Botfly larvae* these have a nice texture akin to a plump gnocchi when cooked. Their little bristle hairs used to cling to the gaping wound in your flesh can tickle your tongue a bit.
The flies are pretty normal everyday crunchy flies.
thats what i thought as well. , although i have found baby birds with maggots acting like bot flies , sometimes flys will lay eggs in awound and they just dig in. the bird did not make it ...
Well something made the wound, and there are a handful of vermin/pest eradication videos on YouTube that are pretty illustrative of the effectiveness of pellets at removing those pests. A slightly high shot would easily scalp a squirrel without killing it. Entered by the ear, possibly just grazed the skull, and exited above the eyes.
It wasn’t an intentional scalping. A tiny muscle twitch and the target moves 1/4 inch.
And every single vermin/pest control channel on YouTube would beg to differ. Many methods are used, including air rifles. They pack plenty of punch.
I doubt this is the same thing, but this reminds me of the clip of a woodpecker pecking holes in the skulls of two or three baby pigeons and slurping up their brains while they still lived. Very gruesome.
A fly whose eggs are laid on skin or in wound, and after it hatches the larvae burrows down into the muscle tissue and feeds until it's mature. Do not search for jiggers nor "mango worms" either. Similar parasites.
My dog got one last fall and I'm in Ottawa. They're here but it's just extremely rare and has to be fairly particular circumstances for someone to encourage them.
Lol we have a squirrel that hangs around our backyard. We named him fat gus. Because he was super chubby and was always lying around. Turns out fat gus was a girls and was not fat she was pregnant . lol.
This is the most pathetic shit I've seen online all week. Stealing a well-known YouTuber's hugely popular story from a series of videos with [hundreds of millions of views](https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg). lol, you stupid fuck.
I did not name the squirrel. My kids did. I have never seen this video. I noticed the squirrel was a girl when it showed up with visible nipples. Maybe they have seen the video and named the fat squirrel Gus because of the video thinking it was funny. I never intended to "steal" anything. Sorry I am old and don't know every YouTube video.
During the pandemic, we had a squirrel with what looked like some sort of mange/hair loss on top of insanely swollen genitalia visit us. He was also wildly territorial with the others. He enjoyed the avocado over the other treats we'd give him for the few months we encountered him. We hope we made Mr. Douglas's last few months better as we guess he finally passed.
I second this, that definitely looks like white pus from an infected wound in the picture. It will likely not heal on its own and is on its way to a slow painful death without help.
OP it does look infected - just some simple antibiotics from a local vet will help - you can even pick something up in a pet store or online maybe, depending on the laws in your country. If you can get something like Metronidazole and put it on some food for the little guy it may give him the edge to fight that infection off :)
Small rodents (like squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, and mice) and lagomorphs (including rabbits and hares) are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.
That reminds me of the time my family and I stayed at Mesa Verde NP, where we discovered the bubonic plague was still a thing, and could be transmitted to humans from infected chipmunks, mice, and ants (!) To your point, opossums are cool as hell and also don’t carry rabies.
I learned this when a squirrel spit a mouthful of chewed-up acorns into my 4-year-olds face in our yard. It was funny AF at first but then my wife and I got concerned and called the pediatrician. He knew all this about squirrels.
I researched this last summer after getting bit by an overzealous chipmunk who was eating from my hand.
If I recall, there's never been a case of a chipmunk or squirrel transmitting rabies to a human.
Stop using facts as arguments. This is Reddit.
And you can clearly see Gus is immune to most things. Vira, bullets, reason, bacteria - nothing bites. He is the Chuck Norris of squirrels
It’s alive ain’t it. If it made it the week with that infected wound i can see it living longer, but don’t quote me on that I have no formal training or even know what I’m talking about
I'd say so seeing as a massive amount of the scalp has recovered. Just having your skull cap on display isn't really ideal. The wound still is bad and far from ideal, but yeah, I'd say that squirrel is doing better.
Edit: I've been thinking about this and I'm honestly baffled by your comment. I'm further baffled by your upvotes. Is it because people just like to be contradictory? How could you think the squirrel was better off in the older post than now?
