fleas

[rehabmom]

i have a bad case of fleas this summer.
i know it has been brought up befor but am double checking to make sure what to use. i have cotton tails and of corse my kids(squirrels)sammy and roady. if i remmber right a drop of advantage.?

rehabmom.

[TexanSquirrel]

I don't know, but while you wait for someone who does know, I'd say go ahead and go on a cleaning frenzy - do the laundry, vacuum the carpets, basically get rid of any fleas that aren't currently on the critters.

[squirrelfriend]

I have heard that Advantage would kill the squirrels. I have no idea on bunnies. As far as squirrels are use the Dawn "blue" dish liquid. has to be the blue one. This works well and does not poison them. It is also very easy and cheap to get. Ivermectin from a vet visit is great too if you have access. Fleas are not too hard to get rid of. I find one washing usually does it. It is mites and lice that are harder to get rid of. in those cases Ivermectin is your best bet.

For mange mites the Dawn dish detergent won't do much except kill the ones on the surface. The problem with mites is that they stay under the skin until they breed. It is only the breeding ones at that very moment that it will kill. Which isn't many of them.

For lice it will kill all the crawling lice but not the eggs. It has to be repeated every couple of days for a couple of weeks to work. YOu would have to have a very calm squirrel to get away with it and be prepared to get bitten by the squirrel.

Fleas are easy. one bath ought to do it. IF by chance it doesn't get an egg and you see more bathe again in a week.

[CPCSqueeklover]

Tularemia, also known as deerfly fever or rabbit fever, is an infectious disease caused by bacteria transmitted by insect vectors or direct contact. It is characterized in humans by fever, headache, and an ulcerated skin lesion with localized lymph node enlargement, or by eye infection, gastrointestinal ulcerations, or pneumonia, depending on the site of entry and the response of the patient. Treatment includes basic antibiotics, and recovery produces life long immunity. A vaccine is available.

At a recent public health conference, a member of the CDC spoke of an outbreak in Texas. A pet store was capturing and selling wild prairie dogs as pets. Unfortunately, some of the prairie dogs had tularemia and died a few days after being sold. To add insult to injury, the people who bought them and the store- owners contracted tularemia, which is why the CDC got involved. Fortunately, no one died even though several got very sick. The relevance here is it gives us yet another reason to shoot prairie dogs, and even though tularemia is usually associated with rabbits and bears, this shows that you can get disease from unsuspected sources.

The point is not to scare you, but to inform you. Prevention is much cheaper than treatment. Investing in a good insect repellent that contains D.E.E.T. AND REMEMBERING TO USE IT is much cheaper than an Emergency Room visit. Several companies sell insect proof-clothes and underwear. I own some and they’re pretty comfortable. Tuck rubber gloves in your pockets. They’re cheap. Use them when skinning or handling carcasses.

If you experience new or unexplained symptoms since your last hunting trip see your doctor ASAP, and if symptoms are severe enough, go to the emergency room. If you find a tick on you, preserve it so it can be identified at the hospital.

Check with your state health department. Find out if any outbreaks have been reported in the area you will be hunting. Here in Arizona it would be worth knowing that prairie dogs north of Flagstaff may have plague if you are hunting that area.

This is not an all-inclusive list of all insect borne diseases. Many states or regions have diseases that are native to that area. For instance: yellow fever, another mosquito carried disease, is found in South America but not in North America but it’s slowly working its way to the north. Recently there have been reports of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in eastern Arizona. This is a new disease to this state. Diseases tend to migrate with the animal reservoirs that carry the virus or bacteria. That’s why we have West Nile Virus in the United States when it was once only endemic to the West Nile area of Egypt.

State Health Departments keep track of areas of concern when it comes to disease. Check with your game and fish department. They also work with the Health Department in tracking diseases that may cross over to humans, like rabies outbreaks in certain species or areas. As stated before go to the CDCs website at www.cdc.gov and link over to whichever disease you want to know more about. But by all means don’t stop your favorite outdoor activity. Just be a good scout and “Be prepared” for the littlest predators.

[CPCSqueeklover]

Plague, responsible for wiping out much of Europe in the twelfth century, is still around today. It is an acute and potentially fatal bacterial infection.Natural transmission cycles involving wild rodents, such as prairie dogs, squirrels, and their fleas are found in many regions of the western United States.

Initial signs and symptoms of plague can be nonspecific, with fever, chills, malaise, myalgia, nausea, prostration, sore throat, and headache, very similar to flu symptoms. Bubonic plague, the most common form, usually presents with painful, swollen lymph nodes.

Occasionally, naturally occurring plague causes widespread outbreaks among rodent populations. While virtually any mammal can be infected with plague, some species do not develop clinical signs of illness following infection, and these pose great risks to humans. Rodents and rabbits as well as the predators who eat them are likely to be susceptible to plague and, once infected, serve as sources of infection for humans who handle them.

Of interest is the fact that since 9/11, if you contract plague, regardless of how you got it, you can expect a visit from both the FBI and CDC Plague is a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) and any reported human cases are investigated quickly.

[Gabe]

I like to use kitten flea spray. I spray it under several layers of bedding and leave the animal in that area for 1-2 hours.
I have had several vets use advantage on squirrels before they send them to me and it does not hurt them. I understand that advantage is very safe and not absorbed.

[darrakm]

Advantage is NOT good for FLYING squirrels. THe Dawn dish liquid is good for bathing to get rid of the fleas. But I also know of a home remedy to keep them out of your carpet. Vacuum/shampoo really good. Then everytime, after you vacuum, get the salt shaker off of the kitchen table and "salt" you carpet. About like you would your dinner plate. It dries up the eggs that the fleas might have laid. Go figure....LOL

[Gabe]

Oh sorry, I didn't know she was talking about flyers. Guess I skimmed through the thread too fast.

Darrakm is much more knowledgeable in that dept than I am. I would go with her advice.

[darrakm]

Oh sorry, I didn't know she was talking about flyers. Guess I skimmed through the thread too fast.

Darrakm is much more knowledgeable in that dept than I am. I would go with her advice.
Nah, she wasn't talking about flyers. Just thought I would stress it for anyone reading.