CHS isn’t typically in the business of tracking down information about dead, hairless rodents. But when we received an e-mail from a reader with an ominous tone and a gross photograph, it reminded us of a few other freaky tales of worry we’d heard about strange Capitol Hill sidewalk findings. So we went asking to find out why there might be a squirrel with its fur seemingly removed found dead on the wet pavement of 17th Ave East.

Here is Alex’s note and picture — the subject line of “Skeptical about skinned squirrels?” shows that Alex knows CHS pretty well. Answer: Yes.

Spotted on 17th ave e near Aloha

March 1 2011 about 130 pm

Creepy

Here is an example of a similar spooky squirrel sighting on Capitol Hill in the past. From the October 2008 archives of Seattlest:

Squirrel Skinner On The Loose

A perfect sunny afternoon walk around Capitol Hill earlier this week was ruined by the most disturbing thing we’ve ever spotted on a Seattle sidewalk: a perfectly skinned squirrel, hairless save the still-furry tail. We spotted the poor creature on 12th Avenue, just south of Union. This was not the work of a clever coyote, which do stalk small animals on the Hill. Nope, all of the meat remained on the carcass, so it must have been some sick two-legged creature roaming about Capitol Hill. Made us glad that our animals are indoor only, but left us wondering if any of you have spotted skinned animals around Capitol Hill and what we can do about it.

What we can do about it, indeed.

We asked Seattle Animal Control to weigh in on the finding but they were reluctant to get into forensics via an e-mail picture. “It’s is hard to tell due to the advanced stage of decomposition and without a necropsy it would be impossible to determine the cause of death,” enforcement officer Don Baxter wrote.

Another source familiar with animal cruelty and what happens to a carcass in an urban setting deferred to Seattle Animal Control as the squirrel was found in their jurisdiction. But he did offer up his assessment of the situation:

 it appears to me that this is an animal that has been kept in water for a very long time… after a while the fur sloughs off, appearing to have been skinned … I don’t know if that happened but a vet could tell by examining the carcass…when someone skins an animal the tailbone is usually amputated and with a small animal such as the one shown the feet are removed as well …. My best guess is a drowning…

Given our skeptical nature, we’ll take the simplest explanation. A lot of squirrels and a lot of Seattle rain seem much more likely factors than a crazed squirrel skinner walking the streets of Capitol Hill.