Reader Kyria Wimberly sent along this photo of a hairless creature coming down Windfall St. to Loma Alta Dr. on July 24, and wondered what it was.
Of course, we sent it immediately to our canid expert Dr. Barkman (Jane L. Brackman, Ph.D) for an opinion. And it's not good: ...
"If the photo indicates the coyote has no hair, then it looks like the mange problem that has become so prevalent in the south, has spread all the way to southern CA."
Mange is a serious skin disease, where a warm-blooded animal is infested by mites that tunnel under the skin to feed and to breed. It leads to skin irritation, which leads to patchy hair and baldness. Sometimes the mites burrow under the footpads, making coyotes unable to walk. Left unchecked, mange can cause death.
A quick online check finds that coyotes are particularly susceptible because of dirty living conditions and frequent malnutrition which can compromise their immune system.
Losing their coat means that coyotes are more vulnerable to their environment, and makes them more likely to go hunting in the day rather than in the cold of night.
We also found a picture from the US Dept. of Agriculture Wildlife Services of a coyote with mange that looks just like Wimberly's photo. But so far, nobody knows for sure if our local coyotes have mange or if it is spreading.
