasites to deal with that those of us who live in temperate areas.