Another apparent first in the history of medicine (brought to our attention by Sarah Wickline, writing in MedPage Today):
“Gunshot Wound Contamination with Squirrel Tissue: Wound Care Considerations,” Porter W. Maerz, Tricia B. Falgiani, and Robyn M. Hoelle [pictured here], Case Reports in Emergency Medicine, vol. 2014 (2014), Article ID 342914. The authors, at the University of Florida, report:
“While report of animal bites contaminating wounds is reported commonly, direct wound contamination with squirrel flesh has never been reported in the literature. The patient suffered an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound that drove squirrel flesh and buck shot deep within his right buttock…. The patient was a teenage Caucasian male… According to the patient he was using the butt of his 12G shotgun to dislodge a dead squirrel from a branch over his head during a hunting trip and shot himself with a load of birdshot in the right buttock.”
BONUS (unrelated): “Avoiding Squirrels and Other Things Google’s Robot Car Can’t Do” [Wired]