Maggots eat into the wounds

Day: 371

Sunrise:
05:45

Sunset:
21:05

Total kilometers:
1722

Soil condition:
Grass

Temperature – Day (maximum):
29°C

Temperature – day (minimum):
18 °C

Temperature – Night:
8 °C

Latitude:
49°42’773”

Longitude:
100°11’497”

Maximum height:
1492 m above sea level

Like every morning, our neighbors start their daily work at 6:00 am. Rezindorj drives the cows on his moped to the fence next to the yurt where they are milked by Gadimaa and her daughter. Afterwards, the milk that they do not need for their own daily use is filled into plastic bottles and canisters, which Rezindorj takes to Mörön on his moped by 10:00 a.m. at the latest.

We are also up early. Either Tanja or I, depending on who had the guard shift, unties the horses from the stakes, sprays mosquito repellent on the healing pressure points and releases them so that they can eat all day in the pasture. Because of the heat, the daily heavy thunderstorms and the many dung of the animals, there are millions of flies that do not make life easy for us and the animals. Unlike us, our horses can hardly save themselves from the annoying flies. They stand apathetically in the shade of a small wooden hut where the water pump is located, nodding their heads up and down incessantly like rock fans. They constantly wag their bushy tails back and forth to drive the insects away. But that doesn’t stop them from incessantly settling on the sweating bodies. The slightest injury, such as a scratch in the fur, is a feast for them. You can really see how the flies enlarge such wounds, dig tunnels into the flesh and then lay maggots inside.

When we hitch up the horses in front of our tent again shortly before sunset, Tanja makes a terrible discovery. “Bor has maggots in his back wound.” “Oh no!” I gasp. I am currently inspecting the open area. In fact, it moves in the flesh that could make you sick. Memories of our Pakistan expedition immediately flash through my mind. At that time, our camels suffered from the countless flies that laid their offspring in their nasal cavities, which meant that they had to sneeze constantly. Sometimes also maggots. The terrible thing, however, was that the maggots crawled up the nasal cavity and, in the worst case, settled in the frontal sinus. For us and the camels, it was an incessant nightmare that we had to tackle daily with tweezers and disinfectant. Thanks to unconditional care and treatment, we won out over the flies in the end. The reason for the maggot problem was that the camel’s nose was pierced and a wooden peg was pushed through the holes, to which the guide rope was attached. The constant movement caused cracks in the skin which the flies used for their terrible work.

But the fact that flies are challenging us again here in Mongolia, some 20 years later, shocks us to the core. “Do we have tweezers?” I ask Tanja, stroking Bor’s head. “No, except in your toiletries bag.” “Can you get them for me, please. Also the iodine and the healing ointment,” I say as I continue to look at the wound and think about how I can get these disgusting crawling insects out of Bor’s back. After Tanja hands me the veterinary medicine, I start by dripping iodine into the wound with a syringe. I now boldly work my way into the festering flesh with the tweezers to extract maggot after maggot. As darkness falls, we continue to operate in the light of our headlamps. “That’s all of them. The wound should be maggot-free now,” I say after an hour. “Are you sure?” “I think so,” I reply, disinfecting the area again with iodine and coating it thickly with healing ointment. Tomorrow we should tie the thin saddle blanket to his back. Then the flies can’t get to the wound,” Tanja suggests. “Good idea,” I reply, examining the other horses.

We look forward to your comments!