Squirrel with Localised Fur Loss

[mbaldw]

Hi folks,

yesterday we had a squirrel in the garden that was missing a patch of fur across its shoulders and a noticable thinning of the fur on its tail. To me it looks almost like an early-stage mite infection (squirrel mange?), but I wondered whether anyone else had seen this before? A few shots (not illustrating the bald patch brilliantly, I'm afraid):




Cheers,
Marc.

[Hedgehoggy]

Hiya Marc, the bald patch doesn't look 'angry' enough to have been caused by mites. I would have expected the bald patch to look red/inflamed/scabby if it was caused by mites, but I could be wrong! Some of the squirrels in my garden are sporting thin tails at the moment, which I'm atttributing to their bi-annual moult (March-July). Although I've never noticed such obvious bald patches during the greys' moults (as per the example in your photo), apparently red squirrel moults often result in large patches of bald skin, so perhaps this can happen with the greys too?

[mbaldw]

Thanks Hedgehoggy. I did think that the tail looked more like it was moulting, but the bald patch kinda threw me. As you say though, it could also be associated with the moult (as you note in Reds). I'll keep an eye on it and see if anything changes.

Cheers,
Marc.

[Dogghound]

The bald patch on the back of the head/neck could be as a result of mating, although not sure if squirrels bite the nape during copulation.

Grey Squirrels moult the tail once in summer which could be a reason for how it looks. Mange tends to be uncommon in Squirrels.

[Rage in Eden]

I think it's just strange moult pattens.

We have squirrels which have had these patches, the first time we took him to the vets but they couldn't find any medical reason and since then the other squirrels have gone through similar phases.

[mbaldw]

Thanks folks. I've not seen it again since, but moult does make more sense than a mite infection.

Cheers,
Marc.