Wounded Ear

[skippy]

I have a wild adult gray squirrel that I've been feeding. It seems to have been injured recently. Possibly mating. Both ears are cut but one is more severe as it is lying flat against it's head. I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with this type of wound and if so, what the outcome was; with or without intervention? Is it possible for the ear to heal properly and recover from this wound or will it be permanently deformed if not treated? Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

[Uno's Mom]

I have had two males who have gotten injured ears from fights when first released but they do not sound as severe as the one you are describing.

Chomper did not come for breakfast or dinner one day when he was about six months old so I climbed a ladder to his house in the tree and found him very slow and quiet inside. When he finally came out for a pecan I noticed blood all over his neck, ear and the side of his face and he was very tired. I brought him inside for 24 hours and he slept almost the whole time. The blood came from a chunk that was taken out of his ear and a bite on the back of his neck. I cleaned his ear and neck with soap and water and applied a little polysporin when I first brought him in but did nothing else after that. He was eager to go back out late the next afternoon so I reluctantly let my baby go.

The ear healed in time with a v-shaped chunk missing. A month later he came home missing 1-inch of his tail! That really hurt him and he was in a lot more pain for a longer period of time but it too eventually healed on his own.

He was always being chased by the other squirrels in the yard. He was raised as an only so that didn't help.

My last release, Red, came home a few days ago with a cut on his ear...not nearly as bad as Chomper's, but he too will have a permanent nick.

The only upside is you will always know which one he is, poor baby.

[skippy]

Uno's Mom:
Thanks for the reply.
I have seen the nips missing on others too. I was just hoping that this one will stand up again on it's own. I'll try to attach a photo.

[skippy]

I tried to attach a photo but it doesn't seem like it worked.
I'll have to try and reduce them before posting.
Thanks again.
:)

[astra]

I had a regular wild squirrel with a similar flat ear. Felt bad for her because she was such a beautiful squirrel.
But she did well.
I can't think of anything you could do to straighten it... you can not put a cast, or bandage it...
since it is not infected, I doubt there is much you could do for a wild squirrel.
if he were tame, then, maybe, just maybe...something could be done (but can't think of it).

What I did notice in my wild - she lost some vision field, because when she'd sit on my windowsill and I'd be behind on that side, I could reach my hand so close that I could touch her (but I didn't) and she wouldn't seem to care...
I am also suspecting that, perhaps, she lost some hearing on that side, too...

(because in most cases, humans with a similar injury will experience some hearing impairment)

[Scooterzmom]

I resized the pic for you, so we can all see better.

I had between about or 2 dozen wilds who used to come and feed regularly, and a lot of them had nicks on their ears or some kind of damage on them. Squirrels are territorial and will fight and unfortunately injuries such as that can occur. Usually they don't try to kill eachother, however, and if there's injury to the neck or such it usually would result from some other predator.

This said, since you don't see any other injury and she seems to be doing OK inspite of that I wouldn't worry. As Astra said, being a wild there is not much you could do anyway :( I would keep an eye on her, just to make sure you don't see any swelling developing or such... in which case you then would need to give her some ABs (antibiotics).
159932

[skippy]

Thank you for resizing that for me. :)

Her head was more swollen for 2 days prior to this photo and she does have an open wound on the backside of her thigh near the base of her tail. I've been watching her to see if that wound or the ear worsen. The swelling on her face and head are down and she climbs and runs well. I'm hoping to not have to intervene but will be ready if necessary. So hard to see them injured and not race to the rescue. I was just hoping the ear would return to it's natural position. But as you said. I'll always know which one she is.