While visiting another forum earlier in the month, the topic of mange was brought up regarding the disease in coyotes. Instead of cluttering up the earlier "coyote" thread here with my response, a fresh wound seemed to be the better route:

"Sarcoptic mange, often called "scabies," is a debilitating skin disease caused by these guys - Sarcoptes mites:



This is a highly magnified image of one under the microscope. They are invisible to the naked eye.

As mentioned earlier, it is more evident and transmissible when coyote and fox populations are high in a given area, causing significant mortality among infected animals in different regions of the country.

I personally have not seen it often where I live, but it has been cyclical here in talking with coyote hound hunters and predator callers in this region.

As a trapper and long retired wildlife research biologist, I have a file on animal diseases in my pc library.

Bobcats do in fact contract mange, but it has a different name and life cycle than that of Sarcopes in canines. I do not know much about it, other than it does exist - how debilitating to a bobcat population? I have no idea.

Here are some extreme cases of the mite infection in both fox and coyotes from Nebraska to Pennsylvania. Where blood is evident in a couple of photos, it is from intense scratching by the animal to relieve the itching. In the northern zones with severe winters, a near hairless, mangey fox or coyote is not likely to survive the winter.

These may be more than or all that you ever care to see with mange, but they illustrate the severity of the disease.


















(hunterdude58, KS)


(ColoradoAlan, CO)


(flyguy, PA)


(Bushmaster, Alberta, Canada)


(Cragar, CT)

There isn't anything pretty about this disease. However, Mother Nature has her own ways of dealing with overpopulations in most animal species in some manner, shape or form. Sarcoptic mange is one expression, particularly in wild canines.

Mange has been reported periodically in a wide range of animal species, notably - red fox, coyotes, wolves, bear, raccoon, squirrels and rabbits. But, for some unknown reason, it seems to have more of a devastating affect on red fox and coyote populations than on those of the other species mentioned.

There is some speculation and much disagreement among parasitologists involved with mange research that it may be related to some species of mites that are host specific to wild canines compared to those mite species infecting other mammals.

By contrast of "disease" pathways, for example, look at what viral distemper can do to raise havoc once spread in a raccoon population. It can wipe them out in a very short period of time. I saw that happen where I live two years ago - dead raccoons just about everywhere you looked in their habitat.

Similarly, muskrats, when overpopulated, are afflicted with specific viral and bacterial diseases that can knock entire localized populations out almost overnight, taking sometimes 3-5 years for them to recover.

The list is long."

I am certain many T-man members have photos of their personal catches of afflicted coyotes and fox with this disease to add to this portfolio.

Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan, another great post. We have been experiencing an ongoing epidemic with mange here in south central Nebraska for several years now. I have found them dead under old porches, in abandoned machine sheds and under cedars. They had apparently been seeking warmth during the winter storms we experience here. Tom

Find high populations around hog confinement burial pits. Many will have mange in verying stages. I have found myself wondering if the hog mite and coyote mite are the same critter. Then the next question would be who had them first?

Drifter

Never seen it up close like that...Talk with a Bioligist in the southern region of alabama, he said mange is widespread in coyotes there. I'll have to ask JT about it...id be curious about it.

Thanks Jonathan

Thought I had it knocked down in the coyotes around here...saw it rear its ugly....and I mean ugly head this year again.

Here is a question... why are gray fox so resistant to mange? I believe it was JC Conner that told me that in all of the years he's been in the fur trade he has bever seen a gray fox with mange.

Would love to see comments...

Once again, many thanks Jonathan for your interesting and informative posts. Personally, I have seen alot more coon with mange than anything else. It is never a pretty site. And by all means, if you encounter an animal with mange, put it down and spare it a long and horrible death. As well as keeping it from spreading to others.

MChewk, It has long been reported in the scientific literature that I am only vaguely familiar with now, as a long retired wildlife research biologist, that gray fox are immune to the mange mite species responsible for the disease. Gray foxes have rarely ever been observed with the infection.

