Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1874 — The Sheep Bot Fly. [ARTICLE]

The Sheep Bot Fly.

Some years ago we used to keep several hundred sheep, some of which were frequently troubled with “grub in the head ” as we called it, and the only cure we ever found was the blowing of to- _ bacco smoke up the sheep’s nostrils, by holding the sheep firmly while one inserts the stem Of a tobacco pipe in the nostril, and then, by placing his mouth over or near the bowl of the pipe, blow and force the smoke far up into the head. Our sheep, I believe, always recovered after such treatment. Whether that effected it or not Ido not know; but prevention is the best of all. We had seen it stated somewhere that the place to tar is at the upper part of the nose, between the eyes, instead of the nostril-, “ that in that place the nose is protected only by a very thin and delicate membrane beneath the skin, through which the parent insect can easily thrust her ovipositor, deposit her egg ana depart instantly. This egg, hatching, produces the ‘ grub in the head.’ ” On this hint w'e acted. Having at shearing time a bucket of tar near by, we daubed each sheep, as it was shorn, across theuose, between the eyes, with a broad, thick band of tar. This seemed to prove a perfect preventive. Never after, were we troubled with the grub among the sheep.— CorCountry Gentleman.