Are Botfly's Found in Puna?

[Rene Siracusa]

Sorry to tell you that there ARE bot flies in Puna. They attack livestock, lay eggs, etc. It is hard to see a live animal crawling with maggots. If the animal owner does nothing about them, the animal will die. At the first sign of bot flies I have learned the hard way to spray the animal with Bronco several times a day (as needed)and move the animal to another area, if possible. But I think that the bot flies will not attack just any healthy animal - they may be attracted to one that has parasites. So one has to keep the livestock up to date on their worming.