Sure as a Northeast Ohio snow shower in April, the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center gets a couple of dozen calls each winter and early spring from concerned people who have seen bald squirrels.
There's no cause for alarm.
The fur loss is caused by a fungus or mites that spread easily from squirrel to squirrel in their winter dens. On frigid days, squirrels seek out the coziest dens and squish together. Most squirrels aren't harmed by the fungal infection, the mites or the fur loss. They will regrow fur in the coming weeks.
And dogs and cats aren't susceptible to the mites that affect squirrels, said Dave Wolf, the nature center's director of wildlife programs. Pets get the condition, known as mange, from two different kinds of mites.
Bobcats:
State wildlife officials found increased evidence of bobcats living in Ohio's southeastern counties, where 65 sightings were confirmed last year. There were 51 verified sightings the year before. The bobcat was found throughout Ohio when settlers arrived, but towns and croplands pushed them out. By 1850, bobcats were gone from Ohio. They didn't begin to move back in until the 1960s. Since 1970, state biologists have verified 255 bobcat sightings in 31 counties, by studying photographs, paw prints, roadkills and reports of them being caught by fur trappers.
Portage APL:
The Portage County Animal Protective League is struggling to keep its doors open. The nonprofit eliminated its executive director position and capped the number of cats it will take in at 40, dogs at 25. Donations are needed as kitten season approaches. In the hopes of shrinking the feline birthrate, the shelter will neuter male cats for $45 and females for $50 on April 2 and 3. Call 330-296-4022 to sign up.
Geauga pets:
The Geauga Humane Society is gearing up for kitten season by asking for donations of Purina cat food. Dry and canned food can be dropped off 24 hours a day at the shelter, 15463 Chillicothe Road (Ohio 306) in Russell Township. The nonprofit group, working with PetFix Northeast Ohio, is also trying to curb breeding by neutering pets for $10. Low-income families can sign up to have a pet neutered Saturday at PetFix's mobile veterinary clinic. Call 440-338-4819. The van will be parked outside the Tractor Supply Co. in Middlefield, where Amish families had 21 pets neutered last month. The van will travel to Amish farms across the county in the coming months.
Petland:
The Humane Society of the United States filed a class action suit Monday against Petland and the Hunte Corp., which helps supply the national chain with puppies. The suit accuses the companies of "conspiring to sell unhealthy puppies to unsuspecting consumers," falsely advertising that the puppies are healthy and come from high-quality breeders. Consumers who say they bought sick, dying or genetically-malformed puppies joined HSUS attorneys in filing the suit in a federal court in Phoenix, Ariz., where one of the plaintiffs lives.
Pet vaccines:
The Summit County health department is offering low-cost vaccinations to dogs and cats from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 2 at the Sagamore Hills Township garage, 11500 W. Valley View Road. No appointment needed. Prices start at $6 for a rabies shot. Get details by calling 330-926-5630.
Easter fund-raisers:
Save Ohio Strays and the Petco at 1052 Williams Reserve Blvd. in Wadsworth are offering Easter-themed pet photos and a pet-friendly Easter egg hunt from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Framed photos are $7. The nonprofit group has rescued 1,100 pets in four years. Get details at saveohiostrays.org or 440-567-3585.
The Middleburg Heights Animal Foundation will raise money by offering $8 photographs of pets with the Easter bunny from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 4 at the VCA Midpark Animal Hospital, 6611 Smith Road in Middleburg Heights. The nonprofit group rescues pets scheduled for euthanasia from a dozen pounds across Northeast Ohio. Reach the group at mhaf.com.
Me: “Thank you for calling ****. What is the problem with your telephone line?”
Customer: “The squirrels.”
Me: “The–what? Sorry?”
Customer: “Those damn squirrels are watching me.”
Me: “Uh…do you have a problem with your telephone line?”
Customer: “Yes, the squirrels have nested on it, and they watch me while I’m sleeping…”
Me: “I’m sure they’re not.”
Customer: “You calling me a liar?”
Py-rodent-technics? How a fire-starting squirrel might look
The rodents are believed to have gnawed their way through cables, sparking the blaze at the property belonging to former MP Lord Mayhew on Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighters battled the flames for almost two hours at the two-storey cottage in Goudhurst, near Cranbrook, Kent, currently inhabited by tenants.
Lord Mayhew told the Kent Messenger: "The fire broke out in a void behind an airing cupboard and the most probable cause was squirrels chewing through cables."
A spokeswoman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service estimated about 90% of the first floor and roof void had been "severely damaged".
"The rest of the property was damaged by smoke and heat," she said.
But Lord Mayhew said he was confident restoration of the 1890s property is possible.
Four rescue crews attended the fire at 12.39pm.
No one was injured in the blaze.
The spokeswoman added that the cause of the fire was as yet unknown but squirrels chewing wires, and the wires igniting, "does sometimes happen".
Lord Mayhew was MP for Tunbridge Wells between 1974 and 1997 and Attorney General for England and Wales and Northern Ireland from 1987 to 1992.
He was knighted in 1983 and became a member of the House of Lords in 1997.
Squirrels at the University of California-Davis have it made.
5300 acres of lush habitat.
The eastern fox squirrel is living large on the University of California Davis campus. Wildlife scientists will use a contraceptive vaccine to try to control the population. Photo courtesy UC Davis
(And we’re not talking the average “frugal student” ramen noodles and peanut butter and jelly. UC-Davis is home to The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.)
With nary a predator, there’s been a population explosion of the non-native eastern fox squirrels, from zero to about 400 in the past seven years. And now there’s worry the critters might get more aggressive, biting the collegiate hands that feed them. Squirrels can carry bacteria that is harmful to humans. And an unchecked population could become a threat to the regional economy, spreading to nearby farmland and chomping away at the local fruits and nuts.
When college officials searched for answers to these potential nuisances, they had to go no further than scientists on campus.
And as one might expect from a campus in California, the plan is to control the population with no harm to the animals involved.
Squirrel contraception.
“This new birth control method may potentially help control squirrels or other species, such as white tailed deer,” said Sara Krause, a doctoral student in ecology who designed the plan.
“If we can test a birth control method and find it safe and effective, there’s a possibility of it being a breakthrough method in both urban and suburban areas,” she said.
Continued unchecked procreation and expansion of their territory could mean farmers and ranchers would put an end to the invasive fox squirrels permanently. Squirrels can do serious damage to almond and walnut orchards.
The birth control method being used is a vaccine, called GonaCon.
Krause explained that it’s an immunocontraceptive vaccine, blocking the pathway to the production of sperm and eggs. One shot leaves the animals sterile for about two years. And the same vaccine works on both males and females.
(Now there’s a concept that every female on the planet can appreciate.)
Krause and others have just begun placing 20-40 humane traps around the campus. The traps will be checked two to four times a day. On this first round, captured animals will be examined, marked with a nontoxic dye, and let go. The squirrels will be observed until next summer, when they’ll be re-captured. Then, some will get the contraceptive injection, others a placebo. Again, they’ll be set free to roam the campus.
If the experiment works as planned, the number of squirrels will decline to a sustainable number within ten years. And federal wildlife biologists could use the contraceptive on other prolific progeny producers.
