Possible mange in area gray squirrels - any treatment other than "hands-on"? - Ask Extension
I live 15 miles NE of Grants Pass iñ a heavily wooded area (private and BLM). The squirrels that visit my 5 feeders have been showing what I first t...
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Possible mange in area gray squirrels - any treatment other than "hands-on"? #616974
Asked March 13, 2020, 5:17 PM EDT
I live 15 miles NE of Grants Pass iñ a heavily wooded area (private and BLM). The squirrels that visit my 5 feeders have been showing what I first thought were wounds, but now seem to be mange? Areas the size of silver dollars on their back, rear, and outer- thigh area where the hair is completely missing and the skin is red and inflamed. One has been coming for the last week that is missing all the fur on the first two inches of it's tail - all the way around. The skin again looks fiery red and sometimes weepy.
I know some of these bald patches could be down to injury or fighting, but the borders seem to be uniform in shape with every hair gone.
Does this sound like mange? If so, is there any way to treat it that isn't hands-on? If not, is there any way to treat whatever else it is that doesn't require hands-on?
If there is nothing I can do, will this eventually burn through the entire population and then start over with immune squirrels? Or, will this be the new normal?
I'd appreciate any info. Thanks! :). Carole
I've attatched lousy photos (you really need to zoom in) showing the female with the missing tail fur. Sorry they're so bad, but the feeders are literally 5-12' from my window and they run the minute I move....
Josephine County Oregon
Expert Response
Mange and fungal infections, both of which can cause the patchy hair loss you're observing, are known to run through populations of squirrels at times. Grown squirrels are likely to come through this and survive just fine. If this was happening just at the start of fall/winter cold weather however, the hair loss might be tougher for them to bear.
Unnaturally close density and frequent use of the same spots, such as at feeders, helps spread conditions like this. At this point, the squirrels are obviously food-conditioned to use the reliable source of food your feeders are providing, so we don't want to cut them off cold-turkey as it were. If you can instead create more numerous, smaller, well-dispersed feeding stations, that might help reduce the community transmission rate.
As you're able to this spring and summer, consider creating bird-feeding stations that don't double (directly or through spillage) as squirrel-feeders - Consider if it's possible to do some plantings (e.g., spruces, pines, willows, aspens, others) that will provide natural foods for the squirrels but will keep them at a more natural distance from each other while they seek and obtain food.
