|
Inmate Central Inmate Central, where civil and family-friendly discourse about off-audio topics (other than religion and politics) is welcome. |
|
|
|
Inmate Central Inmate Central, where civil and family-friendly discourse about off-audio topics (other than religion and politics) is welcome. |
|
In Reply to: The Urban Wilderness... posted by musetap on December 2, 2023 at 16:32:18:
It's a parasite called raccoon roundworm, and it can easily be passed on from raccoons to squirrels. Somewhere between 25 and 85 percent of raccoons are infected, and it is definitely present in the SF Bay area raccoon population.Here's how squirrels get infected. Raccoons have regular places where they make their toilet. An infected raccoon will excrete thousands of tiny roundworm eggs, which can survive outside for months. If a squirrel picks up and eats a peanut or anything else that's come into contact with roundworm eggs, the eggs will hatch inside the squirrel, become larva, and will then progressively eat away at the squirrel's brain.
It's a scary thing to see. Squirrels progressively lose their sense of balance, will fall over on their sides when trying to run, will thrash about on the ground trying to regain their feet, and scamper off a few more feet before falling down again. It's a progressive disease and the squirrel will eventually die.
I found out about this stuff while watching an impaired squirrel. I then googled what I saw and surmised the problem was raccoon roundworm. So I wrote to a specialist at Purdue university, who confirmed my diagnosis and offered more information. The infected raccoons do not suffer debilitating effects from the roundworm and are just hosts, for reasons I do not understand. There are drugs to rid raccoons of roundworm, but there's no practical way to administer these drugs to local raccoon populations. Human children of nursery school age have been infected with this parasite, but that's relatively rare and can be treated. But nobody is gonna save an infected squirrel. In all I've seen just under a dozen badly infected squirrels in the Menlo Park and Palo Alto areas over a period of one decade.
Squirrels are really good foragers, and it's just bad luck when they eat a contaminated item. As for how to keep squirrels as safe as possible, that'd be not tolerating raccoons in the area where you feed squirrels. Picking up peanut debris and taking the cat food inside at night would also help.
I too am a squirrel enthusiast and count these beasties among my friends.
Edits: 12/02/23 12/02/23 12/02/23
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Raccoons often carry a disease that can be fatal for squirrels. - vacuous 19:40:25 12/02/23 (2)
- RE: Raccoons often carry a disease that can be fatal for squirrels. - musetap 09:37:48 12/03/23 (1)
- Meanwhile in our yard we see a heck of a lot more squirrels ... - Feanor 04:24:10 12/04/23 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
