> Maggots! What are your first thoughts when you hear this word? I bet you said Ooo! Yuck! These words are usually peoples first reactions when they see these white wormlike creatures crawling and eating the flesh of stinky rotten meat.

Good evening ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls. I have recently been to the United States of America and had the opportunity to meet Dr Harris who is a vet. He has an interesting fascination…. maggots. He actually studies these disgusting creatures because they will be used for maggot therapy.

 So what is maggot therapy? This treatment is used on horses. In the veterinary field they mostly use maggots to debride serious foot infections on horses, however new uses are being found every day in every species. The maggot therapy process starts with vials of minute maggots sent to veterinary clinics in Kentucky. It’s a very interesting process. Ask yourself, why would someone want to work with maggots? What uses do they have? Dr Harris has found them very useful he starts with some blow flies such as the common green bottle fly. They lay their miniature eggs in cramped little vials which are lined with stinky fragments of liver. It’s a smart way to attract the big juicy flies for the larvae laying process.

YUCK!

Once these vials are filled they can get pretty stinky and can be a hideous sight. He uses a solution of sulphurous acid to break down the albumin mass that surrounds and covers these eggs. This helps to separate them. These individual eggs now have to be soaked  in a sterilization solution. This is very effective for killing any bacteria and spores. Once these eggs are sterilized approximately 250-500 maggots are shipped to the clinic. When they reach their destination the vials will be checked for any stinky dead maggots. If they are all healthy they will be stored at room temperature until their next use, for maggot therapy.

Once placed on the fleshy wound the maggots remove all the slimy dead tissure over 2-4days. The bandage that covers the wound has an expiry date. When it is just about due the maggots natural instinct is to leave the wound as quickly as possible. When it is removed the maggots will be right there eagerly awaiting their release.

 Just imagine being a vet that has to look at these fat juicy creatures every day! When these wormlike creatures have completed their job they are discarded with the dressing into a plastic bag. If allowed, these maggots could pupate and become a fly.

 So now that you know more about these disgusting creatures you can appreciate their wonderful uses for preventing serious infections and not be grossed out so much when you hear the word maggot.

So inconclusion, have I changed your first thoughts about these slimy flesh eating creatures?