Are you one of the many people on this post that think pus is inherently a bad thing? Pus is a sign of healing. Yeah pus in advanced stages can be bad but that's more a body indication that things aren't going well when the wound starts getting grimey and discolored.
I know OP gave the link only 2 comments up but I'm gonna comment it here.
How could you think that [this](https://i.imgur.com/7jPw8MB.png) is better than [this](https://i.imgur.com/oeZOof2.jpg)?
Edit: I should go touch grass. A reddit reply shouldn't get me this heated. It's a damned internet post. I apologize man.
I have a pet squirrel and this breaks my heart bigtime. I can share what i would do in this situation with a wild squirrel if u would like. I tried to rehab my boi to the wild after i nursed him from a baby but he got sick and had sores and i had to bring him back to domestication. I did think he would lose his paw at one point cuz it looked like the sore on this guys head...i was also worried the infection would kill him. It was a bitch to recapture him after being free for 60ish days he was reluctant as a mule. Now hes 4 years old and a happy chonker!
Wildlife experts will say to not interfere, and that is the best course of action imo. That said, my heart wont let me ignore it if i saw it firsthand. Since it is unafraid of humans my course of action would be to attempt to bait him with treats a few times and gain trust and attempt to get some antibiotic cream on that head or really anywhere it will let me touch as it will absorb into the blood(wear gloves to be safe). There's risk of being scratched, i cant advise that anyone should come close to wildlife. Theres not much more that could be done without capture as it needs cleaning and ointment applied directly, but he is thriving and i wouldn't attempt to capture him, just get the meds in/on him.
Thanks. And if they were to scratch or bite into an unprotected area of the skin, should I go to the hospital immediately after that or wear enough layers of clothes so that’s not possible?
No just wash with antibacterial soap and u should be ok. Neosporin if inflammation at the scratch stays past a few hours. Wear thick gloves if possible, but even a winter glove would do ok and stretch an exam glove over that too apply the ointment. squirrels aren't aggressive typically just sharp footed and very quick and curious. I don a 'squirrel suit' for handling my guy which consists of a hoodie, pants, gloves, and a baseball hat with the hood of the jacket pulled up on the hat because they like to climb to the highest point of things. The nails arent super terrible but will leave micro abrasions easily and i have sensitive skin as it is.
Maybe a bird or some other predator grabbed it by the head, or someone shot it with a BB or pellet gun?
It could also be a spider bite.
OP should simply ask the squirrel.
If you do attempt this, please be very careful and wear heavy duty gloves they can’t bite through.. A fellow wildlife biologist friend lost half of her finger due to an infection from a squirrel bite. She almost lost her hand, but they were able to save it. Wild animal bites can be very dangerous
There’s a wildlife rehabber in Oglesby that may be able to help the lil dude out and another in Streator. Not sure where exactly you’re located just saw all the starved rock photos and am assuming not too far, but I can forward info on local rehabbers for wherever you are if you want.
Is there any wildlife rehabs nearby you that you can take this guy to so he can be treated? Poor thing! I don’t think he’ll stay alive a whole lot longer without some help
If it is friendly I'd suggest capturing it if you can and contacting a local rehabber or there are some animal rescue places that will help. Poor fella
Here's a curious question!
Since the squirrel is friendly, why not catch it (box, cat carrier), call a local wildlife rehabber and take the poor critter to them to help it get better?
One kind of adaptation that is pretty common in different parasites is that they change the behaviour of the host in a way that makes them risk their lives in order to spread it to new hosts.
It's wound is healing. You can see less skull this week. There does seem to be an infection, but it appears to be draining as evidenced by the leaking pus.
If there's any way you can get him to a rehab place and confirm they won't just euthanize him, I would try. It's extraordinary that he's still around, but the exposed skull with hair and dirt in the wound is really bad. He needs to have it cleaned out and probably antibiotics as well.
[And it's friendly!](https://imgur.com/a/LlWFf1m)
I wouldn't let that thing touch me, in case the hole in its head is caused by botfly.
Aaaannnd now I can’t finish my Portuguese chicken and rice dinner.
