Bi-State Wildlife Hotline

Mange by Mail Program

Welcome to the main page for the Mange by Mail Program.  We are the Bi-State Wildlife Hotline, and we have been hosting this program since October of 2011.  With the help of multiple licensed veterinarians experienced in wildlife medicine, this program has been developed to treat sarcoptic mange infection in wild red and grey foxes and coyotes in the United States.  For years, we attempted to trap and treat mange cases locally in our region and came upon the same issues that everyone has when they try to do this.  We couldn’t catch the foxes or coyotes quickly or reliably, and caught non-target animals like opossums, raccoons, and the neighbor’s cat over and over again.  Meanwhile, the sick fox or coyote is only getting sicker and closer to death.  Finally, we came upon documentation of a very old program that was established by the UK government that used Ivermectin to treat infected foxes in the United Kingdom.  This was a government funded program there, but it was extremely effective and deployed simply, without harm to other animals.  We decided that it was worth a try here in the United States.  Over the first five years, we discovered, much to our astonishment, that the treatment of mange in the wild is VERY different from the treatment of mange in captivity.  Remember, we are a real wildlife rehab as well that accepts patients into our clinic every year that have mange infections, and we treat them in captivity when they are brought in to us.  Normally that treatment is done over the course of at least 30 days, in daily or weekly treatments, oatmeal baths, antibiotics for skin infections, supplements to support skin health and hair re-growth, etc.  Through the use of exit interviews, trail cameras, field studies, patient examinations, and a lot of in-depth recordkeeping, we discovered that foxes and coyotes in the field, outside of captivity, need much less medication and treatment to recover from mange than their counterparts in captivity.  We know that all animals experience stress in captivity, which is increased for predator species of wildlife.  However, we did not know that their stress level of being kept captive would impact them so greatly that it would completely change the treatment protocol for a serious condition like sarcoptic mange.  Over time we have determined and verified that wild foxes and coyotes can be treated successfully for mange in ONE DOSE of medication nearly 98% of the time.  The other 2% of cases are resolved with a second dose of medication, administered approximately two weeks after the first dose.  The Mange by Mail Program helps hundreds of foxes and coyotes per year, across the country, and receives photos and videos of recovered patients on a daily and weekly basis.

To put it simply, this program is cheap, fast, effective, non-invasive, non-disruptive and safe if the instructions are followed.

The Mange by Mail program is available for United States’ residents nationwide, excluding California*.

 

This program works by asking you, the participant, to observe and record when the sick animal is coming to your yard, and approximately where it prefers to hang out.  We then ask you to begin feeding the sick animal to determine whether or not he/she will be willing to eat any bait food that you put outside for him.  At times even though you can see the animal is not well, they are not sick enough to trust taking food from you.  In those cases we simply have to wait until the animal gets sick enough to take a chance trusting a human, out of desperation, in order for us to help him.  This waiting period can be absolute torture for you, the human.  Give it time, and they will eventually take the bait.  Once you start putting out bait and the animal begins eating it, you can order one of our kits to hide the mange medicine in their food to treat them.  We will ship you a kit that includes 5ml of Ivermectin 1% injectable medication in a sterile glass vial, five 3ml syringes with 22 gauge needles, and a link to detailed dosage and instructions that you can view, download, or print.  Don’t worry, you don’t need the syringe and needles to inject medicine into the animal.  You’ll only be injecting the medicine into food.  We send you enough medication for 10 fox-sized doses, or approximately 5-coyote sized doses.  You do not need to order multiple kits to treat multiple animals, unless you plan to treat more than that number.  This extra medication is included in case the animal doesn’t show up one night and you have to throw out your bait, or in case a raccoon steals your bait, or any number of other unforeseen events.  If you have extra medication left after successfully treating your fox/coyote, please store the supplies somewhere dark and cool, away from sunlight, where it will not freeze or get too hot.  In these conditions this medication will stay good for up to 5 years!!  The medication in the vial should be clear in color, and never have anything floating in it.  We prefer to use sterile syringes and needles every time we draw up another dose of medicine, but considering you are not injecting medicine directly into an animal, these syringes and needles can be rinsed or washed and dried completely before another use.

