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Are maggots full of germs?


The Flying Tench

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Liamsm:

Maggots carry a C strain botulism that is not harmful to humans, but is deadly to birds.

It is present in about forty percent of all commercially bread maggots for fishing, due to the way that they are bred.

It is very unwise to feed any of these  maggots to birds no matter what colour.

It is difficult  to resist when a little robin is begging . I have been guilty of feeding them in the past myself, but now I chuck them a small piece of meat instead. It is one of those instances when we do more harm than good with our kindness.

………..Liam.

Do you have a source for this? or a link maybe, I have not heard of this before.

take a look at my blog

http://chubcatcher.blogspot.co.uk/

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"Most waterbirds do not feed on putrefying animal carcasses. However, they feed on snails, insect larvae and other invertebrates and it is possible that Type C toxin develops in the carcasses of dead invertebrates and is consumed by water birds in this form. Probably of much greater importance in botulism outbreaks is the presence of blow-fly larvae (maggots) on the putrefying carcasses of dead animals."

 

wildlife.usask.ca/bookhtml/botulism...m/botulismc.htm

"Anglers use huge quantities of groundbait to attract fish to fishing areas. Uneaten groundbait rots, causing pollution. Maggots are a common bait and some are contaminated with botulism and Salmonella, which are responsible for an increasing number of fatalities amongst wildfowl."

 

http://www.carn-age.org.uk/marine2.html

 

Tight Lines - leon

RNLI Shoreline Member

Member of the Angling Trust

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212.187.155.84/pass_06june/Subdirec...ic/botulism.htm

 

"All species of waterfowl are considered very susceptible, with dabbling and filter-feeding species most likely to ingest the toxin (as are shorebirds feeding by probing mud); other birds (waders, gulls, herons) are less susceptible to Type C toxin.

 

Disease has been reported in either the wild or in captivity in:

 

Wild mute swans Cygnus olor, Canada geese Branta canadensis, tufted duck Aythya fuligula, also grebe, moorhen and seagulls, in the UK (J3.137.w1).

 

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, muscovy duck Cairina moschata, common pochard Aythya ferina, swans, coots and moorhens on park lake in the UK (J3.85.w1).

 

Die-off on a shallow urban lake in the UK, in which toxins blue-green algae may also have been involved: mallard Anas platyrhynchos, tufted ducks Aythya fuligula, common pochard Aythya ferina, northern pintail Anas acuta, chestnut teal Anas castanea, common teal Anas crecca, northern shoveler Anas clypeata, Eurasian wigeon Anas penelope, Carolina (wood duck) Aix sponsa, mandarin Aix galericulata, common shelduck Tadorna tadorna, pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus, Canada goose Branta canadensis, mute swan Cygnus olor, (also cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, herring gulls Larus argentatus, woodpigeons Columba palumbus, blackbirds Turdus merula, song thrush Turdus philomelos, starlings Sturnus vulgaris) (J3.90.w1)

 

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, Canada goose Branta canadensis, Egyptian goose Alopochen aegyptiacus, gadwall Anas strepera, greylag goose Anser anser, mute swan Cygnus olor, northern pintail Anas acuta, common pochard Aythya ferina, common shelduck Tadorna tadorna, common teal Anas crecca, tufted duck Aythya fuligula, (also blackheaded gull Larus ridibundus, common tern Sterna hirundo, coot Fulica atra, cormorant Phalocrocorax carbo, dunlin Calidris alpina, green sandpiper Tringa ochropus, grey heron Ardea cinerea, herring gull Larus argentatus, lapwing Vanellus vanellus, moorhen Gallinula chloropus, wood sandpiper Tringa glareola) in the Norfolk Broads, UK (J3.100.w1). "

 

Tight Lines - leon

RNLI Shoreline Member

Member of the Angling Trust

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