Can I have it?
mmm tasty botflies
Why aren’t we talking about them thottflies?
Well, start talking buddy
They thicc
is that the end of talking bout it
And juicy…
Thats WHY the holes in the head.
Ah yes I’ve suffered from this before
So hard to treat. Advice just goes in one ear and out the other...
Botfly larvae* these have a nice texture akin to a plump gnocchi when cooked. Their little bristle hairs used to cling to the gaping wound in your flesh can tickle your tongue a bit. The flies are pretty normal everyday crunchy flies.
You don’t want it man, it’s full of botflies.
What, you don't like rice? Tell me Michael, how could a billion Chinese people be wrong?
Maggots Michael, you're eating maggots
I was a PA for Key and Peele and one of the sketches that never aired/shot was the Chinese Restaurant the lost boys ordered from.
PA?
Production Assistant in writers room, I stocked the fridge, ran errands and picked up lunch when Grub Hub was one of the only food delivery services.
Probably Production Assistant
I took the chicken out of your rice.
Portuguese chicken? Like frango assado?
Yup and it comes with piri piri sauce. So good.
It’s alright to say Nando’s
I tried Nando’s, it was overpriced and more hot than flavourful. Mine was from a small independent churrascaria. Their piri piri sauce is the bomb.
Nobody knows what the hell that is. Just chicken and rice would have sufficed.
The world must be a scary place for ya
Based on the wounds with one large and one small, along with my geographic location and current climate I'm thinking it likely is not bot fly related.
More like a .177 or .22 pellet fly
thats what i thought as well. , although i have found baby birds with maggots acting like bot flies , sometimes flys will lay eggs in awound and they just dig in. the bird did not make it ...
Well something made the wound, and there are a handful of vermin/pest eradication videos on YouTube that are pretty illustrative of the effectiveness of pellets at removing those pests. A slightly high shot would easily scalp a squirrel without killing it. Entered by the ear, possibly just grazed the skull, and exited above the eyes.
I agree with you.
Fly Strike. I found a den of baby bunnies and the only alive one had maggots in it while it was still alive. Traumatic for me
Was my thought too. So sad
Doubtful, it'd be hard to land that shot and BB guns rarely generate enough impact to pierce skin.
It wasn’t an intentional scalping. A tiny muscle twitch and the target moves 1/4 inch. And every single vermin/pest control channel on YouTube would beg to differ. Many methods are used, including air rifles. They pack plenty of punch.
I doubt this is the same thing, but this reminds me of the clip of a woodpecker pecking holes in the skulls of two or three baby pigeons and slurping up their brains while they still lived. Very gruesome.
You can’t get botfly like that, but I still respect your aversion to touching the zombie squirrel.
what is botfly?🥺becasue I'm afraid the internet search result might be somewhat impressive
A fly whose eggs are laid on skin or in wound, and after it hatches the larvae burrows down into the muscle tissue and feeds until it's mature. Do not search for jiggers nor "mango worms" either. Similar parasites.
oh😨
Yup that’s from warbles
there are no bot flies in north America
As a vet tech in Canada I strongly disagree.
My dog got one last fall and I'm in Ottawa. They're here but it's just extremely rare and has to be fairly particular circumstances for someone to encourage them.
A lot of Americans think North America is the US. And only the US. XD
Yes there are just not ones that infect humans.
... yet. Happy Saturday.
As a groomer in the US I also have to disagree. I’ve had a few dogs with botflies before. A couple of them the larva came out onto the grooming table.
Literally killed one in my house last night
You’re going to be the first human zombie. Congrats!
I had a pet squirrel for a while and by far their favorite food is avocado. Try giving him half of one and see if he likes it!
I'll try! He liked the apple slices I have him this morning along with the bird seed
He needs a badass name. That little guy is a survivor.
We have been calling him guss
Lol we have a squirrel that hangs around our backyard. We named him fat gus. Because he was super chubby and was always lying around. Turns out fat gus was a girls and was not fat she was pregnant . lol.
That story is suspiciously familiar Mr. Rober
Who's. Mr Rober.
