Nova Scotia's Hope For Wildlife welcomes 'completely bald' raccoon
Hope For Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Seaforth, N.S., has recently taken an animal into its care and its appearance may have some people doing a double take.
The centre posted photos of a northern raccoon with what is believed to be alopecia – otherwise known as hair loss – on its Facebook page Wednesday morning.
The animal is described as “completely bald" in addition to being “not friendly” and “feisty.”
The post says the animal is a female, though Hope Swinimer, the founder and director of Hope for Wildlife, later referred to it as a male.
She says the centre received a call from people in Cape Breton who discovered the animal, but they weren’t sure what it was at first.
“Once we got a live trap and were able to bring him in, it was clear that he was a raccoon, but he’s a bald raccoon," Swinimer says.
Swinimer says she has only see two bald raccoons in the 25 years she has been doing wildlife work.
“We don’t see it very often, but in every species we do get cases in where the animals come in bald, but it might happen once a year,” she says.
A bald raccoon is pictured at Hope For Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Seaforth, N.S. (Source: Facebook/Hope For Wildlife)
Hope For Wildlife says the critter could have an autoimmune disorder, though it hasn’t been fully diagnosed yet.
“We’re going to sedate him over the next couple of days, there’s no big hurry because he’s healthy, and just do some skin scraping, maybe a biopsy just to be sure it’s something genetic, like alopecia, something like that,” says Swinimer.
The wildlife rehabilitation centre says it is “amazed” the animal was able to live through the winter without any injuries -- or fur.
“How this little guy lived through the whole winter without any fur, I don’t know," Swinimer says. "He would of succumbed to the temperatures if he wasn’t probably sleeping away a lot of the winter and not coming out very often, but he looks really healthy.”
But can the animal go back to the wild without fur? Swinimer says it’s hard to say.
“I think the long-term prognosis is good,” she says. “However, he may not be able to have a typical life in the wild.”
A raccoon with alopecia has a bite to eat at a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Seaforth, N.S. (Source: Facebook/Hope For Wildlife)
For now, the raccoon has been given the name "Rufus" by one of Hope For Wildlife's staff members after the naked mole-rat character on Kim Possible, a Disney TV series.
Hope For Wildlife is no stranger to interesting raccoons – they’ve previously welcomed several albino ones.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
$500K-worth of elvers seized at Toronto airport
Fishery and border service officers seized more than 100 kilograms of unauthorized elvers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday.
Toronto eliminated from PWHL playoffs
Toronto has been eliminated from the PWHL playoffs.
Information commissioner faces $700K funding shortfall, says system is 'overwhelmed'
Canada's information commissioner says her office is facing a $700,000 funding shortfall that could impact its ability to investigate complaints about government transparency and accountability.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta boundary: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Backlash over NFL player Harrison Butker's commencement speech has reached a new level
The NFL is distancing itself from controversial comments by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker during a recent commencement address.
Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies at 92
Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in '9 to 5' and the nasty TV director in 'Tootsie,' has died. He was 92.
Craig Berube named as next head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube as their new head coach.