Fur is so important for many animals, as it provides much-needed protection from the cold. It also gives them their distinct looks — there are some animals that, when completely bald, you might not recognize at all.
Recently, rescuers took in a creature that looks like a hairless cat, but is actually something much rarer. Read on to learn more about this unique creature and her unlikely survival…
Last month, Hope for Wildlife, a nonprofit conservation organization in Nova Scotia, took in the most unusual animal. According to the Canadian Press, a couple in West Arichat discovered the animal in their backyard, shivering in the cold.
At first glance, the creature looks like a Sphynx cat, but it isn’t — it’s actually a completely hairless raccoon!
It’s certainly hard to recognize a raccoon without its signature mask-like fur pattern. This little creature, a northern raccoon, is completely bald due to severe alopecia.
The rescue says they have had previous cases of balding raccoons, but never anything like this: “It’s just tufts of fur around the snout, ankles and feet. This is a severe case,” Hope Swinimer, director of Hope for Wildlife, told The Canadian Press.
Though the raccoon is a female, she’s been named Rufus after the naked mole rat character from the cartoon Kim Possible.
The rescue wrote on Facebook that they have not fully diagnosed the cause of her hair loss, saying the cause could be an autoimmune disorder where her hair follicles are damaged. They also ruled out causes like parasites, mange and fungal infections, saying that her skin appeared to be healthy.