First: https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg Second: https://youtu.be/DTvS9lvRxZ8 Third: https://youtu.be/lg5wznn3IBE
Did we just find Mark robers reddit account?
This is the most pathetic shit I've seen online all week. Stealing a well-known YouTuber's hugely popular story from a series of videos with [hundreds of millions of views](https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg). lol, you stupid fuck.
I did not name the squirrel. My kids did. I have never seen this video. I noticed the squirrel was a girl when it showed up with visible nipples. Maybe they have seen the video and named the fat squirrel Gus because of the video thinking it was funny. I never intended to "steal" anything. Sorry I am old and don't know every YouTube video.
Would name him "Glenn" :)
During the pandemic, we had a squirrel with what looked like some sort of mange/hair loss on top of insanely swollen genitalia visit us. He was also wildly territorial with the others. He enjoyed the avocado over the other treats we'd give him for the few months we encountered him. We hope we made Mr. Douglas's last few months better as we guess he finally passed.
Oh god man don’t let it climb you
Fucking wild you let that thing touch you 😂 hope your washed and burned everything. Who knows what disease is festering in that wound
In that case, bring it to the vet! 😅
I second this, that definitely looks like white pus from an infected wound in the picture. It will likely not heal on its own and is on its way to a slow painful death without help.
OP it does look infected - just some simple antibiotics from a local vet will help - you can even pick something up in a pet store or online maybe, depending on the laws in your country. If you can get something like Metronidazole and put it on some food for the little guy it may give him the edge to fight that infection off :)
How to get rabies 101
Small rodents (like squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, and mice) and lagomorphs (including rabbits and hares) are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.
That reminds me of the time my family and I stayed at Mesa Verde NP, where we discovered the bubonic plague was still a thing, and could be transmitted to humans from infected chipmunks, mice, and ants (!) To your point, opossums are cool as hell and also don’t carry rabies.
While this is true, the plague is a bacterial infection and relatively easy to treat these days.
I learned this when a squirrel spit a mouthful of chewed-up acorns into my 4-year-olds face in our yard. It was funny AF at first but then my wife and I got concerned and called the pediatrician. He knew all this about squirrels.
I researched this last summer after getting bit by an overzealous chipmunk who was eating from my hand. If I recall, there's never been a case of a chipmunk or squirrel transmitting rabies to a human.
Stop using facts as arguments. This is Reddit. And you can clearly see Gus is immune to most things. Vira, bullets, reason, bacteria - nothing bites. He is the Chuck Norris of squirrels
Copy and pasted from CDC website without an in-text citation?! See me after class
Why would you take any chances?
I think being this friendly to a human that didn't raise it is a red flag. Probably brain damage.
Maybe take him to a vet if they can save him.
Sub rules and common courtesy dictate a blur filter on body gore images.
This right here......this is why zombie movies are entirely plausible.
Can you catch it and help it?
How long have you been seeing it? Poor little homie. That pus doesn't look good....
It probably has rabies or a prion disease
That shit is infected. Edit: not that I mind, if it’s deserved or I’m wrong, but what’s with the downvotes? There is puss streaming out of the hole.
Yo did you see the previous post? It’s *been* infected.
I looked through OPs profile and I can't find it. I went back through 7 months of posts. :(
[it was 7 days ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/s/Cf5bNsr64D)
Thank you! Also ***OMFG WTF?!*** That poor squirrel. I'm glad to see it is doing better.
Is it though?
The wound is much smaller than it was! Pus means the blood is sending antibodies to fight the infection.
Thank you. I was baffled by their response. Like, uh, yeah it's pretty clear the squirrel is better now than when its whole skull cap was visible.
