Frequently Asked Questions

Wildlife Diseases

While I was skinning my deer, grubs crawled out of his nose. What were they?

You saw an unsavory but harmless animal called the "nasal bot". Nasal bots are found in deer, but not in domestic animals. The bots are the larvae of Cephenemyia flies. Female flies deposit eggs around the nose or mouth and the tiny larvae migrate to the nasal passages. When they are fully developed (around 3/4 of an inch), they leave the deer and pupate in the ground. When deer die and the body cools, the bots often crawl out the nose, startling an unsuspecting hunter. The meat is not affected.