Gone Squirrely

 








Early last spring, our family adopted three orphaned baby squirrels.  We were going about our regular routine on an unusually warm and sunny Wednesday afternoon when my oldest son came walking up the front sidewalk with this little ball of fur toddling and hopping after his heels.  My husband and I thought it looked like a squirrel, but it didn't move like a normal healthy squirrel, and it was so small.  Zac wasn't sure he was okay with this thing jumping at him, so he climbed the front steps.  I sat down on the sidewalk to take a closer look.  With Zac out of range, the little thing turned towards me.  It toddled over and sat just out of reach studying me.  It looked to be about 6 weeks old.  Perhaps it had fallen out of a nest.  It didn't take long for the baby to toddle over to me and climb into my lap.  I was so stunned, I was afraid to move.  I certainly didn't want to break its trust.  The little guy found his spot and tucked himself under my arm.  I must have smelled like a Mom to him.  After a few minutes I carefully picked him up and Zac, my husband, and I started the search for the nest.  We walked around our block searching the treetops for signs of a squirrels’ nest or squirrel parents who might be frantic about their missing baby.  Then Zac yelled out that there was another squirrel at the base of a tree in our front yard.  My husband and I both were thinking, “Oh good, squirrel parents,” only to discover another baby squirrel.  I resumed my spot sitting on the ground, and seeing his brother safe in my hands, squirrel #2 came over to take a better look at me.  My family played outside with baby squirrels for the rest of the afternoon.  Four young children, two baby squirrels, a couple of apples, and some curious neighbors made for hours of fun.  Even our cat got in on the act.  She kept her distance for more than an hour, and then her curiosity got the better of her and she slinked over for a sniff.  She seemed to understand when we told her not to bother the babies, but we knew that if given a chance, there was no way those squirrels could out run a cat.  Towards evening, we still had no sign of squirrel parents, and we knew we were about to have a cold end of the week/weekend.  We just couldn't leave these guys out in the elements and at the mercy of the neighborhood cats.  Our cat carrier made a nice temporary nest box, and we had two house guests for the weekend, or so we thought.

The next evening, some neighbor kids knocked on our front door to announce that they had found another baby squirrel in the intersection in front of our house.  So my husband grabbed a towel and went to rescue baby #3  and then canvas the surrounding blocks for a nest.  Squirrel #3 was the same size and age as the first two, and when we put him in the carrier, he promptly settled down with his brothers.  Three baby boy squirrels together again.  I couldn't help wonder if there were any more. 

We thought our front hall closet would be warm enough for the babies, especially since they slept huddled together.  They spent the nights there and the days in their carrier on a dining room chair.  Over the years we’d had various wild babies that we’d tried to rescue.  We had put together a wild baby rescue kit, which consisted of a glass eye dropper, powdered kitten milk, pine shavings, and a pet nursing bottle with bottle brushes.  The baby squirrels could eat apples, but were not interested in anything harder, like peanuts.  My husband thought the squirrels might like the goats’ milk better than the kitten replacement.  The goat’s milk was a huge hit and resulted in all sorts of squirrely antics to be the first in line at feeding time.  I fed them with the glass eye dropper.  They may have been little, but their very sharp baby teeth would have easily shredded a plastic or rubber nipple.  I did a little investigating on baby squirrel diets.  So far so good on the diet, and we had acquired a water bottle.  All we had to add was a little dry puppy food for the extra protein and fat that their little bodies needed. 

Everything seemed to be going well until Sunday morning.  I pulled the carrier out of the front closet and reached in to find cold, almost lifeless squirrels.  All three were barely breathing, and not responding to the goats’ milk or much other stimulation.  My husband handed me some warm towels and had me sit and hold the squirrels between my body and the towels.  The squirrels were so lifeless that even their fleas were jumping ship for warmer territory…me!  I sat for hours holding the babies, expecting that I’d be the last thing they knew before they died.  Shortly before lunch time, they started to respond to my constant body heat and stroking.  Instead of dying, they were reviving!  They wanted to eat, not much at first, but it was a good sign.  By early afternoon, they were moving around again, and by that evening, they acted as if nothing had happened.  We padded the dining chair with several towels, a heat mat, and another towel, and we kept our infrared heater running all the time next to their carrier.  The indirect and diffused heat did the trick, and the babies stayed warm and cozy.  Obviously they were not old enough to regulate their own body temperature.  Our weekend house guests were here to stay indefinitely. 