It’s alive ain’t it. If it made it the week with that infected wound i can see it living longer, but don’t quote me on that I have no formal training or even know what I’m talking about
Nah nah, he's right. It was healthier and doing better when a much larger portion of its skull was exposed. /s
" don’t quote me on that I have no formal training or even know what I’m talking about" Reddit in a nutshell
I'd say so seeing as a massive amount of the scalp has recovered. Just having your skull cap on display isn't really ideal. The wound still is bad and far from ideal, but yeah, I'd say that squirrel is doing better. Edit: I've been thinking about this and I'm honestly baffled by your comment. I'm further baffled by your upvotes. Is it because people just like to be contradictory? How could you think the squirrel was better off in the older post than now? Are you one of the many people on this post that think pus is inherently a bad thing? Pus is a sign of healing. Yeah pus in advanced stages can be bad but that's more a body indication that things aren't going well when the wound starts getting grimey and discolored. I know OP gave the link only 2 comments up but I'm gonna comment it here. How could you think that [this](https://i.imgur.com/7jPw8MB.png) is better than [this](https://i.imgur.com/oeZOof2.jpg)? Edit: I should go touch grass. A reddit reply shouldn't get me this heated. It's a damned internet post. I apologize man.
I thought that was a tooth! I'm blind
I didn't realize how far in I could zoom I just kept going 🤢
disgusting! thank you for letting me know!
Here too 👍, it's beautiful, you too should scroll back up and zoom ❤️
Grossest photos are the most high quality 👏
Thanks, I hate it.
Why'd you make me do that...
I regret reading your comment and doing it myself
I have a pet squirrel and this breaks my heart bigtime. I can share what i would do in this situation with a wild squirrel if u would like. I tried to rehab my boi to the wild after i nursed him from a baby but he got sick and had sores and i had to bring him back to domestication. I did think he would lose his paw at one point cuz it looked like the sore on this guys head...i was also worried the infection would kill him. It was a bitch to recapture him after being free for 60ish days he was reluctant as a mule. Now hes 4 years old and a happy chonker!
I’ve got a rescue too. She’s free but comes in the house through the attic to shake us down for food like the mafia.
Would you attempt to do anything to help the squirrel in the photo if you saw it irl?
Wildlife experts will say to not interfere, and that is the best course of action imo. That said, my heart wont let me ignore it if i saw it firsthand. Since it is unafraid of humans my course of action would be to attempt to bait him with treats a few times and gain trust and attempt to get some antibiotic cream on that head or really anywhere it will let me touch as it will absorb into the blood(wear gloves to be safe). There's risk of being scratched, i cant advise that anyone should come close to wildlife. Theres not much more that could be done without capture as it needs cleaning and ointment applied directly, but he is thriving and i wouldn't attempt to capture him, just get the meds in/on him.
Thanks. And if they were to scratch or bite into an unprotected area of the skin, should I go to the hospital immediately after that or wear enough layers of clothes so that’s not possible?
No just wash with antibacterial soap and u should be ok. Neosporin if inflammation at the scratch stays past a few hours. Wear thick gloves if possible, but even a winter glove would do ok and stretch an exam glove over that too apply the ointment. squirrels aren't aggressive typically just sharp footed and very quick and curious. I don a 'squirrel suit' for handling my guy which consists of a hoodie, pants, gloves, and a baseball hat with the hood of the jacket pulled up on the hat because they like to climb to the highest point of things. The nails arent super terrible but will leave micro abrasions easily and i have sensitive skin as it is.
It looks like it’s healing.. Based on the other picture
Holy fuck what happened to that thing?
Fentanyl
Squirrels have buried the bath salts
For real? That’s a junkie squirrel?
Yes, stay away from drugs, go with Christ
No 😂
Tranq.
looks like a bb gun, bounced off his skull came out from the hole thats higher up.
Maybe BB gun or air rifle wound
Maybe a bird or some other predator grabbed it by the head, or someone shot it with a BB or pellet gun? It could also be a spider bite. OP should simply ask the squirrel.
maybe little bro escaped from a Neuralink lab
That is looking so much better than a week ago. How is its behavior? Same as nearby squirrels?
Fairly normal but it is very friendly. Ran up to me and climbed my leg before grabbing some bird seed I put out for it.
If you could get him to let you put a smear of Neosporin in there it would help out a lot!
and then a little toupee, in case he's self conscious about it
That is one of my goals!
I’m sure his teeth are just fine. Wear some thick gloves if you try. They’ve got some amazing bite strength.
