I really do feel sorry for these poor coyotes. I have shot 4 or 5 like his, IIRC. They are afflicted with sarcoptic mange. The same little mite that cause their hair loss and skin irritation will cause scabies in humans - nasty little buggers.
Just a word of warning. You really should not handle these at all without rubber/nitrile/latex gloves and I would suggest not handling them at all. You don't want the mites getting into your clothing where they can then get to you or transfer to the fabric of your vehicle where they can transfer back to you later, or where they could potentially transfer to your pets after you get home. With that said, they won't live more than 2-3 days without host. No hair loss in humans, but they cause some nasty skin irritation as they take up residence under the skin.
On this particular coyote, you can see the large, white patches of skin. That is supposedly from the females tunneling under the skin. This coyote is in pretty good shape to have this bad of a case of mange. It does not have the open sores and open wounds I typically see from where this animals scratch themselves raw trying to get relief from the itching causes by the mites.
Just a word of warning. You really should not handle these at all without rubber/nitrile/latex gloves and I would suggest not handling them at all. You don't want the mites getting into your clothing where they can then get to you or transfer to the fabric of your vehicle where they can transfer back to you later, or where they could potentially transfer to your pets after you get home. With that said, they won't live more than 2-3 days without host. No hair loss in humans, but they cause some nasty skin irritation as they take up residence under the skin.
On this particular coyote, you can see the large, white patches of skin. That is supposedly from the females tunneling under the skin. This coyote is in pretty good shape to have this bad of a case of mange. It does not have the open sores and open wounds I typically see from where this animals scratch themselves raw trying to get relief from the itching causes by the mites.