After you receive the medication in the mail, look up the instruction document to view, download or print it (you’ll have a link to the document in your kit).  Dosage information is in that document.  Read it all the way through.  Take the blue cap off of your bottle of medication and use a syringe/needle combo to pierce the rubber middle of the vial, turn the bottle upside down, and draw back on the plunger to pull the medication into the syringe for dosing.  No animal in our program will need more than 1ml of medication.  All dosages will be LESS than, or under, the big “1” on your syringe.  Inject the medication into the bait you plan to use.  If you are using raw chicken legs, or breast, you may have to inject multiple spots to get it all in.  If you are using a hard-boiled egg make sure you pre-cook and COOL the egg before adding medication.  Peel off at least part of the shell of the egg to inject the medication into the approximate center of the egg.  Feel free to leave as much shell on the egg as you like.  The animals eat eggshell readily for the added calcium boost.  Do NOT heat or cook the food once you have added the medication.  This medication is very cold-tolerant but should not be frozen or heated beyond body temperature.  On the night/day you plan to put out the medicated bait we strongly suggest you employ the use of a Ring/Blink/Nest camera or a trail camera to observe the bait and record who ate it.  This is the ONLY way to know if you need to put more medicine out the next day or not.  You also have the option of simply sitting at the window and watching your bait station that day/night to ensure the right animal received the medication. If someone else steals your bait, or if you are unsure if the fox/coyote received the bait, you can try again in 24 hours.  NEVER put more than one dose of medicine outside per 24 hours!  Don’t let the critters trick you!  If you put out medicated bait for Fox A and a rascally raccoon steals your bait, don’t allow yourself to believe that the raccoon has left the area and it’s safe to put a second dose out now for Fox A.  Every time you allow yourself to think that way, the SAME raccoon will come right back and eat your second dose of medicated bait and now you’ve overdosed some poor raccoon who had nothing to do with any of this!  Simply wait until the next night and try again.

Once you are sure that your fox has received the bait, stop putting out medication.  Most people choose to continue feeding the animal for another week or so, to help him regain the weight he has lost while sick.  In a very short period of time, 7-10 days, the animal will stop coming to the bait station regularly, and will begin to be very picky about what he is willing to eat.  This is because he is beginning to hunt again on his own and can afford to be more choosy.  This is good news!  It means that your fox/coyote is recovering and beginning to act like a normal predator again!  Please see our FAQ section below for treating multiple foxes/coyotes and for a detailed timeline of what to expect after treatment.

Step One:  You are seeing a fox or coyote in your yard or on your property that is losing weight, missing hair, scratching himself endlessly, rubbing himself on driveway, trees, concrete to scratch, scavenging trash cans, bird feeders, compost piles, cat feeding stations, and getting closer to people than normal.

You may also see this fox or coyote lay out in a sunny area as though he is ‘tanning’ in the sun, or frequenting spots where pine needles have fallen from the trees.  This animal will appear unwell from a distance.  It may only be missing the fur from its tail, with a long rat tail, or it may be completely bald.  It may even be hard to tell if it is a coyote or a fox.  If you are not sure, you may verify animal the species of animal and whether it has mange by sending us photos to help@wildlifehotline.com or by viewing our Mange Gallery. Compare your animal to photos of verified mange cases. Remember: even if you’re wrong and the fox/coyote doesn’t have mange, the medication is not harmful to a fox without mange.  Any uninfected foxes or coyotes who ingest the medication will simply experience the effects of the medication killing their fleas, ticks, mites, lice, and intestinal worms/parasites. 

Step Two:  You have three options of how to handle seeing a fox or coyote with mange:

  1. You can ignore the animal and “let nature take its course” which means allowing the animal to die naturally, in the wild, without treatment.  Studies show that most animals infected with mange do not survive longer than 3-6 months.
  2. You can reach out to a local wildlife rehabilitator for help.  Go to http://www.ahnow.org to find a rehabber near you.  If they have a local program set up to help coyotes and foxes this may be a better option for you.  This depends on a lot of factors, whether you have a local rehabber available to you, whether they have the physical space and permit required to house and quarantine a larger animal like a coyote or fox, and whether not they have the equipment to loan out to trap the fox/coyote and bring it in for treatment.
  3. You may find that our Mange by Mail Program is the best option in your area, in your circumstances, but it’s not for everyone.  We do our best, but this is not a ‘set it and forget it’ solution.  Our program mails you the supplies that you need to treat the fox or coyote for mange in the wild, by hiding medicine in food that they eat.  You will be required to feed this coyote or fox for up to 2 weeks, observe and record it’s comings and goings to best plan when to put the medication out, and we ask that you monitor the medicated bait via camera or by watching from a window on the day/night that you add medicine to the bait to record that the intended target received the medication successfully.

Step Three:  Sign up for the Mange by Mail Program and Make A Donation.

Click HERE (or the big graphic below) to go to the donation form and make a donation online to cover our costs of sending you a Mange by Mail Kit.  The medication, container/vial, syringes, and shipping cost is approximately $19.00. This is why we require a $20 minimum donation to order.  However, if you are able to do so, please feel free to donate more!  Your generosity will help to ensure that this program continues for all of the other foxes and coyotes across the nation who need help and cannot find it locally. In addition, we are a full-service rescue and rehabilitation center located in Missouri.  We provide hands-on help to dozens of coyotes and foxes each year who come into our center.  All donated funds are directly applied to the hundreds of animals that we admit into our care each year when they are sick, injured, and/or orphaned.  You will also be asked to enter your mailing address for us to print a label and mail the package.  Orders are shipped within 24 hours. We ship using priority mail with the U.S. Postal Service and most packages are delivered to your home or business within 3 business days (within the 48 contiguous United States).  Weather delays and USPS delays are outside of our control.  Alaska & Hawaii destinations usually arrive within 7 days.  

Yes, you can order the mange by mail program outside of Missouri & Illinois. This program is available nationwide (except CA)! 

Sign Up for the Mange by Mail Program Now!

Sign Up for the Mange by Mail Program Now!

