Squirrel Mange Question ??

P

Pahoo

New member
Not at all firearms or hunting related but wildlife related. Occasionally while hunting, I encounter a Squirrel that has the mange. Now I know I'm not going to skin and eat it but have wondered what I should do about it. I know they can transmit this to other fury animals as well as humans. I also know that nothing has a right to live forever and there are times when you have to kill animals other than for the table. I've watched them scratching like crazy trying to get some relief. When you've hunted long enough, you will run into this situation. Am interested to hear some feedback from Y'all.


Be Safe !!!
 
No, not mange.

The squirrels don't have "mange", but what we call "wolves".

I think these are where some kind of fly has laid an egg & the larvae grows under the skin & forms a lump. This is very itchy. so they scratch a lot. This is during warm weather; when it gets cold the problem goes away. Here in the south, I believe all squirrels have wolves until first frost.
 
but what we call "wolves".
Click to expand...
That is interesting and have never heard of this. The squirrels with mange, don't get a lump as such. They loose most of the hair and get a grayish scaley skin. Sometimes they can give off an offensive odor. You can clearly make them out cause depending on how bad they have it, they are mostly grayish with some colored hair showing. They look pretty nasty.


Be Safe !!!
 
What he is talking about is actually a warble, and is the larvae of the tree squirrel bot fly. They scratch around it until it makes a nasty looking area. We usually didn't hunt them until after the first hard frost because of this. They can get mange too.
 
Now I see that we are talking about a different desease. Mange is caused by a mite that cannot be seen by the human eye. No lumps involved, just a mites under the skin of an animal. Take a look at these links. Not very pretty as well. Got to feel sorry for these infested tree rats.
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-26949--,00.html

And:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandj98/349107973/

Now, my question is when you encounter a squirrel like this, do you shoot him or let nature take it's course. I understand that nature isn't hardly ever merciful.


Be safe !!!!
 
Warbles and mange are definately two different parasites I`ve seen in squirrels. I`ve shot squirrels with bad cases(of mange) with no intention of eating them. Buzzards get hungry in my neck of the woods.
 
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