Photo D. Browne
Venus 2/23/09 (If you haven't gone out to look at her in her current brilliant state, get out there!)
After much scrutiny, I've decided that Venus is accompanied in the above photograph by a flying pig-in-a-blanket.
Photograph courtesy of Lysiane Ribeiro M.D. and www.mariewinn.com/
Contributor Karen Kolling brought the plight of the Riverside Squirrels to my attention on author and original Pale Male Watcher, Marie Winn's wonderful website and suggested that I contact Squirrel rehabber, Carol Vinzant for help in the matter.
Carol in turn, in the midst of nursing her cherished dog Jolly through an illness, forwarded this information on mange from another squirrel rehabber Vicki Puluso--
You treat mange w/ivermectin. If the squirrels can be treated individually, it's very easy to dose them. Just a drop on a shelled nut or other food, repeated again in 10-14 days. Overdoses are lethal, so you have to be very careful! These cases don't look that bad, in fact I thought the older pictures just showed spring molting. As you probably know, a healthy squirrel will usually recover from mange fine, so giving them good food is important. Toss out shelled nuts dusted w/Prime supplement, for instance.
(If you have afflicted squirrels, look online for ivermectin, or get in touch and I'll help to find a source.)
This is the second post of the day so keep scrolling down for more on the Tulsa Hawks!
Donegal Browne
4 comments:
Please help me....we had a little black squirrel that we think had the mange. We found it dead by our house today. We live in lowe Michigan and we have lots of squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, coyotes, wild turkeys etc Where can I get the ivermectin? I really don't want to get it from the vet if I can help it. I already have to hide the vet bills for our two cats and our dog from my husband. It is a big joke at the vet's office. Help.
Hi Sarah,
My best thought at the moment is to find and speak with your local wildlife rehabilitators. Ordinarily they can be found by search engine as they are licensed by the state. Try putting in your state and "Wildlife rehabilitators" and hope for a list to come up which usually includes their location. Some local vets have rehabbers who work with them and could help direct you to the right people as well if the first isn't satisfactory. A rehabber could help in identifying if mange is the issue at hand or if not what the problem actually is. They might also be able to help you with medications. Rehabbers come in my stripes and personalities. If the first isn't helpful keep trying others plus ask what they suggest your next step should be in getting aid.
All the best of luck! Thank you for caring for these wonderful wild creatures. Often if you keep trying, very often you'll find the right person who cares and will help.
Squirrel mange... felt so sorry for my naked squirrels, especially the youngest of the group, that I did quite a bit of research. I use Ivermectin liquid. Got it from a Tractor Supply store, used for cattle. I put 2 ml of the liquid in a pail bottom, add 5mls of wheat germ oil and mix well. Then I add my squirrel mix and again, mix well til all the squirrel mix is coated with the oil and Ivermectin. Both infected and uninfected squirrels eat the mix, so that some are treated for the mange infection and the others are treated for prevention since if not treated, will get it from the nest mates. I repeat it in 10 days and again in another 10 days. In from 10 to 20 days you can see a change in the infected squirrels, skin gets darker due to new hair growth and they don't scratch themselves anymore. I do this once a year or when needed. Russ
Russ, thanks so much for sharing your remedy. It's going to help many a nearly naked and uncomfortable squirrel!
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