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ursulav — Lumpy
Published: 2004-11-13 19:56:19 +0000 UTC; Views: 4428; Favourites: 12; Downloads: 1712
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Description
Readers of my blog this past summer were treated to the unsettling saga of Lumpy the squirrel. Lumpy lived in my backyard, and suffered from a truly disturbing affliction--squirrel bot flies. They live around here. A squirrel bot fly lays eggs somewhere or other, and the squirrel brushes against them, the eggs land on the squirrel, hatch, and a small larvae comes out, burrows into the squirrel, and sets up shop, dining on squirrel flesh, growing into a "bot"--a balding lump the size of a jumbo Kalmatta olive--that the poor squirrel waddles around with, and then one day, in a scene presumably reminiscent of "Alien," the now mature botfly decamps, climbing out of the squirrel and flying off into the wild blue yonder.Astonishingly, this doesn't kill the squirrels--they can have two or three and not suffer any prolonged ill effects. It leaves a distinctive puckered scar, however, and it's REALLY FREAKING DISGUSTING.
Naturally, I couldn't look away.
The problem, of course, is that once you spot the bloody things, you start seeing them everwhere--I was spotting so many infected squirrels by the end of the summer that I felt like I was living in a rodent village of the damned.
Casa del Lumpy (as my husband took to calling him) was host to two botflies, one on each side, and lived through it. I spot him occasionally now--he looks healthy, he just has two mondo scars with the fur growing the wrong way. People kept urging me to draw him, but I resisted, on the grounds that it was just gross. However, today I'm just in one of those moods, and felt like doing a quick doodle of this most noxious of subjects. The dark spots on the bots are--sigh--the air intake of the bot, which protrudes so they can breath.
It ain't high art, but that's why they call 'em scraps...
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Comments: 66
I lived in North Carolina and yes, the squirrels(grays and whites) I had in the backyard were covered in the bot bumps by late summer. One friendly gray in fact named Lumpy for that same reason. I've seen some with more than 5 lumps on them and the little white larvae squirming out...shudder!!!
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My fiance's Mom and Stepdad have a poodle with fatty tumors all over him. And he's kinda greasy, I don't know if that's a poodle thing or not.
Anyway, he's really a sweet dog, but he'll come lay up close to you, and you want to pet him, but everywhere you put your hand you touch this kind of sweaty, jelly-filled softball covered in white pubic hair.
Foul, filthy little beast.
Peace,
Kelly
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Yuck yuck yuck. I read the description yesterday, and tonight dreamt that I was infested with them. There were little tiny black holes on me, especially on the right side of my torso. I was very relieved to wake up and find out that it was only a dream. I am way too impressionable for my own good.
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redflame13's mention to woves reminds me of ringworms.. those might be the same thing. Poor Lumpy.. I've heard of bot flies.. they sound down right nasty.
There's something like that stuff that goes through hamsters and rats.. they get red sores that eventually kill them, they can be passed through direct contact, and through cage use. (If an animal gets the red lump.. it might be a good idea never to use the cage again.) Strangely enough, gerbils don't get the Red Lump thing.
Yikes.. bot flies *shiver*
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No, not at all the same - ringworm is just a fungus actually. Woves are just another name for bot maggots though
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ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... *shudders* that's discusting
On the other hand I love the coloring style you did with this one
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That is absolutely amazing. NEver knew botflies preyed on squirrels too...
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Oh my lord. XD
If you wrote a book of just random thoughts, I would totally buy it. I love reading your descriptions of your art just as much as the actual drawings.
And I'm really glad I've never seen or even heard of something like this x.o
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Yuck. That is SO gross. But good drawing, as usual with you... Poor squirrels. Great they are able to survive this.
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I always love the stories that go along with the equally entertaining drawings
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cool drawings, but yipes!! 
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I've seen this in a squirrel on the back porch of a friend's apartment. it really did freak me out and wondered if he was in pain. I didn't know what it was at all and thought about putting him out of his misery, but I didn't have any way to do it. I'm now glad I didn't do it. Thanks for educating us about the bot fly.
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I'm amoused and at the same time disturbed. I may need psychiatric help after this.
