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[Solved] What is this awful thing? (feddit.nl)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by bastion@feddit.nl to c/whatisthisthing@lemmy.world
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This awful creature was, according to my partner, found under or black walnut tree, attached to or emerging from the neck of a very-recently killed bunny that the dog had (killed within the last ~15m). Any idea what it is? More pics available.

It's not smooth like a slug/leech, but has a textured surface. It looks like a grub, but what would a grub be doing attached to a bunny? It has an obvious mouth and anus. She described the mouth part as "hexagonal", which she saw open while it was alive, coming off of or out of the Bunny's neck (it was in or by by a wound it didn't necessarily inflict).

I think it's probably just congealed evil and should be thrown into a fire, along with everything it touched except the puppy, and that's how it's going to get me.

My opinion is obviously tongue-in-cheek, but what is this really?

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[-] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 56 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Ah fuck it's a botfly 🤢

Fair warning for those who are curious, botfly larvae typically grow in the skin. Do not look this up unless you have a strong stomach. Especially do not look this up if you have trypophobia. I will never get some of those images out of my head. Genuinely gives me a stronger visceral reaction than some of the worst gore I have seen. Fuck botflies, I am gonna go wash my hands

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 22 points 3 months ago

...he said, as he locked eyes with me, casually hitting the bong and slowly, calmly fucking a shark

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 months ago

I looked it up and it looks bad, but not as bad as you made it sound. For sure a trypophobia trigger, but far from the worst things I've seen (which is, admittedly, pretty gruesome).

[-] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 months ago

It may have just been the specific images I saw as a kid and the specific issues I have with skin

[-] TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

eye surgery videos/images are also really bad

[-] dogsnest@lemmy.world 40 points 3 months ago

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 33 points 3 months ago

You nailed it. It was emerging because the host died.

[-] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 32 points 3 months ago

Kill it. Kill it with fire.

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 12 points 3 months ago

Indeed. It is quite dead now.

[-] VelvetStorm@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I would love to find one of these for my collection.

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 2 points 3 months ago

Too late! It is, by this point, a flattened leathery husk and putty on the ground.

But, if I slay another bunny, and one of these nightmares emerges, perhaps I can send it to you priority mail.

[-] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 3 months ago

Torture it to death.

[-] mjhelto@lemm.ee 3 points 3 months ago

Calm down IDF.

[-] Icalasari@fedia.io 36 points 3 months ago

I think it's probably just congealed evil

Pretty good description of a botfly, actually

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 19 points 3 months ago

I have a friend.. ..as much as one can befriend a monster, anyways.. ..who intentionally let a botfly larva grow in his.. ..arm? thigh? Anyways, after a good long time, he started getting Stockholm syndrome and got fond of the evil fucker, because he had been through so much pain with it. Eventually, though, the pain was too much and he caved and got it removed.

There are some times when it's just better to listen to the pain.

[-] pelletbucket@lemm.ee 11 points 3 months ago

some entomologist let one grow on his head. it hatched under his hat during a baseball game

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 17 points 3 months ago

One person's abject disgust is another's religion and a third's science.

[-] OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Your friend sounds awesome

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 2 points 3 months ago

The jury's still out on that, but hopefully I'll continue to interact with him and have a chance to know him well enough to make that call.

[-] Plum@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago

Rodent botfly

[-] ChanchoManco@lemm.ee 26 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Damn if that's a Cuterebra I don't wanna know the Uglierebra.

I'll let myself out.

[-] Plum@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

No you can stay.

[-] Donjuanme@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

Thanks, that was a rabbit hole I didn't need.

[-] Plum@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Rabbit hole? Phrasing.

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

You Savage.

[-] ObsidianZed@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)
[-] Plum@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

Also, the hole left in the living meat of the rabbit when you pull the botfly out.

[-] CMDR_Horn@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Why, why the fuck would I search for images of the Cuterebra and then zoom in right before bed?

[-] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 months ago

That poor squirrel, horrible & yuck

[-] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 21 points 3 months ago

For everyone who made it through this thread: !eyebleach@lemmy.world

[-] CouncilOfFriends@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

It's a trap! Botfly propaganda detected:

[-] silverdraco@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Thank you… thank you. :(

[-] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago

I don't recommend doing an image search on "botfly"

[-] lmaydev@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

I love watching them be removed! Must be such a relief.

[-] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 12 points 3 months ago

Forbidden jujube.

[-] Plum@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

🤮

[-] Donjuanme@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

I'm concerned that's a Kroger container, what state are you in? I thought bot flies were a equatorial thing, fucking global warming

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 6 points 3 months ago

They're in the south-south, but the ones that go for rabbits (and not people) can make it all the way up to New York.

[-] FarFarAway@startrek.website 3 points 3 months ago

Definitely have had em here in the southern US for a while now.

[-] Plum@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

Start an iNaturalist account and share your gross bug with the scientific community. I've seen a couple people suggesting Google lens for identification, but for plants and animals it's fun to make the data count for something.

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 2 points 3 months ago

That, my friend, is a wise admonition, and I wish you many fake internet points, and the clarity to not only know, but to also feel that they don't matter.

[-] Plum@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Even if you don't contribute, it's fun to play around in map mode. Go see what lives in Equatorial Guinea. Type in your favorite shark. Etcetera.

[-] CrayonRosary@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Don't you all have Google Lens? It's correct on stuff like this 90% of the time.

In Android it takes 2 seconds to search by image:

  1. Open recent apps list while this photo is open.
  2. Long-press the photo in the app preview
  3. Choose Google Lens from the menu.
  4. Select just the portion you want to ID.
  5. Read that it's a bot fly larva.

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 24 points 3 months ago

Thanks, but.. I posted here, it worked, and I got some human interaction out of the deal.

[-] Mothra@mander.xyz 4 points 3 months ago

Holy cow how large is this thing? Is that a really small butter knife? 😮

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 7 points 3 months ago

No. If anything, it's a fairly large butter knife.

The specimen of raw evil was, at a guess, about an inch and a quarter.

[-] Grass@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago

well after sewing this and the comments, my already bad day is ruined

[-] bastion@feddit.nl 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Glad we could help. Wouldn't want for you to have a bad day of merely mediocre quality.

this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2024
112 points (100.0% liked)

What is this thing?

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