Once you have decided to sign up for the Mange by Mail Program:

This program starts today, even before you receive our Mange by Mail kit! Pay attention to when and where your fox/coyote tends to come into your area.  Keep a log of when you see him and where he hangs out.  Purchase bait foods of raw chicken or turkey, ground or otherwise, as well as chicken organ meat like hearts and livers.  You can also use eggs.  Begin acclimating the animal now by setting up a feeding station.  Place food in the general area about 30-60 minutes before the general time when and where you see the fox/coyote most often.  This is to help the sick animal develop the habit of coming to this spot daily to look for food, temporarily. Foxes will return daily at almost EXACTLY the same time once they know food is present.  They are extremely habitual animals on the same 24 hour clock as humans.  Coyotes are more difficult.  They’re predictable too, but they’re on more of a 2-3 day clock because their territories are much larger.  If you feed a coyote for 7-10 days and record what times he comes to get the food, a pattern will emerge.  Use that info to determine the best time to try to get the medication to him.  After ordering a kit from us, it will arrive in about 3 business days.  By that time, you will have a much better plan for when and how to administer the medication.  It will be much easier to slip the medication into the food with an animal that has become more trusting of this feeding spot/bait station. We want to be reasonably sure that the sick animal will return to a predictable area to get the medication when it is time. 

NOTICE:  This is ONLY recommended in cases with sick foxes or coyotes. If you believe you are seeing another species of animal infected with mange, please send photos to help@wildlifehotline.com to discuss.

NEVER feed wild foxes and coyotes recreationally. It can lead to these animals becoming tame and getting too close to people and pets, which can get them killed!

Warning!! You must be capable of predicting the movements of the sick animal with reasonable accuracy before using medicated bait. It is important that the bait is entirely eaten by the intended target species – the coyote or fox. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT PETS DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE BAIT STATION! Some breeds of dogs are extremely sensitive to the medication we use (Ivermectin) and it can be toxic to them. These breeds include Collies, Australian Shepherds, Sheepdogs, and Shelties. Learn more about this sensitivity and have your pet tested for it at Washington State University’s Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology Lab.  We also want to avoid cats’ access to the the bait station.  Cats tolerate Ivermectin, the medication we use, however they are dosed at a much smaller rate and we do NOT want them to eat the medicated bait.  We STRONGLY suggest using hard-boiled eggs as bait when cats are known to be in the area.  Usually, cats have zero interest in hard-boiled eggs.  Test your local cats by preparing hard-boiled eggs ahead of time and placing them outside WITHOUT medication to observe whether or not your local cats show interest in eggs before attempting to add medication to the bait food. 

*California Residents:The state of California does not allow Ivermectin (the medication we use in this program) to be shipped into the state.  It is a state law. California residents and residents outside of the USA are welcome to email us at help@wildlifehotline.com for instructions on how to treat a fox or coyote with mange in your area.  It can still be done, easily and effectively, and we are happy to walk you through the process.  However, we are unable to ship you one of our easy to use kits.  You will need to purchase the supplies yourself locally and use our instructions to complete the process of treatment.  

Q:  What is included in the Mange by Mail kit/mailer?

A:  In every Mange by Mail Kit we include a 5ml glass vial of Ivermectin 1% injectable medication. This is enough medication to treat at least 10 foxes or 5 coyotes!  We include plenty of medication just in case you need to try several nights to get the medication to the animal, or in case other critters steal your bait.  Don’t worry, you don’t need to inject the medication into the fox or coyote.  You’ll only be injecting the medication into the bait food, not the animal.  We also include five 3ml syringes with 22 gauge needles to draw the medication out of the sterile vial and inject it into the bait food.  You will also receive a small card with a link to our full instructions and dosage information online where you can view, download, or print this document.

Q:  Do I need to worry about my dogs or cats ‘catching mange’ from the fox or coyote?

A:  This is a frequent fear.  99% of the time the answer is no.  Even if this fox or coyote is sleeping on your back porch, your patio furniture, your doghouse, eating from the same dish as the cats, unless your pets are sleeping next to the fox or coyote all night every night, with zero flea/tick preventatives, and not in great health themselves, it is very unlikely that your pet will ‘catch’ mange.  This type of mange is not a disease, but a over-infestation of a particular kind of mite, a tiny insect like a flea.  If your dog or cat is on ANY kind of flea and tick preventative it is also effective at killing these mites, and they are in no danger of infection.  This isn’t like saying you caught the flu from another person.  It’s more like if a person brings a pet over to your house who is infested with fleas.  Is it possible that a flea will jump off of that animal and onto yours?  Yes, of course, but if your pet is currently on preventatives, that flea will die and it won’t matter.  Every time your pet goes outdoors there is a  chance that they will encounter a flea, tick, or mite.  If they are on preventatives, they are protected from these things.  If they are not, you may want to start preventatives, or at the very least use a flea/tick shampoo occasionally to kill any random bugs that have found their way to your pet. Most pets will simply groom away a single flea or mite that comes their way, even without preventatives, but it’s best to use preventatives to avoid these situations.

