We think he may have survived a near-death encounter with a hawk, during which a big chunk was chomped out of his rear-end. Indications are of a hawk bite, because of the location, depth and severity of the wound. Hawks tend to attack in that spot on the back, in their attempt to crush the spine of their victim, thus paralyzing it.
After an unsuccessful trapping attempt, we've been worrying about Foxy constantly and trying to keep him well-fed in order to heal. Unfortunately, the snowstorm brought with it 2 days of no food, and in that short period he became pitifully thin. You can see in the picture above that he used to be quite plump and round, but he has lost all his baby fat.
But I'm happy to report that although he looked a bit bedraggled hopping through the snow, a scab has healed over his wound, which is still large and ugly, but no longer raw!
He had a huge appetite today and ate and ate - avocado, grapes, walnuts, cashews and peanuts. When he was finally full, he engaged in a game of catch with me -- where I threw peanuts at him which he caught and promptly buried --- and then he returned for more. This is a wild squirrel's way of bonding when it is no longer hungry and just wants to play!
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