{"id":81925,"date":"2025-08-20T07:59:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T07:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/81925\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T07:59:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T07:59:09","slug":"zombie-squirrels-turning-up-in-backyards-and-animal-shelters-across-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/81925\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Zombie squirrels’ turning up in backyards and animal shelters across US"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Zombie squirrels’ covered in gory sores have been turning up in backyards and at animal sanctuaries in the US, sparking concern online.<\/p>\n

Though alarming to look at, the animals don’t pose a threat to humans or most \ufeffpets.<\/p>\n

\ufeffPhotos of the rodents shared to social media platforms like Facebook, X and Reddit appear to show animals suffering from squirrel fibromatosis, also known as squirrelpox.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis squirrel suffering from squirrel fibromatosis was rescued by Halfway Home Wildlife Rehab in Michigan, USA, in July. (Facebook\/Halfway Home Wildlife Rehab)<\/p>\n

A common skin disease among \ufeffgrey squirrels in the US, squirrel fibromatosis is caused by leporipoxvirus.<\/p>\n

The virus causes hairless growths or tumours which can turn into open sores.<\/p>\n

These growths don’t typically affect a squirrel’s ability to survive unless, as in some rare cases, they spread to the animal’s internal organs.<\/p>\n

This can leave them weak and lethargic but death is rare.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Squirrel fibromatosis is spread through contact between healthy squirrels and the saliva or lesions of infected squirrels.<\/p>\n

Common exposure sites include bird feeders set up by humans that multiple \ufeffsquirrels feed from.<\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo different squirrels suffering from the alarming looking virus. (Facebook\/Wild Things Sanctuary)<\/p>\n

Fortunately for US residents who have spotted infected squirrels in their yards, the virus cannot be spread to humans or common pets like cats and dogs.\ufeff<\/p>\n

That being said, Shevenell Webb of Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said\ufeff residents should not interact with infected animals.<\/p>\n

\ufeff”I would not recommend trying to capture a squirrel that has the virus,” Webb told the Bangor Daily News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It is naturally occurring and will run its course in time.”<\/p>\n

Cases of squirrel fibromatosis\ufeff have been reported across the US for years and these new sightings fit with seasonal trends in rates of infection.<\/p>\n

It’s important to note that though squirrel fibromatosis is often referred to as squirrelpox in the US, it is an entirely different virus to UK squirrelpox, which can kill red squirrels.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"VadnaisA rabbit suffering from the mostly harmless Shope papillomavirus. (Universal Images Group via Getty)<\/p>\n

Dubbed \ufeff”Frankenstein bunnies,” “demon rabbits” and “zombie rabbits” online, they too were suffering from a relatively common virus.<\/p>\n

They were \ufeffinfected with the mostly harmless Shope papillomavirus, which causes wart-like growths that typically clear up over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Zombie squirrels’ covered in gory sores have been turning up in backyards and at animal sanctuaries in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-81925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}