Squirrel(s) with bad foot

[guderien]

Hello,

My wife and I started feeding, watching and video recording "our" (neighborhood) squirrels during COVID. We noticed one squirrel a couple days ago not using one of his rear feet, he kept it up off the ground, it was hard to see, might have looked a bit puffy. Unfortunately we found him a couple days later in our yard, he didn't make it. Now just this morning one of our favorite squirrels, one we named "Poodle" (his tail is very scraggly in the middle so it looks like a poof ball at the end) we saw this morning with the exact same issue/symptom.

We started feeding them peanuts and sunflowers and have expanded to Walnuts, filberts, pecans and almonds from Anuts.com. We also through in an occasional avocado.

Any idea on what this could be? We researched MBD but could two squirrels have the exact symptoms of MBD like this? Just in case I'm getting some Henry's blocks. Could someone put out a rat/mouse trap and got both squirrels injured? Could it be them fighting? I tried to get a picture but haven't been able to get anything decent yet. Any thoughts or ideas? Only think I can think of is trying to capture him and take him to a vet or rehab center.

thanks!
-kirk

[Spanky]

Pictures are always helpful.

Highly doubtful that this is MBD in wild squirrels.

Could be anything from squirrel squabbles, traps as you suggest, BB-gun wounds...

[guderien]

Pictures are always helpful.

Highly doubtful that this is MBD in wild squirrels.

Could be anything from squirrel squabbles, traps as you suggest, BB-gun wounds...

thanks.
What would explain the the first squirrel being found dead?

Here's the best picture I have so far, it's his front left foot - the one that is visible.

[Spanky]

If the question is why I doubt MBD... I am not sure there has ever been a documented case of MBD in wild squirrels. While MDB is a huge threat to captive squirrels, because humans have control of literally everything and crucially diet, MBD is rare or even non-existent in the wild. MBD does not cause a bad foot, their entire rear end typically becomes paralyzed and they drag themselves around with their front legs. MBD affects the symmetricly so both of the rear legs at the same time. Of course, a spinal injury or other trauma could result in the same type of dragging of their hind end.

It could have been a cat attack. Bacteria carried by a cat in their mouths and on their claws can kill a squirrel in a matter of days, or a matter of hours (especially babies). A severe bite from another squirrel could result in a lethal infection. Weakened and injured squirrels become easy catch for cats and dogs that often leave them dead after they are done "playing" with them. Squirrels do fall from trees, and they can fall from very high without suffering serious injury, but sometimes they impact a branch on the way down or land on something that causes a puncture wound... that also could become infected. Raccoons will also attack squirrels in their nests while they are sleeping. Raptor attacks. Snakes. I rescued a squirrel that had been speared / impaled by a great blue heron once upon a time. Maybe HBC (Hit By Car). Then there are spider / insect bites. Rodent traps as you mentioned. So it could be almost anything....

It is hard to see anything definitive in this picture, so continue the attempt to get better pictures. Also post some pics of her face and ears if you can. Her tail does look a bit pathetic (the tail tells the tale of health, though they do molt and tails looks terrible for a period of time). Videos of her movement would be helpful (but you'll need to post those to a video hosting site like YouTube and paste the link to that here.

[guderien]

thanks a lot, this all helps.

I've had the motion camera up all day but so far we have not seen Poodle, quite few other squirrels but not Poodle. All other squirrels look very healthy.

-kirk

[guderien]

I was able to get some video, hope this helps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMZPDDNjdH4

I saw him eating on the top back of a chair and I cracked a couple nuts but me moved away when I tried to approach. I decided to leave him alone and he stayed on the deck. I still think it's hard to really get a good look at his foot.

Hopefully someone might be able to tell something from this.

[guderien]

Here's the best picture I could get so far.


anyone have any ideas? it's pink and swollen, does not look to be any open cuts.

will it heal? Should we try and capture him and take him to a vet?

[TubeDriver]

This is a difficult call. The foot is clearly infected and his ability to move around is compromised. There is mating chases going on so lots of injuries. This is not related to MBD. In my opinion, he might be able to heal from this on his own. However, if the infection gets worse and spreads, he will need to ABs to heal. Vets in MD will not treat this squirrel unless you are a rehabber. If this gets worse, you should attempt to trap him using a hav-a-hart type trap. Looks like you are in MD? I am a licensed Master Wildlife rehabber in MD and have access to ABs and a vet if needed. If you plan on trapping him and can get him to me, PM me and I can take him in for treatment. If he can be healed, I would release him back into your yard.

[guderien]

thanks.

