That poor squirrel.

I noticed a squirrel hanging off the neighbor’s feeder, who appeared to have some kind of large, pale growth on his side, just under his shoulder. I stared at this for several minutes, baffled–it was pale cream color, and stuck out. I thought “A tick? A parasite? Squirrel mushrooms?”

Finally I went outside, and he hopped down, revealing an identical growth on the other side. Although hard to tell, it looked as if the skin was identically swollen on each side, with fur covering part of the swelling, and a bald patch on top. While hard to judge the size, I think each swelling was a little smaller than a quarter, and on one side, there appeared to be some kind of groove or rut in the fur and possibly the skin.

I could be very wrong, but I almost wonder if a dog managed to get its teeth around him, and the puncture wound has abscessed on both sides, or–it’s a long shot–if somebody shot it with a BB gun and it’s scarring rather grotesquely over both entry and exit wound. It’s a very bizarre looking appearance, and I feel badly for the poor squirrel. I don’t like what they do to my feeders, but I wouldn’t wish that on ’em, either.