They are bot fly larvae, the same as cattle and other livestock get. My vet says it's ok to eat rabbits, Squirrels, etc with them... but I just can't do it. I toss them, everytime.
Like previously said, Bot Fly larvae. Yeah, might be a Southern thing. Look at my link in post #967. Pretty gross. If you have horses or cattle you often see Bot flys laying little yellow eggs on hairs down around the hooves. They lick the eggs and the larvae develop in the gut.
I kept the only squirrel I got last year that had a wolf in it. The only reason why is the wolf was barely under the skin. In fact, it fell out when I skinned the squirrel.
Thankfully it’s not a problem here at the camp.
I have 3 apple trees out back. 2 produce red, 1 green. I watch them eating the red ones, they never touch the green ones. Weird. Have 2 persimmon trees that produce, they won't eat them either.
Are those green ones extra tart? Bet they don't like that. We had a bunch of apple trees around the buildings at the farm where I grew up. They grew funny looking green apples that were very tart. Never once saw a squirrel eating those. Granny would cut them up and lay them out on the picnic table to dry and nothing bothered them. Then they would become the best fried pies I ever ate.I have 3 apple trees out back. 2 produce red, 1 green. I watch them eating the red ones, they never touch the green ones. Weird. Have 2 persimmon trees that produce, they won't eat them either.
After I had a couple Grouse fly away after taking a field tip through the body I made a switch. Drilled 1/16" holes through the tips and inserted finishing nails then bent them back a bit so they wouldn't fall out. Squirrels, bunnies and Grouse are stopped real quick. Just pull the nails to get back to target shooting.
Not tart when they mature. They are sweet , but the peels are tough.
I have seen a fox grab one a couple of times.
Yikes!! I looked at that link! They’re nasty. I don’t think I could eat them!
They typically fall off the flesh, or are lightly attached, sometimes fall off the skin as you dress them. But, just the sight of that nasty thing on something I'm about to eat just turns my stomach. Maybe in a starvation situation I'd feel different. But I have never cooked an animal knowingly with bots on them.
There wasn’t even a mark on the meat on the one I kept. It was all on the hide and actually fell off while cleaning. It was small.
I wouldn’t either if it looked anything like in that link. Now that I think about and viewed that link, I now recall shooting one squirrel for sure, maybe two, years ago in TN that had large bumps like that on them. I remember throwing them away. That was over 40 years ago when I first moved to TN.
Interesting, Tom.
Some bow hunters I used to hunt with when I lived in Colorado used to slide a .38 casing the end of the arrow shaft. Then put 2 finishing nails crossways through that. I was foolish enough to go out there with just a field tip. Every rabbit I shot I had to literally chase down. Whereas every time they shot a rabbit, it made a definite “thud” sound. No chasing was necessary.
Nice bird, Jim. You scored what you went after.Pilot, you have a beautiful state. We were in the north east not far from Iowa. I could live there!!
We had our clothes sprayed. Didn’t see a tick!!
Did see some fox squirrels though. That always winds me up. View attachment 317130
In terms of what your dad used to say. I’ve said the same thing here many times. Hawks kill my chicken's, deer, squirrels and crows eat every apple off my apple tree and pear trees.
