Foxes...medicating for mange

[sid]

I’ve had foxes on my farm for years, sometimes with kits under one of my barns in Spring.

Sadly, by summer I’ve found dead youngsters in my sheds, mangy adults, sometimes coming into my barns to die.

The female looks super healthy, but I was wondering if I could bait Ivermectin for her now – and if that would help or hurt her kits. And…do I put it in a place the kits can’t get to it?

If so, what would be the dose and more than once?

Thanks in advance. I love my fox population, but mange has been a big problem over the last decade or more.

I’ve never done this before and need some experienced guidance.

Thanks.

[fordtraktor]

Hi Sid,

I did this before as I had a fox with bad mange. And the winter before, I found the bones of a dead one under my trailer in the spring when I moved it --I don’t know why it died but it could well have been mange. It had been dead so long I couldn’t tell. I trained the foxes to eat hot dogs, then once they were disappearing regularly and I was comfortable it was my foxes eating them I followed this protocol: http://foxwoodrehab.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/10/treating-sarcop.html

Good luck! My sick fox regrew his hair and lived. I was so happy! But like the article says, be careful if you have dogs, Ivermectin can be dangerous to them. I don’t think it is dangerous to the kits but you might contact the wildlife place to make sure.

One thing it doesn’t say is that the ivermectin stays in the hot dogs easier if you kind of make a hollow, so poke them with a screwdriver to make a hole for it before injecting it so the medicine stays in there.

[sid]

Yes, I have dogs. I want to help save these foxes. I think I can get it under the shed. My dogs can’t get in there. I’ll do a bit more research before I do anything.

I just hate to see these incredibly wonderful and beautiful creates become so eradicated by this affliction.

[fordtraktor]

I called our local wildlife place when ours had it and they were basically like, “yeah, they are just going to die.” I was not happy with that answer. I think it is good to try if you can. we did it every 3 days for six weeks. We put hot dogs out the other days that were not treated to keep them coming back daily. I just went to Sam’s and bought a giant family size pack.

[PassagePony]

We had foxes around our farm who had bad mange, this year one left blood drips their skin was so cracked and diseased looking. While this isn’t going to be a popular answer, we do shoot them if they have bad mange. I also have chickens and the last thing I need is for one to go after them or infest my farm dog.

[sid]

Well, the female with kits looks extremely healthy…big bushy, beautiful red coat. That’s why I posed the question. Thought maybe I could stave of mange since it is so prevalent here.

Then I suppose if she doesn’t have it their is no point in treating, unless ivermectin is a preventative.

I can understand shooting them when they are late stage with mange…it’s awful, slow and painful death.

[chaserider]

I don’t know which Rita Mae Brown book it was (Animal Magnetism, maybe?) where she talks about her role as Master of her hunt club and how she baits food at various fox dens she’s aware of in her territory with medicine for mange (and perhaps other ailments?). She takes the health of the fox in her area very seriously.

[fordtraktor]

It can treat the mange if it is in early stages which you won’t be able to tell, the mange mites are so tiny. By the time you can see it, the mange is pretty far along. and the ivermectin wont hurt the fox so if she doesn’t have it, you aren’t going to hurt her. If foxes in your area are already dying of mange, I would assume they are probably going to spread it and be worried like you are. Plus, they can actually spread it to your dogs (unlikely because your dogs are probably not outdoors roaming the woods as much as ye dogs of olde, but possible esp if the foxes are coming in your barns regularly) and to other wildlife. It’s a good thing to get rid of the mange.

Get the injectable kind for cattle they sell in a bottle at TSC-type places, not wormer ivermectin. The dosage is both smaller and more precise. It’s not expensive.

[PassagePony]

I do enjoy seeing them, especially early morning when I have those rare times to sit in the sun and watch them trot silently across my pasture. Please don’t think we shoot them just because…we have put much of our 40 acres into wildlife land use and take that seriously to help.

We have a lot of deer, so we allow a good friend who is a lover of the wildlife and care, to cull a few each year as his shot is deadly and he takes them out with one shot. We have forage for the turkeys, make sure the stream is in good order, and in the winter I throw hay out deep in the woods for the deer if the snow is bad. That I don’t do often as I don’t want them to get use to it.

And every few years we have the wildlife officers come look over our property to tell us how to improve or what to do. They have been a big help as well in the past as we have had poachers…

[alfonsina]

Here’s a little inspiration about treating a mangy fox who returns to his glorious self:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_3435354263&feature=iv&src_vid=t07uQBU5O7M&v=AHe5ycjt-UI
It seems a bit long to watch at first, but becomes a peaceful and sweet viewing!

Am trying the Foxwood treatment plan but skunks have been after my special hotdogs! And a friend who is feeding an injured fox found that it was crows, not “her” fox, that were making off with the raw chicken she was putting out. I find it tricky to help if you can’t put the laced food close to the den.

