wildlife veterinary care news august 2016 · wildlife veterinary care news mange in foxes and bears...

12122016 Wildlife Veterinary News

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Wildlife VeterinaryCare News

Mange in Foxes and Bears Many reports of hair loss in foxes and bearshave been coming into Wildlife Veterinary Careover the past few months Photos of theseanimals show that they appear to be sufferingfrom a form of mange caused by a sarcopticmite that burrows into the skin causing severeitching and hair loss Sarcoptic mange has beenfound in foxes and coyotes in this area for manyyears but this is the first year cases have beenseen in black bears That is a cause for concernbecause sarcoptic mange is currently causing anepidemic of mange in black bears in Pennsylvaniaand we dont want that to happen herehttpwwwoutdoornewscom20150924state-faces-bear-mange-epidemic This mite infestation can be treated withoral or topical medications but that is not easilydone in a free-ranging wild animal Repeateddoses are needed and it is difficult to get thecorrect dose into a wild animal and repeat ittwo weeks later without that animal in captivity The oral ivermectin medication that is used totreat mange should not be put in a piece of meat

Wildlife Veterinary Care is a501c3 nonshyprofit charitydedicated to providing

veterinary and rehabilitativecare to sick and

injured wildlife and toimproving the health of

wildlife and our environment For assistance call

540shy664shy9494

Animals Cared forthis Year

A wide variety of wildspecies have received carefrom us this year includingscreech barred barn andgreat horned owls red-tailed red-shouldered andCoopers hawks osprey abald eagle and kestrelsgreat blue and green heronsbig brown bats and red batsred and gray foxes minksquirrels cottontailsopossums skunks raccoonsrobins blue jays mourningdoves woodpeckersphoebes chickadees



and left out for a fox or bear to eat because itis toxic to some breeds of dogs and otherwildlife who may eat it This medication isdeadly to collies shelties and box turtles Newer medications are available that willtreat this mite infestation in one dose Wetried this recently when a mangy fox wastrapped and brought to WVC this spring Treatment usually involves hospitalizing themangy animal for two to six weeks for repeatedtreatments But in this case this female foxwas nursing She must have had kits in a den outwhere she was trapped and we needed to gether back out to them as soon as possible Shewas given the single dose mange treatment usedfor dogs and an antibiotic injection for theinfection she had acquired from scratching atthe mites She was then taken back to whereshe was trapped that same day and released We received reports from the homeowner in thearea who had originally spotted the fox that herhair was growing back If you spot a fox or bear that looks like ithas mange please report it to us at 540-664-9494

Paralysis from Botulism In the summer botulism can occur in wildlifein our area usually in wild ducks and geeseBotulism is an illness caused by a toxin releasedby the bacteria clostridium botulinum a

finches red-wingedblackbirds catbirdsmockingbirds cardinalsducks and geese grebes andloons box painted and woodturtles and garter corn andrat snakes

Bald eagle suffering

from lead poisoning

Great Blue Heron being

treated for stomach worms

Osprey weak from

starvation

Opossums whose mother

was killed on the road



bacteria that proliferates in warm temperaturesin decomposing vegetation and dead animals This toxin can be consumed by Canada geeseducks and seagulls during the warm summermonths while foraging in stagnant water The botulinum toxin causes paralysis of ananimals muscles causing these birds to befound lying on the ground unable to walk or flyThey sometimes are so severely affected theycan‛t even hold their heads up (which is why thisdisease is sometimes called ldquoLimberneckrdquo) Aduck can be affected by eating as few as threemaggots containing the toxin If found early andnot severely affected these animals canrecover with supportive care (This is the sametoxin that is in the BOTOX injection used forhumans) We saw a case recently in a mallard that wasbrought to us for treatment of a broken leg Afamily of mallards was being watched by ateacher at a school when she noticed one of theducklings couldn‛t walk or keep up with the restof the group When the duck was rescued DrBurwell found the ducks legs were not brokenbut were paralyzed and there were othersymptoms of botulism She recoveredcompletely with supportive care over two weeksand was able to be released again