Just for the record, I dug out an old reference in my library that mentions this observation. It is long, and it took me awhile to transcribe it by hand - no copy/paste workability on this one. Here you go:

Stone, W.B, E. Parks, P. Bichsel, S. Capt, U. Hafliger, and L. Schneider. 1982. Oral immunization of foxes against rabies: Laboratory and field studies. Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 5: 165-71.

Those are my only comments.

Jonathan

3-N, Do you know why that is true for the red fox? If you do, you have an invitation to join the faculty at my university.

Jonathan

just an FYI, and interesting....we have never had a case of mange in prince edward island! to the best of my knowledge, no rabies either.
distemper moved through once.

we"re lucky so far

Mike

That was very informative...Thank You for the post ...
I have seen mange on coyotes firsthand in West Texas...not a pretty sight !!



TxLady...

Here is a question: Do any canids recover from sarcoptic mange without treatment or is it 100% fatal ?

As a youngster I remember guys who had dogs with mange using motor oil and powdered sulfur as a cure. Don't know if it is a good idea or not.

good informative post. I didn't see anywhere in the thread that it can be treated and if it can how/methods? what is the success rate of treatment?

Ivomec. I think 2 injections 30 days apart. very good sucess rate.

The last photo in Jonathan's first post is my photo.

Some info on the photo , that animal was still alive when that picture was taken. I was called out to a horse barn a couple towns away to remove/capture the animal from a stall in the barn. The caller told me they thought the fox was missing a leg. Upon closer inspection I found a fresh hind quarter of a gray squirrel sitting next to the animal. If you look very closely in the photo at the 5 o'clock area you can just about make it out , the fox must have brought dinner with it. I just picked the fox up with gloves on and it barely moved at all and gave out a squeak. I was planning on taking it back to the shop to put it down. The fox did not even live for the 20 min ride back , it died in route . The cage I put it into was washed thoroughly and then I placed that cage at the far end of my yard and did not use it again for 12 months. I informed the owner of the horse barn to completely remove all bedding from that stall and call her vet ASAP for proper quarantine procedures before even thinking of putting a horse in that stall.

This broke my heart to see such a beautiful animal suffer like this , these things happen when trapping is not used to control animal populations. Very sad.

bad karma and Arkansasbowhunte , I am not an authority on this disease, but I'll respond with what little I know. There is no "treatment" for a cure in wild canines, nor an effort to come up with one that I am aware of - no need, unless it was a transmissible, infectious disease affecting human health.

It is very treatable in domestic canines - with medicated shampoo baths, topical insecticide skin treatment and various drug applications.

With that said, why would there be an exerted effort and massive expenditures to treat and save a ravenous, savage predator like a coyote - the target of extreme measures to control or eradicate their populations for decades, because of their adverse economic impact on livestock and desirable wildlife populations?

Multi millions of dollars have been expended for the latter reasons, usually to no long term avail, because of the coyote's unmatched resilience in the animal world to rebound and return to its normal population levels - an unrivaled, wildlife related challenge in many parts of the country.

There are few, if any, long term studies that I am aware of that could answer that question completely for a multitude of reasons, but the consensus suggests that once the disease is contracted, it is, in most cases fatal.

From my understanding, mortality rates in an infected population are extremely high, and may not be readily evident because of what I'll call a survival interval - for lack of another term of description. That interval might be short, or protracted for a limited period of extended time, depending upon a few contributing factors that I can think of. I am not positive about these, but they seem to logically fit the nature and pathways of the disease.

When an animal does become infected, its age (from pup to older adult,) its relative degree of health then, the time of the year, weather and geographical location would all factor into how long it takes before it eventually kills it. That time frame would vary widely, depending upon the incidence in different parts of the country - winter severity being probably the most controlling factor.

Those are the only explanations that I have.

Jonathan

There has to be more to the "Rest Of The Story" on this horrible skin disease beyond the diddly amount of my meager scratchings. I've been out of the loop on this one for almost three decades.

Jonathan