Handling Mange?

M

MTmud

New member
Anyone have advice on mange?
I've always been extra safe and handled the animal as little as possible/burned them if I can, to keep it from spreading. Usually the dogs only have a little on the inside of the hind quarters, not enough to hurt the hide, but then again I'd only be saving them for personal use.
I've been told by an old trapper that he used insecticide (like raid) and sealed the coyote in a garbage bag for a while (mange is actually a microscopic mite). Others have told me it's not worth the risk, I know of a guy that caught it (called "scabies" on a human), the hair on his legs never did grow back!
 
MTmud--The best way to handle dead predators with sarcoptic mange is to not handle them. If handling is required, use a garbage bag. Final disposition is best done with a quart of gas and a match. It is contagious to humans although the disease will not affect people to the level of the furbearers, and usually is clears up in a short time if there is not continual exposure.

The best way to clear up sarcoptic mange in pets/hunting dogs, etc. is with 2 or 3 shots of ivermectin antibiotic about a week apart. Check with your local veterinarian for correct dosages and timing of injections. This stuff will clear up the worst case very nicely. Most topical applications of medicines will not really act very fast and maybe not at all, because the mites are down in the deep dermal layers of the skin. Best to get the ivermectin working; that stuff really works.
 
I've seen bad mange on coyotes in the wild but never had a hide brought in with bad mange on it. When I say bad mange, I mean I don't think there is a coyote alive today that isn't carrying a mange mite or two. And when it gets to the point where the coyote is losing hair...Thats bad mange, the coyote is flat out sick.
I can remember reading somewhere where they were talking about the strong immune system of coyotes and their ability to fend off a number of fatal diseases. It went on about how if a coyote has mange bad enough to cause it to lose it's hair and is weak. It's going to die soon after. Something somewhere along the line got him sick enough to lower his immune system allowing the mange mite to over take the animal.
How much of that is actual fact, I really don't know, but I like to think were better avoiding handling them if their that bad.
~River Runner~

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www.predatormasters.com
 
When possible, I've always preferred to drop them into a hole, dose them with diesel fuel and toss in a match. I don't like the sudden flare up that gas creates, just because a coyote has lost his hair, is no reason for me to lose mine
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I keep popping in from time to time for a look around. But, The wife has had other things in mind for my spare time. We recently moved into our new house, and it is not connected to the power grid. Which has given this lineman a lot of extra work in his "spare time" We've been living with a generator for the last 4 weeks or so since moving in, and are in the process of getting solar in place. I got the battery bank in yesterday, and hope to have the solar panels in by the end of the week.

I got my reloading room set up a few weeks ago and have hardly had time to touch it since!

I didn't get to do much trapping last season, and have never been allowed to trap cats. I've always wanted to trap for Bobcats, but last winter I found several "Cat" tracks 4-5" in diameter. I'd love to catch one of those big ones some day! I'm glad I didn't leave the beaver traps behind in Indiana
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So...what your saying is when everything's all in place you still might not be online much if the sun don't shine?
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Solar panels.
Just ribbin ya Tim, I wish you and the better half the best of luck with your new home. Get that "honey do" list finished up. trapping season is drifting in.

ok...where were we? I got a little side tracked. Sorry MTmud.
Mange, yeah that's it. Mange is the subject here.
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~River Runner~

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www.predatormasters.com
 
Mange, I sure do hate that stuff. It can make a lot of really nice critters get real ugly, fast.

I was happy to only kill one mangy coyote this past season. Unfortunately My son decided to throw him over his shoulders and carry him in while I retrieved another shot on that stand.

I smelled him before I even saw the mange. I couldn't help but get after the boy a little. He's seen enough mangy coyotes I felt he should have known better than to toss that one around his neck. He took a few trips into the showers before his Mom decided he finally smelt more like soap than a mange covered coyote.

I should have my solar panels in and working in just a few more days. It will be nice to have full power again, 24/7, with out having to fire up a generator
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There are people reading this who weren't even born yet the last time it was bumped before today. The people who commented on this thread before today didn't even know about 9/11, it hadn't happened yet. They were typing on their home computers, because smart phones hadn't been invented yet. George W Bush was in his first year as president. "Grown men don't cry" was the top country music song in America that month.
 
Hecouldgoalltheway said:
There are people reading this who weren't even born yet the last time it was bumped before today. The people who commented on this thread before today didn't even know about 9/11, it hadn't happened yet. They were typing on their home computers, because smart phones hadn't been invented yet. George W Bush was in his first year as president. "Grown men don't cry" was the top country music song in America that month.
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True… But it doesn’t change the intent of Murl’s post. Nothing has changed since the original post with regards to mange.

Totally valid and informative.
 
I just leave mangy coyotes alone if at all possible. I don't move them if I shoot one. It gets left right where it's at. And they'll stay there for a long time left untouched more often than not. I don't think most things like eating on dead coyotes unless food is pretty scarce.

Back in 2020 I think it was, I shot one and ended up shooting a perfectly healthy one that was eating it the very next day. But also a cottontail or jackrabbit was not a common thing to see at that time either. I barely even saw any skunks that year. I'm pretty sure the coyotes and hawks resorted to eating skunks. It was a really weird year. I killed more coyotes that season than I ever had before.
 
I've killed quite a few coyotes with mange. One had almost no hair left, skin was cracked and bleeding. It was -10 that morning. I do not touch the ones with mange, leave it where it died.
 
I leave them where the lay.

We had very little mange in Colorado in the 90's and early 2000's, then one day while hunting near the Kansas border, I called and shot a mangy one. After that, I noticed mange heading West, year after year. It seemed to take 5-6 years for it to get to the metro Denver area.

One February, after we had 2-3 days of well below zero nights, I called and shot one that looked as bad as Murl's bottom one. I figure that for it to have survived such brutal temps, it had to go under ground, at least for a bit.
 
I have handled many with mange, the most I have gotten was a rash on my wrist for a couple days. Coyotes get 2 different types of mange; demodex is weakness in their immune system, and not contagious at all, and with sarcoptic mange the mites cannot survive on human skin and they will die off on their own.
 
Infidel 762 said:
I have handled many with mange, the most I have gotten was a rash on my wrist for a couple days. Coyotes get 2 different types of mange; demodex is weakness in their immune system, and not contagious at all, and with sarcoptic mange the mites cannot survive on human skin and they will die off on their own.
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I got mange one time, so did most of the people in my family. We found a puppy in a ditch that was nearly dead and brought it into our home and nursed it back to health. He's still my best buddy today, about 12 years old. He's getting gray and moves a little slower, but he's an impressive fella. Anyways, we all got an itchy rash on our arms and bellies. I had to burn blankets, treat furniture, etc. We all had to use a cream for a couple weeks to get rid of the rash. It was my understanding that we had all become hosts for sarcoptic mange mites.
 


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