Strange Looking critter

[cdbeaver]

Looked out my patio door yesterday morning and saw the strangest looking critter loping/limping across my back yard. At first I took it to be a red cat because it had a long, skinny tail.

Looked closer and saw it was a young red fox, but it was like no fox I'd ever seen before. It's tail looked like a chunk of barbed wire, it appeared to be confused and didn't know where it was going. It was without question the mangiest critter I've ever seen.

I didn't have a rifle handy or I'd have done the poor thing a favor and put it out of its misery. (They were locked up in the gun safe.)

It was the first fox I've seen in these parts with the mange. Coyotes have suffered greatly from the malady, and foxes had pretty well taken over the area because of coyote losses. I wonder how the mange got started and how wide-ranging it is.

Coyote hunters in this part of the state had generally poor luck this past winter because mange had really done a number on them. Up to now, at least, foxes appeared to have been unfazed by the malady. Any one have any information on the subject?

 

[Detachment Charlie]

Might not have been mange. Could have been rabies, especially noting how confused and wierd it acted. Take care.

 

[kudu]

Could have been canine distemper also. Have seen them like that here in Indiana on the rare occasion. Get a chance shoot it and bury it.

 

[redneck]

We had the same thing going on here a year or two ago. I shot one that had absolutely no hair on its body, and there was another that came around afew times in bad shape but I never got him.
I really don't know what it was or what caused it, but the symptoms were exactly like you describe.
They seemed to be drawn to the big arena where we ride our horses, like to roll in the dirt.
There's a good chance you'll see it again, I would have a rifle handy in case.Whatever it is, its nasty stuff and we need to do what we can to stop it from spreading.

 

[Greybeard]

Coincidently, I saw a young coyote in similar shape cross the road in front of me just last month. It was near a field right next to a new shopping center anchored by a "Super Target" store. It had hardly any hair on tail and looked like it was about to starve to death. I was not in any hurry at the time so went back and followed it from a distance in my vehicle. I called city Animal Control on my cell, but they had no interest due to it being a "wild animal".

The about half-grown critter was not in as bad of shape as I initially perceived. In the course of following and watching it for about half an hour in the middle of the day, he went 2 for 6 in stalking and snagging field mice out of the fence rows.

 

[Highland Ranger]

I thought foxes were nocturnal - in any event we have them and almost never see them so I'd be real careful; could be the "hydrophobie"

 

[45crittergitter]

Foxes here are not nocturnal, but move day or night. They are normally very very shy.

 

[TJC]

It can be a couple of things but it sounds identical to canine distemper. We get quite a few cases around here in NJ every year. Basically it is pnuemonia in the animal.
We usually see a few cases of it in ground hogs too.
Just shoot it and either bury it or throw it in the trash can.

 

[Marshall]

Is it possible he had been in a scrap with a local dog or coyote and was worse for wear?

 

[cdbeaver]

It's not likely the poor thing got into a fight with a dog. It's tail was as hairless as a baby's behind. And the rest of the body wasn't exactly fur-covered, either.