Q:  What if I need more medication?

A:  This is a common question.  Foxes in particular are notorious for getting treated for mange, healing and recovering, and then bringing ‘friends’ with mange to visit you in later months.  This is a recurring story that we hear often.  You can reorder medication at any time by simply going back to the donation form at https://donorbox.org/mangebymail and placing an order.  You may also send an email to help@wildlifehotline.com if you have a particular request for a custom made order.

Q:  What if the fox or coyote is pregnant or nursing?

A:  Thankfully, Ivermectin, the medication we use, is 100% safe in pregnant and nursing animals, and will not cause any issues.  Plus, we imagine it must be much easier to raise a litter of babies without the extra burden of a mange infection!  So please, treat Mom!  She will appreciate it!

Q:  What if my fox or coyote doesn’t like chicken, turkey or eggs?

A:  Honestly, we don’t care what kind of food you use to get the medicine to the animal that needs treatment.  We only suggest chicken, turkey or eggs as the most common things that they like to eat.  If you are having success with some other kind of food, and that food is not attracting non-target animals to your yard, go for it!  This is only temporary and whatever it takes to get the medicine into the animal doesn’t matter to us as long as they get the medication.

Q:  What if I have an entire litter of foxes or coyotes that need treatment?  How do I treat each one?

A:  This can be incredibly tricky.  We can’t just leave a note outside and ask the foxes to line up and each take one dose of medicine.  We wish we could!  However, it can be done.  The first rule of treating multiple animals is to NEVER put more than one dose of medicine outside per 24 hours.  First, we must do all that we can to do no harm.  We don’t want anyone getting too much medication!  The first night put out your first dose of medication for the foxes.  Watch to see who received that first dose.  Chances are good that the fox you medicated will not return to the bait station for 24+ hours after treatment.  This is because a fox or coyote with mange cannot sleep properly.  He/she is constantly woken up by itching, moving mites under their skin.  They’re incredibly sleep deprived.  Within hours of receiving one dose of medication ALL of the mites die, and stop moving.  That fox will sleep for quite a while the first day after treatment.  This should give you a good opportunity to treat the second animal the next night.  After treating two, you may want to wait a week before trying to treat the next two, because over the course of a week the first two treated foxes will begin to feel better and start hunting on their own again.  (We know they still look awful, but they FEEL much better!) As the treated foxes/coyotes return to hunting they won’t be so greedy at your bait station, allowing you to treat the others who need treatment still.  This can be frustrating because you have to wait to get sick animals treated during a time that feels desperate and awful.  However, remember – these animals do not DIE of mange.  They die from starvation and hypothermia.  As long as you are still providing food for these animals, they will continue to survive another day for you to treat them.  The medication will not cause an overdose as long as the animal doesn’t receive more than one dose per 24 hours.  Even if the same, healthy, uninfected animal gets a full dose of Ivermectin every day for multiple days in a row, as long as those doses are spaced 24 hours apart, it will not cause the animal harm.

Q: What if a raccoon or opossum steals the medicated bait?

A:  Ivermectin, the medicine we use in this program, is extremely well tolerated in most mammals.  We specifically ask you to use raw meat or eggs to hide the medicine to avoid very small animals accidentally receiving the medicine.  Larger animals who may be interested in the medicated bait include raccoons, skunks, opossums, and large birds like crows and blue jays.  The medication will not harm these animals.  However, cats and dogs may also show interest in the medicated bait and we want to avoid them getting access to it.  For cats, we suggest that you use hard-boiled eggs as bait, as most cats do not show interest in these.  Test your local cat population by putting hard-boiled eggs outside without medication to assess their interest.  If cats or dogs are near your bait station, you may need to stay alert and watch the bait station nonstop on the day/night that you put out medicated bait in order to shoo any non-target animals away if they approach.  If you cannot do this, and cannot find a bait type that appeals to the fox or coyote but doesn’t appeal to the cats and dogs, you may not be right for participation in this program.

Q:  Is the Mange by Mail Program legal?  Is it against the law to participate in this program?

A:  The Mange by Mail Program is literally the same as you going to a Costco and buying a giant bottle of Ibuprofen, then mailing a portion of that Ibuprofen to your sister, your aunt, your uncle, your friend, and your neighbor.  All we are doing is buying a medication in bulk and then mailing small bottles of that medication out to people across the country. We also include instructions of how to use the medication, and supplies to dose and administer the medication.  None of this illegal.  We put this program together with the help of five state licensed veterinarians who specialize in wildlife medicine.  We have consulted with the United States Board of Pharmacies, the United States Postal Inspector, the American Veterinary Board, and United States Fish and Wildlife.  While no agency can endorse our program, we have been assured that we are not breaking any laws.  We are 100% confident in the legality of this program.

