Mange?

[walshie 2,804]

I shot a vixen this morning and in the dark it looked like she had no tail. On closer inspection, she had a good thick winter coat, but her tail wasn't just bald, it had no skin on it either. I've seen mangy foxes before where they have chewed their tails back to raw skin, but this was just bone like a whip aerial, no skin or muscle at all.

Could she have done it to herself through mange or would it have been a fight or something?

[weekend.rifle 44]

Im not sure about mange as i dont know enough about it but when i was a kid i saw me mates dog have a fight which resulted in the same thing, it just clamped on to the tail, and as the dog pulled away it all came off with it. we also had a lad at work who caught his wedding ring in one of the lathes, it pulled the ring off along with all the skin on that finger which we call being 'degloved'.

 

So while i cannot offer any more insight into all the variables it is in theory possible that its just been pulled off.

 

tony

Edited December 29, 2012 by weekend.rifle

[weekend.rifle 44]

oh and maybe it knew you were there and wanted to rob you of your tail trophy lol

[whippet 99 2,613]

was it infected or was it clean like someone stripped it as people do when they keep fox tails......?..

without really seeing it i would say its hard to say.................maybe disease or accident..........

i would associate a clean tail what has been stripped by accident ..............but if infected i would say it was more disease

[walshie 2,804]

Yep, bang goes my Davy Crockett hat. "Degloved" ewww.

[walshie 2,804]

was it infected or was it clean like someone stripped it as people do when they keep fox tails......?..

without really seeing it i would say its hard to say.................maybe disease or accident..........

i would associate a clean tail what has been stripped by accident ..............but if infected i would say it was more disease

 

It looked clean as a whistle. Just white bone.

[pip1968 2,490]

id say it was trying to escape a dog and the dog might have grabbed its tail going through a fence or hedge which resulted in a scalped tail.just my thoughts on it

[baw 4,360]

I dunno but I bet it was ducking sore

[whippet 99 2,613]

was it infected or was it clean like someone stripped it as people do when they keep fox tails......?..

without really seeing it i would say its hard to say.................maybe disease or accident..........

i would associate a clean tail what has been stripped by accident ..............but if infected i would say it was more disease

 

It looked clean as a whistle. Just white bone.

sounds like its been caught on something and stripped off.............interesting , may be someone else can relate to this or may have a better explanation............

[walshie 2,804]

I dunno but I bet it was ducking sore

 

Not any more!

[Carraghs Gem 1,714]

Certain breeds of rodents deglove or drop their own tails as a defense mechanism... Degus for example... The tail even flaps around to keep the predator interested while the degu makes its escape... It shouldnt cause a fox too many problems as long as it doesnt get infected... I expect the tail will just drop off naturally

[whippet 99 2,613]

Certain breeds of rodents deglove or drop their own tails as a defense mechanism... Degus for example... The tail even flaps around to keep the predator interested while the degu makes its escape... It shouldnt cause a fox too many problems as long as it doesnt get infected... I expect the tail will just drop off naturally

i know slow worms and rats it happens as a deterent from predators but didnt think it would apply to foxes.........

[Carraghs Gem 1,714]

Certain breeds of rodents deglove or drop their own tails as a defense mechanism... Degus for example... The tail even flaps around to keep the predator interested while the degu makes its escape... It shouldnt cause a fox too many problems as long as it doesnt get infected... I expect the tail will just drop off naturally

i know slow worms and rats it happens as a deterent from predators but didnt think it would apply to foxes.........

maybe i didnt explain myself too clearly, foxes dont deliberately deglove but as its not a major appendage it shouldnt cause them too many problems unless infected and should drop off eventually

[weekend.rifle 44]

Certain breeds of rodents deglove or drop their own tails as a defense mechanism... Degus for example... The tail even flaps around to keep the predator interested while the degu makes its escape... It shouldnt cause a fox too many problems as long as it doesnt get infected... I expect the tail will just drop off naturally

it wont cause the fox as much as a problem as the shot he hit it with

[Carraghs Gem 1,714]

Certain breeds of rodents deglove or drop their own tails as a defense mechanism... Degus for example... The tail even flaps around to keep the predator interested while the degu makes its escape... It shouldnt cause a fox too many problems as long as it doesnt get infected... I expect the tail will just drop off naturally

it wont cause the fox as much as a problem as the shot he hit it with