Here in MS our season opens 1 October. Early season squirrels are always covered with bot fly maggots (wolves, warbles, or what ever your area calls them). It?s an old wives tale about not being fit to eat. The maggots are in the hide - not the meat. My grandmother loved squirrels, but wouldn?t eat any that had wolves - if she only knew. Deer in the south all have nazal bot fly maggots, but most folks don?t know that or they probably wouldn?t eat them either. There?s not many wild animals that don?t have some type of parasite (s).

I?ve hunted and killed many squirrels in Missouri through spring and summer, but have never seen one with wolves...Not many had fleas.