We named the squirrels Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, but I couldn't tell which was which until feeding time.  Theodore was the most reserved, and was content to eat the apples, carrots, and puppy food that I put in small bowels in the carrier.  Sometimes he’d show up after his brothers had finished their share of the goat’s milk and take a taste or two.  Alvin was the most aggressive about his milk.  He would sit on the hand that was holding the milk bottle in order to catch the eye dropper just as it was pulled out of the bottle so he could shove it as far into his mouth as possible and gulp the tasty milk.  Simon was also enthusiastic about the milk, but when push came to shove, he’d let Alvin fill up first and then take his milk with as much enthusiasm as his brother, but with a lot less competition.  Eventually the goats’ milk became a treat and not the mainstay of their diet.  For special treats, we’d gather maple seeds and fresh leaves from our trees.  To help with their constant need to chew, we kept them supplied with sticks and pine cones.  Like most babies, the squirrels grew rapidly.  They needed more space and we wanted our living room back.  We set a release date for Mother’s Day.  The weather was warm and sunny.  We took the carrier outside where we had first discovered the squirrels.  Everyone sat down and waited to see what would happen.  Would they bolt and run for their freedom?  Would they hide in the carrier?  When the carrier door was opened, one tentative little nose peaked out, then another.  Then one of the squirrels saw me sitting next to the carrier, and he made a beeline for my lap, closely followed by both of his brothers.  Obviously they were not ready for the great outdoors.  Gently we put them back in the carrier and everyone trooped back inside. 

One of my sons asked where the squirrels would sleep once they moved
outside.  Another asked how we were going to feed them.  We explained that the squirrels would learn to forage like “regular” squirrels, but the questions did make us think about the transition to outside from the squirrels’ perspective.  If we released them with no shelter or food source, would they survive?  I started shopping for a squirrel house and feeder.  The feeder was easy to find, but housing was a different matter.  I needed to know what kind of squirrels we had in order to know how big the house and its entrance hole should be.  With a little research and a lot of luck, the boys and I found a picture that identified our squirrels as Eastern Fox Squirrels.  With that information, I contacted someone who makes squirrel nest boxes.  I e-mailed him our situation.  Yes, he could help us.  Not only would his box would be big enough for three squirrels, he was able to confirm that we’d done everything correctly so far in rehabilitating the babies, and he told us what to do next.  It was good that we followed the clues that the squirrels gave us when they were not ready to be released.  They really were still too young to be out on their own.  We were reassured that the squirrels would let us know when it is time.  We learned that the best location for a nest box is about 10’ up a tree with an eastern exposure.  The box should not be made of cedar because cedar can make squirrels sick when they chew on it, and they were expected to chew on the box, especially around the entrance hole.  They would customize the hole size, and enlarge it as they grow.  Also fire-hardened wood would last longer than non-fire-hardened wood.  We also acquired a large, folding, wire dog crate.  It was big enough that both the cat carrier and the new nest box would fit inside.  It only took a couple of days for the squirrels to move out of the cat carrier and into the nest box.  They loved their new home!  Once I pulled the cat carrier out of the dog crate, there was more than enough room for the nest box, the squirrel feeder, and some small logs for playing and chewing, plus lots of room to run and play.  And play they did.  They’d play “king of the nest box;” one squirrel would sit on top of the box, and the other two would take running leaps at him to see if they could knock him off.  They’d race each other in circles around the cage and then suddenly stop in the middle of the top and swing upside down like monkeys by their back feet.  And like all babies, they had to have nap time, twice a day, and bedtime was at about 8:00 p.m. 

Everything was going well until one of the squirrels figured out that if he turned his head just so, he could squeeze between the bars and escape.  The last thing I needed was an escaped squirrel running wild through the house.  So we wrapped the cage in chicken wire.  That at least slowed down our little escape artist, but when he did manage to get a taste of freedom, he always headed to the front door.  Was he trying to tell us something?  My children figured out that we were close to releasing the squirrels.  Oh, the tears.  They had become such an integral part of our family in a very short time.  We picked a place in a tree in our backyard for the nest box, and a fence post on which to mount the feeder.  The day we took the nest box to the tree to design the support pad for the box was very upsetting for the squirrels.  They didn't like their house gone.  When we put it back in the dog crate, they climbed inside and wouldn't leave for more than 12 hours.  After the pad for the nest box was built, we waited for a long stretch of good weather. 

Release day number two arrived.  I captured one squirrel in the cat carrier and his brothers dashed into their nest box.  We took the box and the carrier into the backyard.  As soon as I opened the carrier, that squirrel took off like he had been shot out of a cannon, and he never looked back.  The other two were more tentative.  I think they were concerned about losing their nest box again.  I finally coaxed them out and handed the box to my husband for him to mount.  A couple of screws later, and their home was installed in its new location.  We spent much of the afternoon looking in the trees to see how many squirrels were still around.  Weeks went by and we’d never see more than one squirrel in the backyard at a time, but was it the same squirrel, or were all three still around?  Then one magical day arrived and I saw two of the squirrels chasing each other across the backyard and the third one was at the feeder!  Almost a month after their release, they were all still alive and healthy and happy.  Now they are one of our great joys to see around the yard.  They won’t approach us close enough to be touched, but they do look in our windows to see if we’re around, and they chatter at us from the tree tops when we’re outside. 

All of us have learned so much from Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, and we have the immense satisfaction of raising and successfully releasing three squirrels.  It’s been a great hands-on biology lesson!