Baby squirrel

[Ithuilwen]

I'm fretting about what to do with a baby squirrel. Right now he's squeaking (this awful, heart-reading, pitiful sound) in a cardboard box at the base of a tree in hopes that he will be carried back to his nest. His mom is squawking and chittering madly up in the tree, and this has been going on for about forty-five minutes.

I first heard the squeaks while I was busy in the house, and I basically made a lazy mental note to look out the window and see what type of bird it was since it was such a foreign noise. When I did look out a few minutes later, I saw my two cats (brothers) inspecting something on the ground.

Naturally, I rushed out the front door yelling at the cats to frighten them away, and saw this pitiful creature on the ground. I didn't know what it was or whether it had been hurt, but the first order of business was to haul both cats (who are now most displeased) into the house and keep them there.

I ran to my parents next to have my dad come out and see if it was hurt. My younger brother had already ascertained that the creature was a baby squirrel (pathetic little thing, bulging eyes still closed, huge feet and head, ratty white tail with short fur). It doesn't seem like it has been hurt by the cats (no visible wounds at least), and I suppose it must have fallen out of its nest.

My dad originally moved it (without handling it with his hands) into a box similar to a cereal box, but after a half an hour transferred it into a small squarish box that is open at the top. It is sitting about 15 feet from where we initially found it on the ground.

I hope the mother takes care of it quickly. But I don't know if she's too scared to come near the box or if the baby is too big for her to carry now. All I know is that I don't want the poor thing to be abandoned. My mom suggested that we call an acquaintance of ours who rehabilitates wild animals for release if nothing happens soon.

Any suggestions? My cats are going wild from the squeaking.

:shrug:

[mopinko]

1. drug the cats

mama will probably get it eventually if she is there and squawking. call your friend, tho. baby squirrels are not that hard to raise.

[soothsayer]

2. any way to put it in a box somewhere on a limb of that tree?

Or put it safely up the tree a bit closer to mom?

[Ithuilwen]

3. That's another thing my dad is thinking about...

I just feel so helpless!

[MuseRider]

4. I'm not certain the

box is a good idea. If you can get the baby onto a branch it might be better but I don't know how much it can move around, I would hate for it to fall again. Squirrels are easy to raise, I have raised several but they already had their eyes open. Hang in there and keep the cats in!! (Poor kitties, they had a new playmate and you took them away. j/king of course)

[SoCalDem]

5. It might be injured from the fall..

The mother might be too afraid to come down and get it, and like you said,m it might be too big for her to carry(drag?).

You might have to be the Mom.. If it's very young, iut can dehydrate quickly, especially if it's a hot day..

PetSmart kitten formula might work..

If you can see the nest, you might try a ladder and put it in the nest for the mom..

I don't know.. this is a tough one.:(..

They kitties will kill it, if they get the chance:(

[Ithuilwen]

6. Good news, everyone!

I just went out to surreptitiously check on the squirrel, and he has disappeared from the box. His mum must have retrieved him!

Yay!

:toast:

(Cats still pissed, though ;))

[MuseRider]

7. Good news indeed.

We could have talked you through raising it but it is very tough and time consuming. I worked at the Zoo for a bunch of years and raised all manner of critters that people would bring in. Squirrels are pretty fun though. Keep a watch out for it, it should be very fun to watch it grow up.

[Ithuilwen]

8. ***Unexpected update***

Apparently the squirrel hasn't been retrieved by mother. I guess he must be too big to carry after all. We went to get the cardboard box that he was in and it turns out that he climbed out of it and was hiding in the undergrowth. So at least we know he's well enough to climb over the eight-inch box wall.

We did happen to spot the nest, not too far up in a sort of spindly white pine. So my dad hauled out our ladder and, after scoping out the nest, proceeded to coax the baby into the box (still without touching) and bring the (closed) box to the nest.

He wasn't, however, expecting mama squirrel to go on the offensive. She understandably wasn't too happy with him being near the nest, and he backed down the ladder a ways. She jumped to another tree and ran up it, obviously more frightened of him than anything else (and for good reason, since there was another little one in the nest).

But although his intentions were to plop the baby into the nest, it turns out it isn't as easy as all that. Squirrel nests, it seems, aren't like the stereotypical bird nest with an open top. No, it has a *side* entrance.

Well, as you can see, my dad was in a bit of a jam with a distressed mother squirrel in a neighboring tree, twenty-five feet up in the air with a baby squirrel that he didn't want to get his scent on. Obviously, he didn't want to handle the squirrel, but he couldn't get it to go into the hole in the side of the nest no matter how hard he tried (and, of course, he didn't want the poor thing to fall down *again*).

So right now, the baby squirrel is inside the box which is lashed with bungee cords next to the nest entrance. We checked up on him after about half an hour, and he is still in there -- but the adult squirrel dashed out of the nest (or box, we're not sure) when we did, so at least she's still keeping her eye on him.

Oh dear.