148 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



brown and straw colored hairs. The 

 flies may be seen all summer long wor- 

 rying sheep which in badly infested lo- 

 calities form a habit of carrying the nose 

 close to the ground in order to keep out 

 the botflies. Sheep sometimes resort to 

 dusty roads for this purpose. The pres- 

 ence of the grubs in the nasal passages 

 causes considerable congestion and ul- 

 ceration and in some cases death. In 

 most localities where sheep raising has 

 been practiced for a century or more al- 

 most every sheep carries from 2 to 3 

 grubs in the head from October to June. 

 Treatment for this trouble is somewhat 

 difficult. The maggots may sometimes 



Fig. 107 FEMALE SHEEP SCAB MITE 



be dislodged by the use of a feather dip- 

 ped in turpentine and inserted into the 

 nostrils. Fumigation by means of sul- 

 phur fumes and other gases in closed 

 rooms has proved injurious to sheep and 

 only partly effective in removing the 

 maggots. In serious cases it may be ad- 

 visable to trephine the outer blade of 

 bone, after which the maggots may be re- 

 moved and the part thoroughly washed 

 out in tepid water containing a suitable 

 antiseptic. One of the best preventive 

 means for controlling this trouble is to 

 smear tar about the nostrils in sheep, 

 since this substance has a tendency to 

 keep the flies from laying their eggs in 



the nostrils. A good plan recommended 

 by many sheep raisers consists in boring 

 holes in a log in which salt is placed and 

 tar smeared around the margins of the 

 holes. The sheep in eating the salt 

 keep the nose smeared with tar. 



SHEEP SCAB MITE (MALE., 



Tick — The common sheep tick is not 

 a true tick but a wingless fly which is 

 very generally distributed throughout 

 the country and causes great damage, 

 not, as a rule, in killing any infested 

 sheep but in bringing about a loss of 

 flesh and unthriftiness. The parasite 

 (Melophagus ovinus) is often considered 



Fig. 109 SHEEP BOTS. ARROW SHOWS 



LOCATION OF GRUBS. INDIANA 

 EXPERIMENT STATION 



of little importance as an enemy of the 

 sheep, but really causes serious losses of 

 lambs in many localities. It is partly 



