Dead squirrel

[turkeyfeathers]

Found this critter below a tree in our yard. Can only guess it died of old age or fell from tree top. No way I'll ever know I guess. I did see one fall from a tree about 30' from ground at folks house on Christmas. It flailed thru the air , hit the ground and quickly ran off all embarrassed

[Rockspek]

I once saw a squirrel fall out of a tree still holding the branch it was walking on.  It hit the ground, dropped the stick and took off.

[shawnhu]

I'm going to say that tree rat ate too much over the holidays and had a heart attack.

X-Calibur Lighting Systems

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[Two Track]

bad nuts...  ( Indiana Jones with Sulla and dead monkey  "bad dates..")

 

or scared stiff of future father-in-law

Edited January 7, 2016 by Two Track

[mac]

after lunch nap..was he still warm ?

[growalot]

Flea death

[turkeyfeathers]

Bummer as I've been watching them make their nest for awhile now. Looks about finished too. And dog has fun chasing them.

[RoadKill44]

Once came across a blind squirrel while deer hunting. He was doing a Hitler goose step march feeling his way throught the woods and searching for nuts. He was eventually shot but was not taken into the cabin for consumption.

[Curmudgeon]

Any possibility a neighbor put out rat poison?

[growalot]

I wasn't joking about flea death...Squirrels can become so infested with fleas epecially if said fleas are wintering in those cozy tree nest that it weakens them  and they die..I have seen this first hand.

[growalot]

Thought I'd make your skin crawl(you as in general terms)...We had a fox terrier that found a bird in the yard...that bird had a flea caused tape worm.... the dog ..unknown to us contracted said tape worm...we had no idea..until she vomited up a pile of tape worm half her size..We about flipped out...I believe I did before puking my self.  Crating the dog and bagging the evidence for a trip to the vets...the vet looked green upon seeing this ..when labs came in...they said they had never seen such a case before ...imagine what a tape worm would do to a small bodied animal...they figured it's what killed the bird in the first place...

 

Fleas can also lead to hair loss as a result of frequent scratching and biting by the animal, and can cause anemia in extreme cases.^[13]:126As a vector

Besides the problems posed by the creature itself, fleas can also act as a vector for disease. Fleas transmit not only a variety of viral, bacterial and rickettsial diseases to humans and other animals, but also protozoans and helminths.^[14]:72–73

• Bacteria - murine or endemic typhus:^[13]:124 Fleas have helped cause epidemics by transmitting diseases such as the bubonic plague between rodents and humans by carrying Yersinia pestis bacteria.^[15] Fleas can also transmit Rickettsia typhi, Rickettsia felis, and Bartonella henselae.

• Virus: myxomatosis^[14]:73

• Helminth: infestation of Hymenolepiasis tapeworm^[16]

• Protozoa: Trypanosome protozoans such as those of the subgenus, use a variety of flea species opportunistically as vectors.^[14]:74

Fleas that specialize as parasites on specific mammals may use other mammals as hosts; therefore, humans are susceptible to the predation of more than one species of flea.^[17]

 

 

 

 

[grampy]

Thanks for the case of heebie jeebies!

[greg54]

Thought I'd make your skin crawl(you as in general terms)...We had a fox terrier that found a bird in the yard...that bird had a flea caused tape worm.... the dog ..unknown to us contracted said tape worm...we had no idea..until she vomited up a pile of tape worm half her size..We about flipped out...I believe I did before puking my self.  Crating the dog and bagging the evidence for a trip to the vets...the vet looked green upon seeing this ..when labs came in...they said they had never seen such a case before ...imagine what a tape worm would do to a small bodied animal...they figured it's what killed the bird in the first place...

That's so gross Grow....

[growalot]

Saving grace in that was  She was in the back yard when I looked out to see this..Yelling OH MY God she's dying! she's dying!...while I was at the vets...Mr B was dowsing the spot in kerosene and burning it....no grass there  but I provided a spot for a planter...

[growalot]

this has been a staple in our house for many things ever since...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

[turkeyfeathers]

Any possibility a neighbor put out rat poison?

. Hmm , you could be right on this. Lancaster has had influx of problems with them. Neighbors and I all caught one trying to catch bunnies over the summer. I'll have to ask around at our next fire pit with them

[Curmudgeon]

I leased my sugar bush to a guy some years ago. He was having trouble with squirrels chewing lines. He put D-Con all over without consulting me. My wife discovered it on a dog walk. Actually, the dog discovered it. It was really good Mrs. C was paying close attention. We don't think the dog ate any. Anyway, he was fine.

 

Also, the next door neighbor had a rat problem - and a yard full of feral cats she fed. She put rat poison where the cats couldn't get it. Unfortunately, the dying rats came right out in the open for the cats to eat. The positive thing was fewer feral cats. There may have been a lot of dead foxes and hawks we never found.

[Galliform]

I've seen squirrels fall out of the canopy of tall oaks a number of times and were seemingly none worse for wear. It seems a bit unlikely your squirrel perished from a fall, but not impossible.

 

 

I leased my sugar bush to a guy some years ago. He was having trouble with squirrels chewing lines. He put D-Con all over without consulting me. My wife discovered it on a dog walk. Actually, the dog discovered it. It was really good Mrs. C was paying close attention. We don't think the dog ate any. Anyway, he was fine.

 

Also, the next door neighbor had a rat problem - and a yard full of feral cats she fed. She put rat poison where the cats couldn't get it. Unfortunately, the dying rats came right out in the open for the cats to eat. The positive thing was fewer feral cats. There may have been a lot of dead foxes and hawks we never found.

 

Poison is vile.
 

[ants]

I have on tree in my yard, that is well over 100 ft tall. In the 16 years I have lived here I have found 3 dead, intact squirrels under it. I just assumed that they fell. 

[Curmudgeon]

I've seen squirrels fall out of the canopy of tall oaks a number of times and were seemingly none worse for wear. It seems a bit unlikely your squirrel perished from a fall, but not impossible.

 

Me too.

[Pygmy]

Curmudgeon, on 08 Jan 2016 - 3:24 PM, said:

Me too.

Me three..

[ants]

Nag of a she squirrel in the nest would explain a lot too.

[Marion]

Me three..

Me four

You Can't Beat My Meat!

[Curmudgeon]

Nag of a she squirrel in the nest would explain a lot too.

 

I always speculated on why so many animals end up dead in the road. I'm convinced some of them were depressed.

 

[turkeyfeathers]

I always speculated on why so many animals end up dead in the road. I'm convinced some of them were depressed.

 

Opossums are the ultimate in being depressed apparently