Fox with strange fur

[buffelhead]

I shot a red fox today with strange fur. It is beautifully furred out all the way down to the rear. At the rear all of the long hair seems to be not as thick and the tail is not very bushy. It is much lighter in color as is the rump. It is almost like it has been freezing to the ground and the long hair pulled out. I am not sure if I would call it mange, but I am not sure what a mild case would look like. Any thoughts?

[Dave S]

Without seeing pics, I would say treat it as if it was mange if you're not sure.

[buffelhead]

I will get some pics on here for you to see.

[buffelhead]

I just posted the pics. Let me know what you think, dont mind the bullet hole! It was a running away shot, the wound is not as bas as it seems, just a lot of blood! ;-)

http://community.webshots.com/album/576550020sQdpLU

[picksbigwagon]

looks like Mange to me

[IceHawk]

IMO Mange.

[harvey lee]

Mange.

[DoubleLunger]

Yep, mange it is. Quite common in Reds, trapped quite a few with it.

[reddog]

Mange, or a combination of "rubbed" and mange.

[harvey lee]

If I had the mange, I know I would be rubbing.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

The thing with mange is its normally patchy with no hair. Shouldn't it be bare skin that is raw and inflamed. My pup had puppy mange and it looked nothing like that.

[HC Eye Hunter]

It is from freezing and thawing snow. Rubbed fox. Basically the hair of the fox sticks to the snow and when the fox gets up the snow pulls the guard hairs out. The same happens to coyotes. Mange has a whole different look to it and the animal even smells different. Granted there is alot of mange around but according to the picture, the lack of guard hairs on the rear end appear to be rubbed.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

Thats what I thought

[buffelhead]

I spoke to an old trapper that agreed with the rubbed theory and he said that it is from freezing to the ground along with being "sun and snow burned". The good thing is that it was shot near a hobby farm. I am going to use the good portion of the fur for "patching" other hides that my .223 poked holes in. It is too bad that the rear fur is so crummy... oh well!

[Steve Foss]

It is from freezing and thawing snow. Rubbed fox. Basically the hair of the fox sticks to the snow and when the fox gets up the snow pulls the guard hairs out. The same happens to coyotes. Mange has a whole different look to it and the animal even smells different. Granted there is alot of mange around but according to the picture, the lack of guard hairs on the rear end appear to be rubbed.

+1

Shot quite a few fox like that out in N.D. That was back in the days you could actually get good money for a prime fox. But the value dropped tremendously after they started rubbing in January.

[critterman]

yep from freezing down

[tanman]

i would go more with rubbing but mange is deff. not out of the question

[lichen fox]

It looks to me like just normal rubbing on the back quarters and my guess on the tail would be that a coyote or dog "almost" got a hold on him stripping some of the fur off the tail! I saw a greyhound do that to a fox years ago, but the fox managed to get down the hole before the hound could get a good hold on him...

[buffelhead]

That is a good point too. I shot him near a chicken / hobby farm, so I am sure that is a possibility. I missed another one not far from there last weekend. It appeared much bushier.

[Double D]

Might have been Mexican food the night before!!

DD

[FCspringer]

Diddo on rubbed, caught one last night at the Pheasant pen. Same thing. Breeding season just winded down and they do allot of rubbing during that, marking. My dad has gotten 38 yotes and 18 fox so far with the rifle. He is crazy about that stuff.

[riverview]

rubbed