Start with warm temperatures, add a smelly surface and you have a perfect fly breeding ground. The tiny white larvae that hatch from fly eggs are maggots, and they can’t wait to enjoy a meal of rotting flesh.

Maggots love to nibble on our animal friends with wounds or skin infections. Areas soiled with diarrhea, vomit or urine are also at risk of maggot infestation, or fly strike. Even matted fur or feathers can be hiding a maggot swarm.

These creepy crawlers only go after dead flesh, but that gets eaten up pretty quickly. That’s when maggots produce toxins that damage healthy flesh. As the cycle continues, animals can get very sick very quickly. In fact, fly strike can be fatal.

You may not see maggots, but a lethargic or foul-smelling animal could be infested. If so, head to your veterinarian for help in striking maggots out.