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sundoesshine
10-04-2023, 12:33 PM
(Hello TSB - I can't find a way to move or delete and reupload this, but meant to post it under general new posts if possible, thank you!)

Hi All,
I've been watching a small livestream of a squirrel mom named Bonnie who has a single daughter. She's in good health but what we originally thought was dirt from foraging, (we call it chocolate cake mouth) seems to have turned into a rash with what looks like scabbing under her chin. In addition it looks like hair loss all around her mouth which I'm not sure are even related tbh. She doesn't over wash, scratch etc and doesn't seem bothered by it. She is getting up there in age it looks like, so maybe it's just a byproduct of that?; we've watched her have 3 litters now. Fyi this past season was unbearably hot in TX so perhaps it's irritation from sweat? Just want to make sure it's not something obvious or easily treatable that I'm missing. Sorry about the blurry pic, wasn't sure how to grab off a livestream clearly but you can also go to trakdv on youtube and scroll back on the livestream if you want to see her chin in person. Many thanks.
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CritterMom
10-04-2023, 01:29 PM
Hard to tell from the pic - could this be not dirt but the gunk that develops when a lot of tree nuts that have green hulls begin to decay. Having cleaned some hickory nuts I can tell you it is almost like tar - it sticks. And if she tries to clean it off, it would be more likely that she would end up pulling the hair out rather than cleaning the hairs off.
sundoesshine
10-04-2023, 04:17 PM
the gunk that develops when a lot of tree nuts that have green hulls begin to decay. Having cleaned some hickory nuts I can tell you it is almost like tar - it sticks. And if she tries to clean it off, it would be more likely that she would end up pulling the hair out rather than cleaning the hairs off.

Ahh, this could be! I know there is a huge tree where all the squirrels bury their nuts so perhaps it's just a byproduct of that. I didn't realize they could be sticky so that very well could indeed be it. Thank you for the info!