Family finds gross, wet-looking blob in their yard: Experts are stunned by what it is and its size
An individual found a most unusual and terrifying thing wriggling around in the grass. They posted a video online of the blob to find out what it was.
Nature can be breathtakingly beautiful but also downright disgusting. The latter version of mother nature, a big black wiggling blob, was discovered by a person in their backyard and they made video of it to immortalize their discovery.
Not to keep the find to themselves a short clip was posted on Reddit, titled ‘What’s this thing in my yard?’, where it went viral. So far it has racked up 26,000 views and multiple comments and general consensus on what looks like, as one user mused, ‘Mr. Hanky’ from South Park is, a botfly larva.
What is botfly?
Botflies are flies from the family Oestridae and have the appearance of a bee. Also known as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies, their larvae use mammals as their host. When a botfly egg senses the warmth of a mammal, it hatches and then gains access to its host, generally through the mouth.
The internal parasite once inside matures over 19 to 21 days before making its way to the skin where a ‘warble’, a lump or callus, forms. Upon leaving the host, the larvae quickly burrow into the ground where they pupate, which is what was captured in the video.
What should you do if you find botfly larvae?
Deby Cassill, an integrative biologist and associate professor at the University of South Florida, told Newsweek that if you encounter a botfly larva you should kill it by “any acceptable means possible.” Also, you should go and check your pets to look for any open wounds and apply antibiotic if you find one.
Do botflies infect humans?
Fortunately, there is only one type of botfly that infects humans, Dermatobia hominis. However, there are other flies that sometimes infect humans which on occasion can be more harmful.
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