However, just because it is LEGAL for us to ship this medication to you, that does NOT mean that your local wildlife authority is pleased by us doing so. Many wildlife agencies still believe that foxes and coyotes are “nuisance species” and have no value. You will often hear these agencies tell you to “Let nature take it’s course”. What they mean by that is that they have no intention of helping, they don’t know anyone else locally that can or will help, and that you should just turn a blind eye to the animal in your yard or neighborhood that is suffering and miserable. They mean that it is better to ignore this suffering that we can easily put an end to and to just leave this animal in agony until it finally freezes or starves to death.  We decided long ago that we refuse to accept that directive.  The reason we tell you this is to inform you that your local Game Warden or Conservation / DNR Agent may not be in favor of what you are doing.  In some states they have gone as far as passing legislation to penalize anyone caught feeding wildlife at all, and/or treating wildlife without being a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Every state or local statute that we are aware of that concerns wildlife treatment without a permit pertains to the treatment of CAPTIVE wildlife.  You are not trapping this animal.  You are not housing it or keeping it in captivity.  However, if this concerns you, please look up your state’s wildlife code or your local municipality’s rules concerning wildlife and research this issue. You CANNOT get in trouble for ordering a Mange by Mail kit.  There is NOTHING inside our kits or pertaining to our kits that is illegal. We have consulted with state pharmacy boards, the Federal Trade Commission and the US Postal Inspector to ensure the legality of this program.

Our advice is to simply use caution when discussing your participation in this program until after the process is complete and your fox/coyote is on the mend and doing well.  This will avoid alerting neighbors that a sick fox or coyote is in the area and keep them from having it killed before you can help it, and ensure that you don’t have any trouble with your local wildlife authority.

Q: Why don’t you use Bravecto or Nexgard in your program?

A:  You may have read online that Bravecto and Nexgard are two medications that work extremely well to treat mange infections, and can be used in foxes and coyotes.  This is correct.  Both medications work very well to treat mange.  Studies showing how much more effective these medications are above Ivermectin are not yet available, especially for specifically treating wildlife, but our experiences suggest that all 3 medications have very similar efficacy.  We will admit that Bravecto and Nexgard are much easier to work with, coming in chewable tablets, as opposed to having to be stored in a sterile vial and having to be injected into food like Ivermectin.  Dosing and administration of Nexgard and Bravecto is much simpler and we would love to use these medications instead of Ivermectin.  However, Ivermectin is still 100% effective, only requires one dose in up to 98% of mange cases, and most importantly, Ivermectin is available without a prescription.  Nexgard and Bravecto are Rx only medications in the USA.  This means that the only LEGAL way to obtain Nexgard or Bravecto is to get them from a state licensed veterinarian.  Veterinarians are required to physically examine an animal before legally being allowed to write an Rx for it.  This is ultimately impossible for many mange cases in wild foxes and coyotes. It’s also illegal to send Rx medications through the US Postal system unless you are a United States licensed pharmacy. Some websites will advise you to order Nexgard or Bravecto online from international pharmacies in order to treat a fox or coyote with mange.  Please avoid this practice!  You are ordering prescription medication from an unlicensed, unverified source and have no idea what is actually in the package when you receive it.  We have no idea if these pharmacies are legitimate or not, or if they are shipping legitimate medications.  By definition if an online pharmacy is willing to illegally ship a medication into a country despite laws stating they should not, it makes that pharmacy a questionable one at best.  Plus, YOU are committing a crime by ordering Rx medication from overseas and US Customs Enforcement will catch some of these packages and confiscate them.  You could be fined or criminally charged (albeit unlikely) for doing so.  Bravecto and Nexgard are also much more expensive than Ivermectin, and there is no reason to believe that there are any notable differences between the treatment of mange with Ivermectin versus these newer Rx medications.

Q: How long will it take for a fox or coyote to recover after treatment for mange?

A: Here’s the “typical” timeline of how mange treatment progresses for foxes in our program:

