Squirrel Died

[Daisey007]

Hi Everyone, :grouphug

I'm pretty bummed right now. I saw a squirrel eating at one of my feeding sites about 3 weeks ago that had a huge bright red bloody area on the side of its neck. It looked to be about an inch wide and seemed to start behind his ear and went around the neck and over the shoulder a bit. I immediately thought to try and catch it and treat it but felt there was no way I'd ever catch that one because there are soooo many that come. He bolted if I even went towards the woods. I saw him 2-3 times eating and playing and the wound seemed to stay bright red but I also saw him scratching it! It looked painful to me but he was scratching the crap out of it. And I wondered if that's what caused the wound. At the same time I had also noticed that one of the squirrel boxes had fallen from the tree it was in, and I wondered if perhaps the squirrel was in it when it fell and that's what caused his injury. I got distracted with all my pets and the five squirrels I've over wintered and my job etc. and forgot about him.

Sadly, I found him dead tonight on the ground near the feeding area. He hadn't been dead more than an hour. :boohoo I examined him very closely and the wound was no longer bright red but it was infected. BUT the most disturbing thing is the number of fleas that were leaving his body!! I'm wondering if perhaps he became sick from the infection and it gave the fleas an opportunity to take over - OR - did a severe flea infestation cause him to scratch a wound like that??? There were no other wounds on his body like I think there would be if it were caused from the fleas. There were so many fleas that his fur seemed to be moving. Even if I had found him before he died I wouldn't have been able to do much because I'd been covered in the fleas... I've never seen so many.

What thoughts do you all have on this?

[SammysMom]

Godspeed sweet boy... :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon

I think that fleas tend to sort of take over on a depleted animal the same way that other things like mange mites do. They seem opportunistic and the animal's body is less able to fight them off. I wonder if it might have been an abscess that ruptured and was starting to heal. Pendleton also has been battling an abscess in that area and he is scratching it endlessly! This time of year there are a lot of squirrel on squirrel fights that lead to abscesses. I am awfully sorry for your loss...:grouphug

[Daisey007]

Thinking back... the skin was completely missing from that area. :boohoo

I feel terrible thinking that the wound was caused from the squirrel box falling! But HOW do you know when they're about to fall? It makes me feel like having them all removed and replaced now. I think the next ones I hang will be made out of used car tires (I already have the plans) and hung with heavy duty cables so this doesn't ever happen again.

[Mel1959]

I'm sorry about your squirrel friend. :grouphug:grouphug. It may not have been the nest box that caused the wound. No reason to best yourself up over the box falling. :hug

[island rehabber]

Poor little guy... Neck wounds at this time of year are very often from males fighting for territory and females. It is an unfortunate fact of squirrel life. Even worst is when you find them with their nether regions ripped out -- the males do that to each other, too. I would not obsess over the nest box -- that's probably not what caused the injury. Had a heavy box hit him on the neck I don't think he would have survived it at all.

[cava]

I'm sorry for your little friend and that you feel bad.

I can tell you I've seen some insane flea related things in my 15 yrs as a vet tech. When we euthanized a very flea infested animal they immediately feel the temperature change and jump ship. I have seen what you are describing and it's both frightening and amazing. We were always taught that fleas live in the environment jump on and off the animal to feed, but I don't believe this is always true. I think that if a female flea can lay her eggs deep in the down and those fleas hatch out that's where this type of infestation occurs and depending on his age, level of general health and immunity, he could very likely have been anemic.

We saw flea anemia quite often in infested young animals. If you add that to a scratch or fight wound, it's likely he wouldn't have been able to heal and, well, infections can become systemic and kill animals. The smaller the animal, the quicker the process, is what we were taught.

I hope this information helps. Again, sorry for your loss.:Love_Icon

[Jen413]

Aww!!! So sorry to hear this!:grouphug

[KarmaKay]

I'm so sorry!

[KarmaKay]

I had a call and received 2 6 week orphaned fox squirrels. They ere covered in fleas and really dehydrated. They started doing well, but died 11-12 days later. Both writhin 12 hours of each other. I should've started antibiotics and added vitamins. I had asked another Rehabber about it and she thought they'd be fine. I felt horrible, but I learned and will next time trust my instincts.