Wild squirrel with puncture wound

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

One of the wild squirrels that visits my house daily for treats showed up this evening with a puncture wound on her left upper back shoulder area. I'm wondering if there is anything I can do for her and any thoughts on what it might be. She stays out of arms reach from me and doesn't take nuts out of my hand. Here are the photos of the area.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

I also have cipro 500mg , augmentin 875mg and amoxicillin 500mg. Thanks

[frankc]

This is sickening. It looks to me like some SOB shot her with a pellet gun not a BB gun. The Lead Pellet I believe is a .222 Cal round. The whole would be about the size of a 22Cal bullet shot round. She definitely needs medical care real soon. If it is a pellet it will take a vet to extract it. Infection will set in very quickly. Please keep us posted. Try to find a rehabber that will help you capture her and see if that rehabber has a vet they can take her too.

[RockyPops]

Poor baby!

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Is there any other possible wound this could be? We never see anyone in the woods and can't figure out how she could have gotten shot . I am in panic mode and not sure where to begin. I do know a vet that would see her if I was a rehabber but I'm not. He isn't in his office until Monday. I spoke to the Vets office years ago and they said they would see a squirrel if someone brought it in under a licensed rehabbers permission.

[stepnstone]

Hard to tell what could have caused that without examination.
It looks "new" but not fresh, no signs of bleeding. It appears she's able
to use that arm/shoulder well and that's good. Whatever caused the
puncture must not have gone too deep as to interfere with muscle, also
a good thing.
It likely wouldn't hurt to give a short course of ab to ward off infection and
promote healing but if it were my wild I'd allow her to continue healing on her
own but also keep an eye on her in case intervention would be necessary.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Ok. She comes by twice a day. Tomorrow morning I will look at her and see if she if worse. She is climbing and running normal so far.

[island rehabber]

An abcess that has popped and is now healing can look like that. So can a bot fly warble, but i can't see her having a bot fly in Indiana in December. I agree with stepnstone that observation and access to good water and food is the best course right now.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

I do supply fresh water daily to my wilds. I also noticed that she was drinking a lot more water than she usually does this evening. Thanks

[Timberbeast]

Could it be a “wolve worm” exit hole or abscess as suggested?

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

She came by today and the wound looks smaller with no drainage or swelling noted. The area looks light pink in color. She is still running and climbing like she always does. Her appetite is good and she is drinking lots of water. Her name is Jude. I will try to get pictures tomorrow . Thanks .

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Jude came by this evening. She is running and climbing fine so far. Her appetite is good too. She didn't stay long due to all of the other wilds chasing her. The wound looks a little darker pink then it was yesterday. It appears the same size and I didn't notice any swelling or drainage. I'm wondering if it is getting worse due to it being darker pink in color or if this is a normal healing process? She was so fast and dodging other squirrels that I couldn't get a good picture of it today. I did notice she lives farther back in woods then I thought she did so it is possible that it could be a wound from a pellet gun.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Jude came back this evening and I was able to get a few pictures of the wound.

[RockyPops]

Wow, could be anything.

Wound from a predator, bb gun or maybe an injury from a squabblw with another squirrel.

We are in the early days of mating season. The chase is on and I have a male that's coming around that has a nasty bite on his forehead, between his eyes sorta. It's about the size of a pencil eraser down to the skin with a nasty scabbed over area portion about half that size. It's sorta round like that.

Poor babies, they have a rough life!

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

They do have a rough life. I would rather think that her injury is from another squirrel then from a sick minded neighbor hurting innocent animals.

[stepnstone]

I seriously doubt it was from a pellet gun...
I've had squees with projectile injuries and have seen first hand what
the impact from a bb gun does and a pellet hits with more force.
Much like a .22 bullet, either can pierce and ricochet in the subject
causing internal damage.

[Diggie's Friend]

This looks like it may have been an abscess that blew, leaving this gapping hole.

It is also possibly a hold left from the exiting of a bot fly, as TubeDriver has shared.

In both cases, as long as when it closes up it doesn't swell up again, the squirrel should be fine.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Jude came by this evening but I wasn't able to get a picture because of all of the chasing going on. It appears the same size as yesterday and darker red in color. She is running , climbing , eating and still acting like her normal self.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

I saw Jude this evening. She is still acting like her normal self. Her appetite is great. I was able to get a picture but she is so fast it was hard to get a clear one.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Jude's open area seems to be healing up just fine.