Day 1 After Treatment: The fox got the meds, last night or yesterday*. Within 24 hours every flea, tick, and mite on their body will die. The mites that cause mange burrow little tunnels under the top layer of skin. Imagine it as having ants in your pants except the ants are under a layer of cling wrap, constantly moving, to where you itch constantly and feel something moving constantly but can’t quite reach the itch to scratch it. In this first 24 hours, those mites die – which means they finally stop moving! Usually this leads to a very sleepy fox who needs to sleep in all day to recover all of the sleep he’s lost over the last weeks and months of misery. 
*If you are unsure if the fox got the meds, it is perfectly safe to give another dose the next day, as long as it is 24 hours after your first try. A fox will not overdose on this medication unless given multiple doses in one 24 hour period. If you’re unsure, give it again, and try to really watch to make sure it’s him that gets it. That’s the only way to know. 
Day Two After Treatment: Many foxes do not return to the bait station the day after treatment because they are sleeping. This is perfectly normal. Don’t be alarmed. 
Day Three After Treatment: Foxes who didn’t come to eat the day before now return to the bait station and behave as though they haven’t eaten in a month. They still look awful. You should see decreased scratching, but there will still be some. 
Day Five to Seven After Treatment: The tunnels where the mites burrowed under the fox’s skin have now been empty and unmoving/unused long enough for that skin to dry up and peel off, very much like we humans peel after a terrible sunburn. You may see flakes flying off of the fox when the wind blows, much larger than dandruff, and honestly kind of gross, more like very thin corn flakes. 🤢 This is evidence of how bad the infestation was and won’t be evident in every fox. It’s a good sign even though it’s disgusting. 😁 The medicine you gave him also killed any internal, intestinal worms that he had. (Probably since birth) If the fox poops on your patio or driveway or in your yard, do what you can to hose it down because it will look gross, but the parasites will be dead and won’t pose any threat to your pets. It’s always good to have an annual fecal sample examined by your vet if you have a yard frequented by wildlife, because who knows if he was leaving droppings in the yard before you medicated him, not to mention other critters, but that’s your choice. You should be seeing much less scratching by now. Any scabs on their body are starting to heal and the skin will just look healthier in general. 
7-14 Days After Treatment: If you know this fox pretty well before you treated him, you should notice a fairly obvious shift in the way he moves and carries himself by this point. We tend to refer to it as “getting their bounce back”. Foxes don’t really walk or run, they sort of bounce from place to place as though they have springs in their feet. They’re extremely light on their feet and normally very skittish and jumpy about every noise, light, smells, etc. (Although some foxes have become very used to motion lights in populated neighborhoods, light doesn’t mean humans anymore.) Often, foxes with mange have a more heavy, downtrodden, almost slow motion way of walking, and they appear very sad to most of us onlookers. It’s not just their skin and coat condition that is sad. It’s a general attitude and sort of black cloud over their heads. By the time a week has passed since treatment, you’ll notice this drastically change. His bounce will come back. He will appear more spry and light on his feet, more aware of his surroundings and jumpy. Sometimes foxes will start to be more greedy about the food, and grab the food more aggressively while sort of showing any humans around that he’s not here to play games. Other foxes stay fairly docile towards you specifically as they work to put on weight and recover fully. This is just their survival instincts returning, and it’s a good thing. It’s possible that when you first met this fox he had given up, knew he couldn’t win a fight if one presented itself, and knew he was dying. By now, he knows he has a chance at surviving and he’s becoming more willing to fight for his life again. All good things. 
14-21 Days After Treatment: If the fox is still coming to eat any bait food you put out now is the time to dose him again, if he will allow it. Over 90% of foxes are not still coming for food at this point, or they’re being picky about the food and it’s impossible to get more meds in them, and that’s ok. That’s a sign that they’re already recovering fine on their own and they don’t need another dose. You shouldn’t be seeing any major scratching anymore. Foxes spend up to 50% of their day grooming themselves, and that’s normal, but you shouldn’t be seeing them laying out in the sun like they’re trying to get a tan, or rubbing themselves on trees, asphalt, concrete, grass, scratching all the time. Their skin will be completely healed by this point, if you can still see it where he’s bald. You should start to see peach fuzz red hair growth start to cover those bald patches as well. Any spots on his face that were swollen and making him squint should be healed now, and he should have clear vision again. This will make it possible for him to hunt again. If it hasn’t happened yet, very soon he will stop coming to your spot to look for food. If your fox was extremely emaciated this may take longer, but most foxes choose to hunt instead of eating human food as soon as they possibly can. He may still come around from time to time to see what’s on offer but it’s far less regular and he will become much pickier about what he’s willing to eat. Many foxes benefit from a fresh water dish more than food at this stage. K&H makes a great heated outdoor water dish for year round use and Farm Innovators make very sturdy ground level heated bird baths as well. Both brands are available at farm and home stores and Amazon, as well as other online retailers. They’re pricey, so shop around. 
21+ Days After Treatment: You should be seeing very little of your fox by now. He should appear fully furred and maybe not entirely fluffy yet, but have no visible bald spots. As winter nears, his coat will fluff out more and he will be beautiful again. However, by this time you’ll only see him in flashes through the trees or randomly if you happen to be looking out the right window at the right moment. If you have trail cameras set, you have a better chance of seeing his full recovery and please, if you get good before and after shots, please share them with us! ❤️ He’s probably not interested in any of your food anymore, and he’s not coming as close to you and your yard / house / driveway as he used to. He may pass by, but always in a rush, with one foot out the door, ready to run away. This is perfectly normal. We have to get our sense of gratitude from his appearance and survival. He will never say thank you. But we know. 🥰 That’s it! You did it! Congrats!! Great job!! ❤️

Q: Will a treated fox or coyote catch mange again?

A:  It is entirely possible that a treated animal may catch mange again.  There is very little that we can do to prevent this.  Foxes and coyotes come into contact with fleas, ticks, lice, mites, and other parasites every single day of their lives in the wild.  It’s unavoidable.  However, normally they groom themselves and each other to keep these parasites under control.  It is only when some other event occurs that prevents this normal lifestyle that mange takes hold and the mites become out of control.  Sometimes this is caused by an injury, or a large litter that overwhelmed Mom, or a particularly harsh winter with little food, and at times it can be caused by a fox or coyote ingesting a poisoned mouse, mole, vole, or rat.  Eating a poisoned rodent will not kill a fox or coyote but it will make them sick for 5-7 days with symptoms similar to a human case of food poisoning.  During this time, the others in their social group keep their distance so as to not get infected with the same illness, and they aren’t grooming themselves because they don’t feel well.  Usually this occurs in young animals who have not learned the lesson that a slow moving, sick rodent is not always a good idea to eat.  Some foxes and coyotes learn this lesson young, and some foxes and coyotes never learn this lesson.  We cannot pre-treat every fox and coyote in existence for the possibility that they may get mange again in the future.  We can only handle it on a case by case basis, and be willing to help when they approach us looking for assistance.

