08/30/2025
What did we learn this week?
1. News this week about a screwworm infection in a US citizen that was acquired outside the country. I have been getting updates for the last year from USDA about trying to control the animal condition so wasn't surprised to see the headlines. Not to be confused with the Old World screwworm, the New World screwworm is a bit more of an unwelcome guest.
A livestock problem.
Basically it's a regular looking green fly that lays its eggs and they hatch into maggots. Just like you might see in your trash cans in the summer months. Little wriggly white buggers. The issue with the New World version is they lay eggs on HEALTHY tissue. Corners of eyes, umbilical cords etc. They then burrow or "screw" themselves into the skin that causes damage which attracts more flies to repeat the cycle. Yum.
In the 1950s they were eradicated from the US by the first successful Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). By 1975 researchers in the US and Mexico somehow bred 94 billion flies, irradiated them to make them sterile and then released them in North and Central America. These sterile flies breed with wild flies and nothing happens thereby decreasing the population.
The condition is endemic in South America.
A few years ago traveling from the Florida Keys there was a stopping point before you left the Keys to the mainland. Horses or livestock were being examined for signs of infection. I’m not sure if it’s still there.
I had to laugh at the news report and CDC quotes "If you see or feel maggots (larvae) in or on a wound or other area of your body, contact your healthcare provider immediately, They will need to remove the larvae, sometimes through surgery. Do not try to remove or dispose of the maggots yourself."
If you need someone to tell you to go to the Dr if you have maggots crawling in your skin then maybe it's already too late?
2. Names of the week: Flumpy and Skimble (a very old english word that apparently was used by Shakespeare and "is not a word on its own but is part of the term "skimble-skamble," which means rambling, confused"
3. Porcupine love: There are two types of people out there. People who love porcupines and those that hate them. I personally think they are hilarious and neat to observe. I see a pair every night on my walk. The second largest rodent in North America (Beaver is #1) they live an average of 18 years. They have roughly 30 thousand quills and sport orange teeth due to high levels of iron, thus allowing them to gnaw on hard wood. They cannot shoot quills but they are loosely attached and fall out when attacked. They are a quiet herbivore who just wants to be left alone. They remind me of the cartoon character Mr Magoo.
Ecologically they, like beavers, are environmental engineers. In the winter when foods are tough to find they climb trees and gnaw off limbs to get at the softer pulp underneath. This is then fermented in their hindgut - much like horses do. The trees then die, opening up the forest and ensuring deadwood that will become home for various bird and insect species.
Living in a rural area we frequently hear them at night. They make funny chirps and grunts. When we were younger we were awakened on a summer night to a horrible noise in the road. We thought something had been hit by a car and was crying. We grabbed a shovel for defense (we clearly weren't awake or thinking) not knowing if it was a rabid animal or bigger critter. To our surprise it was two porcupines having a faceoff on the road. Like two old grumpy men not backing down. We used the shovel to divert them apart and they wandered off in different directions.
We went back to bed.
4. TSA in Boston. For any plane travelers I heard from a client who I helped move to Switzerland that TSA agents take your pet out of the carrier for inspection. So ask for some doggy downers if you think this may get your pet riled up
5. Big Data: Google says our business is busiest at 10am on Friday mornings. I assume this is by tracking cell phones. I also feel it is pretty accurate. At ten am we are having people just show up if they need pets to get medical attention on top of our regular scheduled slots.
Also vet data related, one veterinary group of practices had a survey report released showing slowing demand this past quarter. Slowest since before Covid. May be a sign the economy is weakening as the vet industry was one of few that were Pandemic Proof. With many financial reports, Maine is always a few years behind the times. No evidence of slowing here. We are grateful to be busy.
6. Financial calamities. Based on my limited knowledge of money matters, a big driver of how “successful” you are is out of your control.
Boomers had the greatest period of growth.
Millennials and Gen Z are having a harder time.
I and Gen X and was lucky to buy my house in a weak market, then use it as leverage to buy a business. Luck pure and simple. I was born and graduated at the right time. I am a pretty good penny pincher.
Some things I cannot control.
Cat owners understand. This week disaster struck.
I fed my cat a can of wet food. (It ain't cheap!)
Then he walks 12 feet and throws it up.
It was like a punch in the gut at 5 am. I looked like Andy Dufresne, the banker from Maine, in Shawshank when he crawled through the sewer and was on his hands and knees, arms raised to the sky...WHYYYYYY!
Almost as bad as coming home from work to find your kids have left the heat on 78 degrees with windows open when they left for school.
(Back to generations talk. Trivia for the day. The movie Forrest Gump. What generation were the characters set in?
Generation A.
“I love you Jenny”)
All for now. Have a great long weekend. Be back Tuesday bright and early.
~ "Hodor"
Almost 4 year old Small Münsterländer
"The Small Münsterländer is thought to be well over 500 years old, originating from the Munster region of Germany". They were originally developed to work alongside hunters who used falcons, the dog would flush the bird to the falcon and then point where the hunt ended.
They are intelligent and pretty free from many medical issues.
A rare dog in the US, numbers are thought to be around 2000.)
