Land/Water Wildlife

We call him Shadow because that is all you usually see of him.

 

Rosie, our resident red fox has been looking pretty shabby lately. At first I was concerned that it was mange but in searching the web I found that they shed their winter coat in the spring and it only takes a short period of time to do so. I certainly hope that is the case.
"Red Foxes also shed out their plush winter coats, but the color of their summer coat is usually very similar to their winter coat. You'll see our Red species foxes also blow their winter fur, and appear much smaller in the summer months."
And, to make matters worse she has learned where the camera is and the flash bothers her eyes so she rarely looks directly at the camera and she squints all the time she is here. I had 80 images of her last night and in each one she is facing away from the camera, or squinting.
Foxy little devil. I am going to have to work out a way to overcome that but I love a challenge, however I am afraid she will out-fox me yet again.

 

@hydrogardener , that looks bad to me, hope its not mange but the lumpy bits around the snout look worse than just a moult.
Ears look bad as well.

 

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I know it looks bad right now, it happened over the course of a week or so. All I can do is feed her and hope for the best. She is a young animal, I think this is her first season on her own. At least she still eating well. I will see how she progresses over the next few weeks. I did some research and she is getting a balanced diet including cheese, eggs, meat, fish and fruit. I am just hoping she will improve. Here is what she looked like in March, what a dramatic change!

 

I have a friend at the New York State Conservation Department and have asked him to have one of the biologists take a look at the photo.

 

Not much you can do if it is mange, but I think it is treatable but they would need to catch her.
I've seen foxes with mange and its not a nice death for them.

 

Squirrel showing the starling how its done.

 

The biologist said it is mange, she also said if she got it in the spring there is a slight chance she will survive. The video shows her shaking like a dog trying to get water off its coat. She is trying to shake off the mites I guess. Sad, still I can hope for the best, but expect the worse.

 

That's not good news, sorry to hear that.

 

Sadly she doesn't look at all well @hydrogardener. I hope she comes through it.

 

Thanks Sheal, I will continue feeding her. On the video she seems to be acting normally and is eating everything I put out for her. She does try to shake the ticks off from time to time.

 

50ml ORAL SARCOPTIC MANGE TREATMENT Dogs, Horses, Pets, Foxes & Wildlife | eBay

Not sure if this kind of thing is available over there @hydrogardener , or even if it works.

 

Thanks Pete. It is not available and anything that is available needs a vet's RX to get it. I saw some other items available in the UK also so I guess they care more than the US does. All of the local vets are associated with animal hospitals and they could care less. I tried a local wildlife rehabilitator and he said he would not take her even if I trapped her. I appreciate your concern though. The New Jersey State site said some animals develop a natural immunity on their own and recover. I only hope Rosie is one of the lucky ones.

 

Sending wishes for a good recovery for Rosie.