Q: Why can’t I keep feeding the foxes / coyotes long term?  What harm is there in feeding them?

A: Most people are going to tell you not to feed wildlife. The reasons for this are as follows:

  • When you set up one big feeding spot for wildlife you can’t exactly hang a sign that says “foxes only”. You’re going to get every opportunistic feeder that happens to live in your neighborhood. In the United States that can mean opossums, rats, mice, skunks, raccoons, feral cats, armadillo, squirrels, birds, and deer. If there’s enough food for everyone, all of these animals will eat right next to each other with minimal fighting. However, if there’s only so much food there will be fighting. Also, with numerous animals gathering in one spot and eating from the same source, disease transmission rates increase rapidly. If one sick raccoon shows up to eat one night your feeding station becomes contaminated and potentially spreads a virus from that one raccoon to multiple other raccoons, skunks, fox, coyote, and depending on the virus, many more.
  • Feeding can also disrupt the natural population balance. Every year wildlife baby season brings in a plethora of new life. At some point those babies will need to find their own habitat, food and water source, and mates to start their own families. With a feeding station in place a lot more babies may survive babyhood artificially but then have no habitat or place to go when they grow up and need to move away from that feeding station. Normally nature would take its course and those babies wouldn’t have survived long enough to get to that point. Technically the animal dies either way, but most people see it as more humane to have them die as tiny babies rather than later when they have stronger wills to survive.
  • The other issue with feeding is imprinting. There are very few people who feed wildlife and really don’t want anything in return. Most people feed wildlife in an attempt to get close to them, to interact with them, to hand feed, or form some kind of relationship with them. This practice of befriending wildlife is extremely harmful. It may be cute to hand feed and see the babies every year, but the more those animals interact with you the more you blur the line between humans and wildlife and that’s confusing for them. They don’t always understand that they can climb YOUR leg but not your neighbors, and when/if they try to get too close to someone else they’re going to freak out and scream rabies. When they scream the animal will start to fight, potentially harm this person and then we’ve got 10,000 news articles on how a fox attacked your neighbor for no reason at all and tons of people have this awful view on foxes that isn’t even deserved.
  • It is impossible for you to provide the proper diet for 10 different species in one bowl on your porch. Raccoons need high protein and natural oils to keep their coats shiny, skunks need high protein and high calcium like they would find in insects naturally, opossums have incredibly specific dietary needs with a 2:1 calcium phosphorus ratio to avoid a painful bone disease, even the feral cats that will inevitably show up have specific needs to avoid kidney and urinary issues. Wild animals are supposed to eat wild diets. It’s the best way for them to get the nutrients they need for each stage of life and season of the year. Foxes need raw meat, bone, and even fur to properly digest food and get the proper nutrients. Opossums NEED to eat dead animals with bones and cartilage to get the proper calcium ratios. Skunks need to eat insects and grubworms to get the protein they need and the calcium and oils found in insects’ exoskeletons. Raccoons need the nutrients from snake and turtle eggs, and even bird eggs, plus raccoons will eat wild mushrooms and plants when hungry enough but with a belly full of cat food they will skip foraging for those foods and over time that will have a severe effect.
  • Also keep in mind your neighbors. You may think that foxes, coyotes, and all of these critters coming to visit is the coolest thing ever but they all have to cross thru other yards to get to you each night.  Many people are terrified of foxes and coyotes!  Other residents may not like seeing a fox or skunk run across the yard every night, or an opossum across the fence that their dog barks at each night. Those neighbors may very well hire a pest control company to come out and set traps and catch (and kill) some of the critters on their way to you one night. Depending on the time of year, trapping those animals could be leaving litters of babies somewhere with no mom coming back to feed and care for them as well.  Other neighbors may see a fox or coyote in the neighborhood and not bother with  calling a pest control company and simply decide to start shooting them.  There is nothing worse than seeing a neighbor shoot an animal that you invited to come into the area.  Because we cannot control how everyone behaves when they see wildlife, we need to maintain a relationship with wildlife that promotes distance from humans.

More Information About Mange…

When It Happens:  From September – November in the Midwest, it is ‘mange season’.  We see a spike in the number of cases every year during this time frame.  You will find many photos of mange on this website, but there are also some behavioral signs to watch for that act as confirmation that an animal is truly sick.

How Animals with Mange Behave: less fear of people, lying out in the grass/sun during the day, not running from your dog, getting into trash cans to find food, living under a house or porch of a home that is inhabited (not abandoned), constantly stopping to scratch- even when in open areas like roads, parks, etc.  It is NOT NORMAL for a fox or coyote to eat from your trash cans or live under a house with people in it. These are VERY shy animals when they are well, and they truly love the chase of live prey far more than any amount or type of trash.

