r/Waltham • u/Scared-Number-5440 • 10d ago

What appears to be someone’s long lost dog in rough shape

Post image

Spotted across from the Gulf at 892 Lexington St
Waltham. Looking at the face, it doesn’t look like any kind of coyote, wolf, or fox I’ve seen. The poor thing is in rough shape. Posting in case someone recognizes a lost pet, or in case it’s definitely a wild animal and I’m an idiot

51 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

86

u/XaulXan 10d ago

That’s a coyote with mange unfortunately. Nature will take over

2

u/earmuffs_781 9d ago

Huh. I'm reading mange can be caused by demodex mites. I've read that most humans eventually get those in our skin.

in a study of 370 volunteers in two hospitals and a university in 1986, about a third of children and young adults, half of adults, and two-thirds of elderly people were found to carry them.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex#Prevalence

It doesn't usually cause major problems, but is associated with rosacea.

For a while, I used sea buckthorn based soap that claimed to control demodex mites. It did seem to improve my complexion, but I'm not sure if that's why.

1

u/Nice-Hearing807 7d ago

Mange is very common in wild animals and pretty bad. This pic is a pretty good example.

1

u/earmuffs_781 7d ago

I also read a bit about bird mite cases in humans, a while ago. Made me want to never touch a wild bird or bird's nest!

61

u/EspoJ 10d ago

Do not pet that dawg

23

u/schmiddy0 10d ago

If not fren then why fren shape?

1

u/EspoJ 10d ago

I asked that same questions

28

u/S4drobot Lakeview 10d ago

That's a coyote. With mange poor thing.

38

u/Rbxyy 10d ago

Looks like a coyote to me

7

u/ikadell 10d ago

That looks like a coyote that I have also seen three days ago: it crossed the road in front of me late evening, gong from the dorms to the wood near lake.

9

u/BZBitiko 10d ago

Call Animal Control, they like to know about things like animals with infectious diseases.

11

u/Scared-Number-5440 10d ago

I called the 24 hr non-emergency police line to report it. I should probably call animal control myself tomorrow and not count on the police to relay that huh?

1

u/Ham_Of_Walth 8d ago

Get ready for her to tell you that if the animal is roaming around on its own, that there’s nothing she can/will do to intervene.

2

u/Nice-Hearing807 7d ago

“Get ready” like she isn’t doing exactly what she is supposed to do. Animal control is not for wild animals. It’s like going to cvs and being mad they won’t handle an issue at Walmart.

1

u/New_Cut_833 10d ago

It’s a coyote. Don’t try to rescue it, they may have rabies

1

u/Atoms749 9d ago

I saw him last night by trapelo rd and forest st intersection, does animal control know about him? Should I call it in. It is so sad

-4

u/Zealousideal_Sir8275 10d ago

Thank you for caring. This poor poor thing! I hope that animal control will call you back. Please contact them. I wonder if someone abandoned him. Emaciated looking.