Mange in foxes in South Central Pennsylvania
The highly contagious skin disease makes foxes very sick and can kill them
By Lillian Blocher
Knightly News Reporter
Foxes in Cumberland County have long suffered from mange outbreaks, an affliction that affects the stealthy wild dog-like critters that roam the region, and most of the United States and Canada.
Pennsylvania’s official website describes mange as a disorder caused by parasitic mites burrowing into an animal’s skin and laying eggs, causing the animal painful itching and scabbing. It can lead to hair loss, bacterial infections and, in severe cases, death. It is highly contagious and spreads rapidly, the Game Commission’s site says.
Residents have been noticing the impact of mange on some foxes visiting their backyards, with some of these sick foxes making appearances during the daytime, when the loss of their fur from mange causes these typically nocturnal foxes to seek the warmth of the sun.
Many foxes with mange
Some residents across Cumberland and other counties in the Midstate have noted that despite making calls to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there is very little that can be done for these foxes.
“Medications are available that can be used to successfully treat mange, but they are not commonly used in free-ranging wildlife,” the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s website states.
The commission’s website states that many animals with mange will recover as their immune systems fight the mites.
But Tracie Young, a rehabilitator with Raven Ridge Wildlife Center in Washington Boro, in Lancaster County, states that so many foxes are suffering from advanced stages of mange because their immune system cannot fight back. The culprit? Mouse poison.
“It’s a second-generation pesticide,” Young said. “The mouse eats the mouse poison, it dies, and then the fox eats the mouse that ate the poison. It’s not enough poison to kill the fox, but it’s enough to make them sick. It affects their immune system.”
Raven Ridge Wildlife Center opened in 2015 and has managed hundreds of cases of mange in foxes since then. It is one of 13 rehabilitators with a license to handle rabies-prone species, such as foxes.
“It’s highly contagious. It’s a long rehab for the animals. You need a quarantine area and an outside area for when their fur grows back in,” Young said.
Leave treatment to the experts
Some people try to help foxes that have mange by putting food out for them into which the Good Samaritans have injected the drug ivermectin.
Young advises against this method, stating that the ivermectin needs to be consistently applied over weeks and dosed based on weight, rendering it either ineffective or dangerous for the foxes who eat too little or too much of it.
Young also warns against this tactic because of the danger eating the ivermectin-laced food, such as hard-boiled eggs, presents to other animals, especially people’s pets.
“Collie breeds of dogs are getting these eggs, eating them and it’s killing them,” Young said.
Wildlife is also at risk.
“There’s skunks that get a hold of that,” Young added. “You know, they love hard-boiled eggs, too. So do black rat snakes. So, yeah, just throwing medications out there in the environment is not a good idea.”
Rebecca Wolfe, game warden for eastern Cumberland County, also advises against people providing mange-afflicted foxes with food with ivermectin in it. Wolfe said the practice is illegal. It is considered harassment of wildlife, and a violation of Pennsylvania’s Veterinary Medicine Practice Act.
“Only licensed people, such as veterinarians, game wardens and rehabilitators, can administer drugs to animals,” Wolfe said.
Early this year, state Sen. Douglas Mastriano, who represents Adams and Franklin counties, introduced Senate Bill 601, which would allow people to buy ivermectin over the counter for human use. The bill doesn’t mention using the drug in animals. The bill was in the Senate’s Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee when The Knightly News published this article.
Find a wildlife center
Young urges people to call Raven Ridge Wildlife Center when they find these mange-infected foxes. Raven Ridge Wildlife Center has the space, staff, licensing and resources to nurse foxes back to health before releasing them again into the wild.
Young also suggests for those interested to donate to Raven Ridge Wildlife Center so the organization can continue to administer these costly treatments and protect local wildlife.
Raven Ridge Wildlife Center can be contacted at 717-808-2652 for immediate assistance, and more information can be found on https://ravenridgewildlifecenter.org/.
Here is the link to the website of the Pennsylvania Association of Wildlife Rehabilitators.
Comment or story idea? Contact [email protected].
Edited by media-club co-adviser and blog editor Professor Michael Lear-Olimpi.
