Life Cycle of the Botfly

It was a thing that made me queasy

puffed up fat larva of something

found near a dead chipmunk

I let it go and watched it undulate

over the sidewalk on a hot day

hoping the sun would kill it

didn’t know it would bury itself in soil

to become a botfly that lay small larvae

picked up by unsuspecting mammals

then worm through the fur to an opening

and now inside it bores its way to the skin

feeds off the host in a disturbing life cycle

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dVerse nature poem today. I am still disturbed by seeing the botfly larva. I have tried to be open minded about its ways but have trouble with the “bores its way to the skin” part.

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Condor

Standing on Navajo Bridge

I see two condors

on the cliff face they look small

great wings tucked and resting

Colorado River moves below

takes rafters through the Grand Canyon

hoping to see a condor

maybe a peregrine falcon

Our guide tells of the time

high on the rock ledge

temperatures so hot

fledglings died in their nest

Still I want to see a condor take flight

I want to watch it soar

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Nesting condors have been observed at Zion National Park and I am hoping that global warming doesn’t push them out of their nests too early. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9814501/amp/Two-critically-endangered-California-condors-spotted-near-Zion-National-Park.html