Unusual Wildlife Rescues

Checking the eyes of a

barred owl with head

trauma

Donations can be made at

this linkDONATE

or through the websiteWildlifeVetCarecom

Orphan mink treated for

injuries and starvation

Photo by Chris Weber

Studios

Orphan baby big brown bat

found dehydrated and

emaciated Photo by Chris

Weber Studios



Fox Survives With Trap Around Neck When this gray fox was brought to us with agopher trap crushing her head and neck itappeared that it was too late to save her Thetrap had cut down to the bones in her neck andher wounds were severely infected Althoughshe didn‛t have much fight left in her she wasstrong enough to withstand the surgery neededto remove the trap and to clean and suture herwounds Over the next four weeks her woundshealed and she regained her strength She wasreleased a month later

Snake Consumes Ceramic Eggs Sometimes fake eggs are used by chickenowners to coax chickens to lay their eggs in aparticular nest rather than laying them all overthe hen house Ratsnakes are frequently onmouse patrol around hen houses where they eatthe mice that steal the chicken feed Rarelythese snakes will eat eggs too Even morerarely a snake will eat these fake eggs This is

Horned grebe

grounded with abrasions

Cottontails whose nest was

attacked by cats

Green heron fledgling

unable to fly



precisely what happened to this large ratsnake The owners of the hen house found this snakewith two large lumps in her abdomen and thefake eggs missing from the nest They broughtthe snake to Wildlife Vet Care to get help These eggs could not be digested or passedby this snake so they had become stuck in thestomach Without help this snake would haveslowly starved to death Surgery wasperformed to remove the eggs and once she hadrecovered the owners of the hen house cameback to get and release her back on theirproperty to resume her mouse patrol

Because Wildlife Veterinary Care is 100Volunteer there are no salaries to pay Yourdonations are spent on supplies to care for theanimals Wildlife Veterinary Care is a 501(c)3charity and all donations are 100 tax-deductible Donations can be mailed to WildlifeVeterinary Care POBox 288 Millwood VA 22646 and can also be made online on ourwebpage and Facebook page

Donate



Copyright copy 2016 Wildlife Veterinary Care All rights reserved

Our physical address is1150 Tilthammer Mill Road Boyce VA 22620

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and left out for a fox or bear to eat because itis toxic to some breeds of dogs and otherwildlife who may eat it This medication isdeadly to collies shelties and box turtles Newer medications are available that willtreat this mite infestation in one dose Wetried this recently when a mangy fox wastrapped and brought to WVC this spring Treatment usually involves hospitalizing themangy animal for two to six weeks for repeatedtreatments But in this case this female foxwas nursing She must have had kits in a den outwhere she was trapped and we needed to gether back out to them as soon as possible Shewas given the single dose mange treatment usedfor dogs and an antibiotic injection for theinfection she had acquired from scratching atthe mites She was then taken back to whereshe was trapped that same day and released We received reports from the homeowner in thearea who had originally spotted the fox that herhair was growing back If you spot a fox or bear that looks like ithas mange please report it to us at 540-664-9494

Paralysis from Botulism In the summer botulism can occur in wildlifein our area usually in wild ducks and geeseBotulism is an illness caused by a toxin releasedby the bacteria clostridium botulinum a

finches red-wingedblackbirds catbirdsmockingbirds cardinalsducks and geese grebes andloons box painted and woodturtles and garter corn andrat snakes

Bald eagle suffering

from lead poisoning

Great Blue Heron being

treated for stomach worms

Osprey weak from

starvation

Opossums whose mother

was killed on the road







trauma


this linkDONATE





Studios




Weber Studios





Horned grebe



attacked by cats


unable to fly





Donate















trauma


this linkDONATE





Studios




Weber Studios





Horned grebe



attacked by cats


unable to fly





Donate













Horned grebe



attacked by cats


unable to fly





Donate













Donate









wildlife veterinary care news august 2016 · wildlife veterinary care news mange in foxes and bears...

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