[bathsheba8542]

I have used ivermectin in raw eggs … just carefully prick the needle through the shell, and squirt it in. I’ve left them all over the farm and we have not seen a fox with obvious mange in years. The advantage over hot dogs is they appear to be less enticing to dogs.

[sid]

[QUOTE=fordtraktor;8588826]
It can treat the mange if it is in early stages which you won’t be able to tell, the mange mites are so tiny. By the time you can see it, the mange is pretty far along. and the ivermectin wont hurt the fox so if she doesn’t have it, you aren’t going to hurt her. If foxes in your area are already dying of mange, I would assume they are probably going to spread it and be worried like you are. Plus, they can actually spread it to your dogs (unlikely because your dogs are probably not outdoors roaming the woods as much as ye dogs of olde, but possible esp if the foxes are coming in your barns regularly) and to other wildlife. It’s a good thing to get rid of the mange.

Get the injectable kind for cattle they sell in a bottle at TSC-type places, not wormer ivermectin. The dosage is both smaller and more precise. It’s not expensive.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I got on a terrific fox rehab site and they said ivermectin IS a preventative.

[sid]

[QUOTE=PassagePony;8588832]
I do enjoy seeing them, especially early morning when I have those rare times to sit in the sun and watch them trot silently across my pasture. Please don’t think we shoot them just because…we have put much of our 40 acres into wildlife land use and take that seriously to help.

We have a lot of deer, so we allow a good friend who is a lover of the wildlife and care, to cull a few each year as his shot is deadly and he takes them out with one shot. We have forage for the turkeys, make sure the stream is in good order, and in the winter I throw hay out deep in the woods for the deer if the snow is bad. That I don’t do often as I don’t want them to get use to it.

And every few years we have the wildlife officers come look over our property to tell us how to improve or what to do. They have been a big help as well in the past as we have had poachers…[/QUOTE]

I totally understand this. I have 51 acres with big creeks, streams, pond…much wooded and the wildlife abounds. Beaver, turkey, deer, wonderful waterfowl, lots of owls and a variety of hawks, fox (and now coyote).

I’ve been here for 30 years and like to think of myself as a steward of THEIR land. :yes:

[AKB]

The rehabbers near us have most of the local foxes hot dog trained. If they go outside with hot dogs, the foxes come near, sit, and wait their turns for hot dogs. When a fox develops mange, the rehabbers starts lacing the hot dogs with ivermectin. We have not had much mange in the neighborhood since the rehabbers started this program. Mange used to be rampant.

[Beverley]

When I did it back in the day in Virginia, I used hot dogs, and per the vets, .2cc of Ivomeck in the hot dog, two week intervals. Mange is caused by mites, and fundamentally causes death by exposure. If the den is infected, it’s likely to recur every year that den is used.

Edited to add- I am not a fan of ‘training’ wildlife, I simply found their beaten path through a hedgerow on the fence line and left the hot dogs there. Randomly and sporadically, so that they didn’t come to expect or rely on the handout, but often enough that it was worth their while to just see if there was anything of interest in that spot.

[sid]

[QUOTE=Beverley;8598803]
When I did it back in the day in Virginia, I used hot dogs, and per the vets, .2cc of Ivomeck in the hot dog, two week intervals. Mange is caused by mites, and fundamentally causes death by exposure. If the den is infected, it’s likely to recur every year that den is used.

Edited to add- I am not a fan of ‘training’ wildlife, I simply found their beaten path through a hedgerow on the fence line and left the hot dogs there. Randomly and sporadically, so that they didn’t come to expect or rely on the handout, but often enough that it was worth their while to just see if there was anything of interest in that spot.[/QUOTE]

I’m totally with you on that. Don’t want them to be too accustomed to humans. Will be discreet.

Got a bunch of eggs today and the Ivomec arrived. So I’ll start it tomorrow.

[Foxtrot_s]

What kind of mange do foxes generally get?

[MoonWitch]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8648594]
What kind of mange do foxes generally get?[/QUOTE]

Generally, Sarcoptic mange. We had one several years ago come into the barn and die from it. It was horrible. We started treating the others on the farm using two feeding stations with dog food dosed with ivermectin that you use for cows or pigs. They got so used to being fed that they would wait for us at night. They all got healthy and we haven’t had to treat again for years now…but this past week DH saw one hiding out in the run-in shed

Looks like we’ll have to start treating again!

ETA - be careful with some dog breed as ivermectin can be fatal!

[Belmont]

Just remember, unless the mage is sarcoptic, your dogs can not catch it.

You can try baiting with ivermectin in hotdogs. I would put it in a place that they frequent, not in an area where you are drawing them to your attention.

[AKB]

We like having a healthy fox population in our neighborhood. We used to have terrible mice and rat infestations in the neighborhood barns. Now, we are rodent free thanks to the foxes. I am glad the rehabbers took care of the mange problem.