I went to clean the bird bath out and there are these things that look like giant maggots. The can move about and you can see a sort of black long thing moving inside the white outer body. They also have a long bit that trails behind them, like a thread of the same outer white casing. They are creepy and I am not what to do with them.
2007-06-09 07:36:59 · 13 answers · asked by Hedgehog888 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
Thay are about 1.5 cm long and quite chunky. I don't want to kill some beneficial insect hence my question.
2007-06-09 08:14:13 · update #1
..and why haven't the birds eaten them???
2007-06-09 08:15:02 · update #2
Just did a search in Google pictures and only result was someone with the exact same question on a blogg!!!
2007-06-09 08:24:24 · update #3
sounds like rat-tailed maggots. They're commonly found in stagnant and polluted water - the 'tails' are their air tubes, similar in function to the tubes that water scorpions and mosquito larvae use as snorkels. Repulsive little buggers, aren't they? I don't know what (if anything) eats them. I don't know that I'd consider them 'beneficial' or 'harmful'. I wouldn't want them in my birdbath, though. Scoop them out and change the water more frequently is my advice..
2007-06-09 16:22:06 · answer #1 · answered by John R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Obviously people are attempting to answer your question without reading the details you have provided.
1. If it is 1.5 cm long, it is NOT a mosquito larvae;
2. Maggots do not live in water, they live in decaying meat, etc.
3. If they are in your bird bath, then they are not beneficial. It is possible that someone tossed some type of larvae into the water to kill them (they could be wasps, caterpillars, etc.).
I suggest dumping the water, bagging up the critters so they don't escape or survive, and keep an eye on your birdbath for a while.
Since you don't say where it is located, it is possible that it is some sort of tent caterpillar that has fallen from a nearby tree (they are NOT beneficial and will only defoliate the nearby trees and return again in the fall if you don't kill them now).
2007-06-09 09:42:37 · answer #2 · answered by idiot detector 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Giant maggots? How long are they? Could they just be caterpillars? They will be some sort of insect larvae obviously I should just scoop them out and chuck em into the plants somewhere.
2007-06-09 07:40:10 · answer #3 · answered by Fairy Nuff 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think they are mosquito larvae . . . they are definitely the larvae of something and they could pose a health danger to the birds that visit your bird bath.
You need to get rid of them though. Empty out the bird bath and let it dry completely before you rrefill it again. Good luck!
2007-06-09 07:40:30 · answer #4 · answered by koi-ness 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
U've got maggots
Probably throw them out or something
Or clean out the bird bath then use like a fish net for a fish tank and scoop them out and throw them in the woods or something
2007-06-09 07:43:33 · answer #5 · answered by ♥cutie♥ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are lots of creatures that could get in the bird bath but those wiggly things could be caterpillars that birds drop in before they bathed.
2007-06-09 07:44:19 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I live in louisiana. I had a cousin that caught a baby aligator. He kept it there for a couple weeks...it was gross The weirdest thing i have ever had in my tub was baking soda, milk , and whip cream... all at different times... for different reasons =)
2016-05-21 00:04:04 · answer #7 · answered by latisha 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mosquito larva probably. You'll need to change the water.
2007-06-09 07:39:53 · answer #8 · answered by Jed 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
maggots, clean the cage out.
2007-06-09 07:39:25 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
possibly fly larvae
2007-06-09 07:39:40 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