Gaping hole in squirrel butt

[acorm]

Hi TSB,

This is Almond, a wild squirrel. She didn't visit for three months and came back in early December looking very scraggly. Her tail was not full and she didn't have her winter coat. She seemed a bit odd and stressed too. Almond also appeared to be nursing (which is a bit late in the year from the others). Today (January 3rd), she isn't as visibly nursing, but I did notice something unusual.



I got a photo of her backside and there was a pea sized hole. I assume that's her vagina? It also seems drooping from the front. Other than her fur looking a bit patchy, she seemed to move around just fine. Even now, she looks thinner than the other squirrels and doesn't seem to have a winter coat. We live in the SF Bay Area, so it doesn't freeze here, but the other squirrels all have their winter poof.



Right after that photo, she was peeing. It seemed like she's straining a little bit maybe? She definitely looked like she was walking funny after going. There was a male squirrel following her around at one point, but wouldn't it be too soon to mate again?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19p4...ew?usp=sharing

Does anything seem wrong?

[acorm]

Here's the video of Almond peeing.

https://youtu.be/MSSFYHH18OI

[stepnstone]

Hi TSB,
This is Almond, a wild squirrel. She didn't visit for three months and came back in early December looking very scraggly. Her tail was not full and she didn't have her winter coat. She seemed a bit odd and stressed too. Almond also appeared to be nursing (which is a bit late in the year from the others). Today (January 3rd), she isn't as visibly nursing, but I did notice something unusual.
I got a photo of her backside and there was a pea sized hole. I assume that's her vagina? It also seems drooping from the front. Other than her fur looking a bit patchy, she seemed to move around just fine. Even now, she looks thinner than the other squirrels and doesn't seem to have a winter coat. We live in the SF Bay Area, so it doesn't freeze here, but the other squirrels all have their winter poof.
Right after that photo, she was peeing. It seemed like she's straining a little bit maybe? She definitely looked like she was walking funny after going. There was a male squirrel following her around at one point, but wouldn't it be too soon to mate again? Does anything seem wrong?

From looking at the pictures and video several times her anus is visible above that area, video shows urine flowing freely from her back area.
If it were her vagina I would suspect her urethra would be blocked.
What I suspect you are seeing is a bot fly larvae and it's getting ready to emerge. That could explain the pouch you are seeing and the pressure
from the bot pouch could explain a little straining to pee.

Edit: I'm stumped as to where her vagina sits due to the pouch covering it or is it actually her vagina we are looking at.
If it is her vagina the only other explanation I can think of is a possible miscarriage or partial miscarriage. Still wouldn't
explain how her urine appeared to free flow.
I'm betting on bot fly but what a hellofa area to get one in!

[Mel1959]

It does look like a bot fly. Bot flies stress their system. If you can provide some healthy food like avocado chunks (no skin or pit), fresh corn and coconut chunks, or purchase some Henrys wild bite or picky eater blocks from Henrys Pets online it will undoubtedly help her regain some weight. The combination of pregnancy, nursing AND a possible bot fly is a lot for her little body to deal with.

[acorm]

https://www.smcmvcd.org/blog-post/bot-flies

“Although a local resident won’t encounter a human bot fly in San Mateo County, there are other species of bot flies that infest other species of animals, such as deer, horses, and rodents. In the case of rodents, the flies lay eggs near the rodent nest, and when they hatch the maggots crawl through openings such as the nose or mouth. They migrate to an area under the skin and form a large swelling called a warble. It does not kill the animal, but might make it slower or weaker and more likely to be captured by a predator. In extremely rare cases, humans, dogs or cats have acquired a rodent bot from proximity to rodent burrows or nests.”

Poor girl, if this is the case. I hope her babies are ok.

[CritterMom]

I agree on the bot fly larvae - it actually looks like it may have actually exited and this is the hole it left. God those are nasty things...