We are keeping an eye out, one day it seemed better and the next worse so really not sure. He still jumps from the tree to the deck and I see him jump from chair to chair. As far as I can tell him comes twice a day but the times are varied. I've seen him early - like 6:15am and also late like 11am - same as for evening early like 3:30pm or as late as 7:30pm.

Looks like if we decide on trapping those Have a Heart traps are readily available on Amazon. Yes, we do live in Maryland - near White Marsh - more of less. The one thing I'm concerned with trapping would be getting other squirrels - I'd say we get 5-10 different squirrels from time to time so the odds would be against us. They are pretty wary of anything new.

-kirk

[TubeDriver]

If you get a slightly larger hav-a-hart trap (raccoon sized) it might work better setting it up with a manual trigger. You set up the trap, put some card board on the bottom, some nuts as bait and a pile in the back of the trap. You can take a long (10-25') piece of string and tie it around the "j" hook trigger. When the correct squirrel goes in, you pull the string which pulls the "j" hook that holds the trap open. The pressure plate on these larger raccoon sized trap will often not go off if a squirrel steps on it. This manual string operated trap can work better if there are a lot of squirrels in your yard, it helps to select only the squirrel you are trying to trap. But you have to be around with the trap.

thanks.

We are keeping an eye out, one day it seemed better and the next worse so really not sure. He still jumps from the tree to the deck and I see him jump from chair to chair. As far as I can tell him comes twice a day but the times are varied. I've seen him early - like 6:15am and also late like 11am - same as for evening early like 3:30pm or as late as 7:30pm.

Looks like if we decide on trapping those Have a Heart traps are readily available on Amazon. Yes, we do live in Maryland - near White Marsh - more of less. The one thing I'm concerned with trapping would be getting other squirrels - I'd say we get 5-10 different squirrels from time to time so the odds would be against us. They are pretty wary of anything new.

-kirk

[guderien]

We saw him last on Saturday morning and he looked good. He was actually putting his foot on the ground and using it to scratch himself. Still not walking on it. We are going to get a cage so we have it if we need to go that route. Unfortunately we have not seen him since but both my wife and I had some events this weekend so not much time looking out at the deck. Hopefully he'll show up soon this week.

thanks!
-kirk

[TubeDriver]

That sounds promising, steps in the right direction.

We saw him last on Saturday morning and he looked good. He was actually putting his foot on the ground and using it to scratch himself. Still not walking on it. We are going to get a cage so we have it if we need to go that route. Unfortunately we have not seen him since but both my wife and I had some events this weekend so not much time looking out at the deck. Hopefully he'll show up soon this week.

thanks!
-kirk

[guderien]

Latest update on Poodle -

We see him about once every 3 days. We saw him this morning and his foot no longer looks as swollen or as pink, it's looking more grayish - maybe hair growing back? He seems to be using the foot a bit more - still not 100% for sure but he does put weight on it and scratches himself with it. We are hoping he continues to improve.

-kirk

[Diggie's Friend]

We had a wild with an abscess; a rehabber advised giving the squirrel a drop of homeopathic remedy, "Gun Powder". It was amazing how quickly it opened up the abscess to let it drain.

All I had to do was to put it in tiny bit of water and place a drop of the dissolved tablet onto a nut and make sure the squirrel took it. The same was used for Ms. Diggie when she had a infection. Having seen with my own eyes it work twice, I have no doubt it is a viable option to treat abscess especially in a wild that capturing may not be an option. If though there is a foreign object in the wound it may be needful to remove it before the infection clears up. Still the body in many cases may be able to expel the foreign object through the abscess when it breaks.

" 'Gunpowder" Homeopathic remedy. Squirrel Wildlife Rehabber, "Shirley Casey", has written an article on the use of this specific remedy. Sulfur is a natural antibiotic, yet the natural form not reduced is toxic. The homeopathic source is vastly reduced so it isn't toxic.

https://www.ewildagain.org/homeopath...-with-wildlife

https://hpathy.com/veterinary-homeop...gainst-wounds/ Scroll down to seem "Squirrel with stubborn abscess"

(30 C), "Gun Powder" homeopathic remedy available online from: "Hahnemann Homeopathic"

https://hahnemannlabs.com/cgi-bin/ht...25386053044638

[guderien]

Latest update.

Poodle went missing for about a week and then my wife noticed a new squirrel with a strange tail, 3/4 of it was real gray looking. I saw that squirrel and figured out it was Poodle!
His tail hairs were growing back so 3/4 of his tail has shorter hair and it was grayer looking. His foot seems to be much better from what I could tell. We are really amazed at his recovery from what we thought at one time was going to be a fatal foot injury.

BEFORE:


NOW:

[Rock Monkey]

That's awesome news. Thank you for sharing it with the group.