I just found a maggot in my plum

and now I won't be able to eat the rest of the punnet and I'll have to go to the vending machine instead and get something unhealthy like crisps or cake.

woe is me

You just missed a good bit of proteins...pity;)

Ew. I've just eaten four maggot-free plums, so I'm glad I finished them before seeing your thread, or it may have put me off a bit.

Someone with a bit of medical training told me, the other day, that they are apparently now reviving the old practice of using maggots in hospitals. When someone has a severe infection that has left loads of dead flesh, maggots (sterilised first, although god knows how you would sterilise a maggot without killing it) are put on the wound. They apparently only eat dead flesh, not living tissue, so they chew away all the dead stuff much more effectively than if you cut it away in surgery. This sounds gross and I'm not sure if it's true or not - anyone?

Oh and: enjoy your lunch, everyone ;-)

at least you didn't find half a maggot !!

Oh I think I read about that a few years ago. It'll be leeches next :)

at least you didn't find half a maggot !!

True! That happened to me when I was little and then I didn't eat plums for years and years... finally I decide to confront my phobia and look what happens :(

I think it is true. I saw something about it only recently. I don't remember where or when though...but I'm sure there must be a link somewhere on the internet for those who want to look for one...I have shelves to move now :s

absolutely true, to be sterilized the maggots would just have to be fed with sterile food in a sterile environment. If thats their only food source they cant pick up anything nasty. The maggots will eat the dead flesh as they will just eat the parts giving off sulphur compounds(the smell of death) as a result of necrosis. They do this as they don't want to come up against any immunity.

It must tickle a bit... that would be quite freaky :S

I'd hate to be a maggot. Imagine only being able to eat stuff that gives off THE SMELL OF DEATH.

i'd be fussy and only eat stuff that had the wreek of putrefaction or the musk of mortality...

Or one of those dogs that they used in the Maddy apartment. I did wonder what this 'smell of death' was... Sulphur compounds?

I remember when I was a young kid finding a dead rat with maggots coming out of its eyes. Scarred me for life, that did.

i found Half!!! a worm in a baked potato once, put me off for years

I once found trapped inside my settee the shell of a dead mouse with maggot shells around it...by that time it didn't give out any smell at all but it was quite disturbing...and i certainly realised what that funny smell about the house was that i couldn't locate for a while...special thanks to the cats here :)

Sulphur compounds?

well all smells a cocktail of things but im pretty sulphur compounds are the ones that are most distasteful. Sulphur compounds are the smell of farts, cabbage, sewerage yada yada.

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we do use leeches again now, had some in use at the hospital just the other day...

Blimey :)

I misread the last word of the title of this thread as the plural - and immediately thought it related to someone realising he has small reproductive equipment.

I knew there would be a joke in it somewhere...

I saw a documentary (Discovery Channel or similer) a couple of years back that featured both maggot and leech therapy.
One guy had lost a toe and although it was relatively easy to reattach it, the tricky bit is pumping a fresh blood supply into it, as the delicate capillaries had collapsed. Enter a team of dedicated leeches and problem solved, they were placed in shifts on the end of the reattached digit and by feeding would 'draw' the blood from the 'stump' and into the toe. Giving the fragile circulatory a chance to repair itself.

The other case had a necrotic wound and was looking at a major amputation (arm, I think)should it spread. Faced with that he soon came to appreciate his wriggling little assistants, although he did admit that having the maggots 'changed' along with the dressing every couple of days was quite grim. Other than that, no problem. I guess if the maggots stick to dead tissue, you've no nerves present to give you that wriggling sensation.
And if the alternatives losing a limb?

It was quite interesting.

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The maggot and flesh thing is amazingly effective, they chew away at all the rotten bits, stopping it becoming infected and as they only eat dead tissue, new tissue can still grow and heal, the maggots allow the skin to breath properly n all. Nature has all the answers...u just got to find them!