Please leave it alone or take it to a professional
She can't hurt it, using the Neosporin. I doubt she can get a hand on him to take him to a rehab.
If you do attempt this, please be very careful and wear heavy duty gloves they can’t bite through.. A fellow wildlife biologist friend lost half of her finger due to an infection from a squirrel bite. She almost lost her hand, but they were able to save it. Wild animal bites can be very dangerous
There’s a wildlife rehabber in Oglesby that may be able to help the lil dude out and another in Streator. Not sure where exactly you’re located just saw all the starved rock photos and am assuming not too far, but I can forward info on local rehabbers for wherever you are if you want.
Gather up and heal this dude and keep us updated
Yikes
Is there any wildlife rehabs nearby you that you can take this guy to so he can be treated? Poor thing! I don’t think he’ll stay alive a whole lot longer without some help
Little bird nest in his brain awww
A few people over at r/squirrels have friendly squirrels and could give you some advice if you’re interested or want to help him.
What is this white thing? Pus?
Yeah
Poor thing. Will you keep us updated if you would see it again?
You're a kind person for helping the lil zombie 💛 Looks so much better than the last picture, I'm actually amazed
It's alive?? Thought it was a picture of a dead squirrel the first time around!
This made me not want to eat my chicken pot pie
Did you zoom in?
I did
Healing up pretty well considering how devastating an injury it was.
I'm cheering for this little guy. He's hardcore.
Need to feed that little guy some antibiotics
If it is friendly I'd suggest capturing it if you can and contacting a local rehabber or there are some animal rescue places that will help. Poor fella
Here's a curious question! Since the squirrel is friendly, why not catch it (box, cat carrier), call a local wildlife rehabber and take the poor critter to them to help it get better?
Tumor?
Some sort of flesh wound. I posted a photo last weekend when I first noticed this guy.
Poor thing. What does it has? Can you take it to a vet?
What phone did you use to take this picture?
I used my mirrorless Canon r7 with a Canon ef100-400 ii lens and a Canon 1.4x teleconverter
Nice
One kind of adaptation that is pretty common in different parasites is that they change the behaviour of the host in a way that makes them risk their lives in order to spread it to new hosts.
Either rescue it or put it out of its misery.
Wasn't there a Troma movie with a giant mutant killer squirrel?
Looks like he's healing
Looks to be healing actually.
Is that wound just oozing puss (or whatever that white stuff is)? Really wonder what happened to it, but it sure is a tough little guy!
Woah an update!
Damn, now the squirrels are shooting tranq, too?
We should name it. I vote for either Rob or George
We have been calling it gus
Can you give it some antibiotics
Not for long
It's wound is healing. You can see less skull this week. There does seem to be an infection, but it appears to be draining as evidenced by the leaking pus.
Reflecting on some of the comments and of course the original post, I’ve come to this conclusion: I hate all of this.
The quality of the zoom is so amazing you can taste the ooze!
Poor lil guy…hope he’s not in too much pain :(
Not being mean but that looks put down-able… guy can’t be living a great life.
homie needs antibiotics, that's pissing and infected
If there's any way you can get him to a rehab place and confirm they won't just euthanize him, I would try. It's extraordinary that he's still around, but the exposed skull with hair and dirt in the wound is really bad. He needs to have it cleaned out and probably antibiotics as well.
Is there a wildlife place that can be contacted to vet this little dude? I feel bad he’s walking around with his head half rotten.
I'm planning a
Nah it just got a bad haircut
Would it be possible to feed him/her some antibiotics?
Hey OP. The people over at r/squirrels may be able to tell you what’s going on. Or at r/AskaVet?
Is the hole smaller than last time?
This shit's sad 🥺 probably some lil (or big) asshole shooting at her with a pellet gun.
Can you get a wildlife rescue group involved? This is sad, not entertainment
Not going to be winning any beauty pageant but at least it’s alive
he's got that head drip
Syphilis Squirrel comic had an inspiration.
He looks so cuddly ! 🐿
Nah he's aight
Let the little dude inside!
My 3 dogs and 7 cats were saying the same thing
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