Ticks!!
Thought I'd put this in here as well, anyone who stalks is going to come into contact with ticks, but I've never seen a squirrel with ticks like this.
This was around both armpits and around the base of the skull, I'd thought they were just sores but in full light you could see them!! After they were pointed out!!
This was shot in woodland, lots of bracken so perfect tick country, I shot a second squirrel which looked fine when compared with this one.
Only differ
Zikes!
That is a nasty infestation on that squirrel though, I sometimes wonder how long an animal will last with such an overload as the ticks are parasitic, deprive the host of nutrients and cause disease within the host.
The picture below is the unique reaction from a tick bite, it is commonly known as a "Bulls eye rash" the medical term is Erythema Migrans sign , the rash size usually ranges from approx 2-18 inches but can be up to a metre and occurs in around 65-80% tick borne in