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Auuggghh. Torn between the "Hey, nature is really cool, lookit all the ways organisms find to survive!" and "EEEEEEWWW." And now I feel really itchy. And I blame you.
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Actually, bot fly larvae don't itch...
They're more of a squishitch
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Well I went to do research on bot flies and found a picture of one in someones eye!
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OH that's what that is...when we were camping last year there was a squirrel who had these big grapey sized things growing out of his back and we where all so disgusted....
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I couldn't resist doing an image google on this subject, and i'm just horrified. They look like, erm, boobies, with the nipple rotting off. Sorry. but yeah. gross. Poor Lumpy! I know you said it doesn't affect the squirrel in the long-run, but it's got to be some god-awefull pain with those things bursting out "Alien" style and such. ouchie. My son would probably say poor skwurew!! *that's as close as i can type to how he says "squirrel" and be all sad for a day or so. He's so compationate and caring. But otherwise, I like the drawing. I like this style, too.
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It's so wrongly cute. I had a hamster named Lumpy, but that's because she was a rescue and had tumors. But she lived out the rest of her life fat and happy.
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You're right. It really is disgusting, and this is coming from someone with a wicked sense of humor. I wonder if this is the same thing they call "wolves"? I might be spelling it wrong... maybe it's "wools". I'm not sure... but I just remember it's sores on squirrels.
Fortunately, I haven't seen those on a squirrel around here, and our yard is one acorn after another.
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It is gross! Even in a cute drawing ... and of course I had to type "squirrel botfly" into google to look at the real thing (which is worse) and aparently there's a human botfly too which nests around the eye. There were surgery pictures. *faints*
thank you for the horror-movie.
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Eww, gross. I guess every critter has it's own bot fly. I've seen the larvae on cows before. They made a really moist "Pop!" sound when my uncle squeezed out the larva.
Cerulean
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eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwww
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Thanks for the Entomology lesson... I kinda feel bad for lumpy a little bit..yet I guess you can find humor in anything..if you are twisted enough!!
Dave
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*GASP* My cat had one of those on her throat once. It scared the crap out of us, and we were quite repulsed when we took her to the vet and he pulled out a larva.
I feel for ya, Lumpy.
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reminds me of those kissing bugs in africa somewhere that lay eggs in human lips o.<
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Kissing bugs, of the genus Triatoma, are found in the New World, from the Southern United States into South America.
They're called "kissing bugs," on account of their preference for biting the softer regions of skin, namely, the lips, as well as near the eyes or nose, or ears. As far as I know, their eggs are laid on tree bark, and the nymphs are free-living, albeit, blood-feeders, like the parents.
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Wow. Is that drawn to scale? Or did you exaggerate the bot flies? o.o When I was reading your updates about Lumpy in your blog, I never realized the lumps were so BIG. Bleh! >.<
Heh, I'm going to be very amused if someone buys this from you. xD
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This thing that you have perpetrated on us... it is just wrong.
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ewww! Cattle up here (Canadian Prairies) get the occational bot fly infesestations but the squirrels seem clean (I watch them closely, live trap some for moving, and examine dozens of road kill each summer and never seen one case)
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I guess it's mostly in the Southeastern US that the squirrels get the buggers, then.
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Likely. I was reding about them (bot flies) and each animal has it's own species of fly. These flies are closely related to bees.
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Bot flies are a kind of fly, not a bee.
Some flies mimic bees, but that doesn't make them related.
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This was utterly vile. Naturally I'm sitting here wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.
You're fabulous, I adore you... now go write more.
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That's a visual that I'll be stuck with for a while now, thank you. I've read about botflies before but I thought they just focused on larger animals and sometimes humans. Poor squirrels. The pic is cute in a demented way.
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[link]
Page devoted to Tree Squirrel Botflies.
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You should have seen the summer when she was infested with deer who were infested with deer bot flies.
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Ewwwwwww. Very informative, thanks! 👍: 0 ⏩: 2
You should have seen Ursula's garden during the summer when it was infested with deer who were infested with deer bot flies.
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You should have seen Ursula's garden during the summer when it was infested with deer who were infested with deer bot flies.
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