SCOTT SHALAWAY Mange mites: Animal nightmare

March can be a deceiving time of year. Day time temperatures can flirt with 70 degrees, but ferocious blizzards are always possible. Day length is increasing, but nights are still cold, usually below freezing. It's an exasperating time of year.
Difficult time: Just imagine how difficult it must be for wildlife. The transition from winter to spring is the toughest time of year for critters. Natural food sources are limited or depleted. Fat deposits laid down last fall are nearly exhausted. And production of new food is still weeks away.
So it should come as no surprise that many animals look pretty ratty right now. Mammals, in particular, take the end of winter hard. Most reptiles and amphibians are still hibernating (though wood frogs and spring peepers are already singing). And most seed-eating birds can still find natural foods or well stocked feeders.
A recent e-mail, however, reminded me of the late winter blues many mammals face. The reader was concerned about a "mangy" squirrel in her backyard. It had bald spots and a shaggy tail. Did it have mange? She asked. If so, would it die? And finally, was there anything she could do to help it?.
Though I can't know for sure, the squirrel probably did have mange. Most mammals suffer from it at times, especially in late winter when body weight is low, food is scarce, and night time temperatures can still get quite cold. And remember, fox and gray squirrels completed the energetically taxing rituals of mating back in January. In February and March these squirrels are pushed to their physiological limits.
The cause: Mange is caused by mange mites, tiny arachnids related to spiders and ticks. Most require fairly specific hosts. One species, for example, plagues dogs and other canids, another specializes in squirrels, another raccoons, and so on. Bats, horses, cattle, and even kangaroos all suffer at the mouth of mange mites..
And so do humans. Two species inhabit the follicles around our eyes, nose, and mouth. And it's doubtful anyone is mite-free. Fortunately, though, these mites rarely cause us problems, and we have the good sense to call them "follicle mites" rather than mange mites..
Mange mites live in mammalian hair follicles, where they feed on waxy secretions. They emerge from the follicles only to mate, and presumably this is when they can be transferred from one individual to another by direct contact..
After mating, the tiny females (about1/250 of an inch long) burrow into the skin and lay eggs. When the eggs hatch, the larva burrow back out to the surface of the skin and search for a tasty hair follicle. The life cycle takes three to four weeks to complete, so more than 12 generations per year are typical..
Itchy: The mite's activity causes the skin to itch and hair to fall out, and the infected animal scratches and bites at the irritation. Open wounds and secondary infections are not uncommon. When mange mite infections get severe, patches of lost fur give animals that distinctive "mangy" look.
In late winter when an animal's immune system may be weakened by malnutrition, mange can get serious. Tormented by severe itching and infection, mangy individuals sometimes act abnormally. They may appear friendly or at least fearless. Don't touch or contact them. Fearlessness is also a symptom of rabies.
Mangy animals can die, not so much by the direct effects of the mange, but rather by infections and the combination of circumstances that mange exacerbates--malnutrition coupled with cold nights at the end of a long, hard winter..
To help mangy squirrels, feed them kernel corn or sunflower seeds. Or, if you have too many squirrels, let nature take its course. Predators will take those that don't die from the complications of mange..
If you notice other mangy mammals in the backyard, resist the urge to help them. Feeding mammals other than squirrels usually leads to bigger problems, if not for you, than for your neighbors. Hungry, semi-tame 20-pound raccoons or 300 pound bears just don't have the same appeal as one third-ounce chickadees when they beg for food on the back porch.
UCatch Scott on the radio every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 4 on 1360 WPTT, Pittsburgh.