How Animals with Mange Appear: extreme hair loss, extreme weight loss, red blotchy almost bloody skin appearance, ‘hunchback’ appearance when standing and walking, scratching often, dull, confused appearance.  Check out our mange gallery for photos!  Email our experts to confirm a mange diagnosis  help@wildlifehotline.com

*Many mange chances are reported as sightings of a hyena, chupacabra, or other exotic sighting. It is surprising how unrecognizable coyotes and foxes can be when they have no hair, are starving and dying. If you live in Missouri or Illinois, you are NOT seeing a wolf, hyena, or chupacabra! It’s a mangy coyote or fox.*

Which Solution Do You Choose?

Letting “Nature Take Its Course”:Mange is not technically a terminal illness. Sarcoptic mange, also known as canine scabies, is a highly contagious infestation of Sarcoptes scabiei canis, a burrowing mite. The canine sarcoptic mite can also infest cats, pigs, horses, sheep, and various other species. The human analog of burrowing mite infection, due to a closely related species, is called scabies (the “seven year itch”). All these burrowing mites are in the family Sarcoptidae. They dig into and through the skin, causing intense itching from an allergic reaction to the mite, and crusting that can quickly become infected. Hair loss and crusting frequently appear first on elbows and ears. Skin damage can occur from the dog’s intense scratching and biting. Secondary skin infection is also common. Dogs with chronic sarcoptic mange are often in poor condition, and in both animals and humans, immune suppression from starvation or any other disease causes this type of mange to develop into a highly crusted form in which the burden of mites is far higher than in healthy specimens. Eventually, the infections become overwhelming, and the animal either dies of septic shock or starvation due to his inability to hunt for prey. When an animal has mange, they lose the ability to hunt effectively. They itch, 24 hours a day and they never sleep. It doesn’t take long before they are so tired that they cant spot prey, much less chase it. They get so weak and so miserable that it MAY be possible at times for a child or pet to walk up to them.  At this point they are desperate for food, and they are not thinking straight. This is a dangerous situation for everyone involved. It is an intensely miserable way to die, and it can take MONTHS for the entire disease process to run its course. During this time, an infected fox or coyote will be more of a risk to the public then at any other life stage. Because of his condition they will take unusual chances and attempt to interact with people and venture into highly populated areas seeking relief and easy food sources for their own survival. Humans should be able to imagine how desperate we would be if we knew we were dying, starving, and how that condition may change our behavior for the worse. This makes for a dangerous brew of circumstances that has much more potential for harm to the public than any healthy fox or coyote ever would. 

Lethal Action:  In many areas it is legal to shoot coyotes and foxes but ALWAYS contact your local police department and/or the Dept. of Conservation before you even think about it!  The main problem with this solution is that there are always more mangy foxes in the area and it becomes a never-ending battle. Killing a coyote only serves to increase the population in your area the following year.  It makes sense when you think about it. Once you trap or kill all of the foxes and coyotes in an area, it is only a matter of time before word gets out that their territory is up for grabs. In addition to this, it’s not easy to shoot a fox or coyote, even when they are sick. They’re still extremely cautious, and quick on their feet until they are almost on their last steps. Lethal action should always be the last resort, especially when there are alternatives available.

Humane Resolution:We have followed the lead of our British fox-loving counterparts, and are offering a mange treatment by mail program for coyotes and foxes suffering and dying with the help of you, the concerned citizen.  You call us at 1-855-WILD-HELP Option 5 or email us at help@wildlifehotline.com to verify a sighting of a sick fox or coyote. Once we determine that it is a coyote or fox with mange, we ask that you donate a minimum $20 to cover our shipping costs, and we ship you the medication. Under the advice of our veterinarians, we use the broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug Ivermectin at a dose of 300 µg/kg to treat wild canids with sarcoptic mange. Outside of a special warning for cats and certain breeds of dogs, Ivermectin is considered extremely safe and has been used worldwide since 1981 when first developed. Farmers use this same medication in a pour-on variety that is quite literally ‘drenched’ onto their cattle and other livestock every season, with no known reports of soil damage or environmental impact. It has been widely used in livestock for 50+ years, and many studies have been published to show its efficacy in treating sarcoptic mange in one dose in wildlife.  It is the same medication present in Heartgard Heartworm Prevention, Iverhart for Dogs, and many other flea, tick, and worming veterinary products. There have been no reported issues with public health. In fact, it is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, a list of the most important medications needed in a basic health system. You will receive this medication in liquid form, in a sterile vial with sterile syringes.  It can be easily injected into raw, ground chicken or turkey, which is what we suggest you use as bait. Just put the medicated food out and leave it in the vicinity of where you have been baiting the sick animal on a fairly regular basis. Please watch from a window on the night that you add the medicine to the bait and recheck the site in 2-4 hours to make sure that the bait was eaten, and clean up any medicated food left behind. Because we are suggesting you use meat products, it would be extremely unlikely that a rabbit or squirrel would accidentally eat the bait, and larger wildlife species will tolerate the medication just as well as the coyote or fox.

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