Found Squirrel in road doing circles

[Have a Heart]

Friday morning a friend was on a mail route and found this poor baby doing circles, and brought him/her to me. He is a Douglas fir...I think it may have bounced off a car tire, When I first seen him he was tilting his head to the side and body following as if his equilibrium was all messed up. I have been watching him carefully. He has gotten better already. while he was sleeping I pulled off three ticks, and a flea. He does seem to drag his back foot alittle, and kind of bites at it. I have him in a tub right now so not hurt himself at all...I take him out for sunlight while he is asleep to get vit. D...He does seem to be alot better since friday, but still turns his head alittle, not near as bad. Has no problem going potty. no open wounds. Sometimes when I watch him, I wonder if he has probles seeing as well, due to smelling for the location of his food.
He drinks lots of water, loves apples, rosehips, raw almonds and the Kay tee forti-diet mouse/hamster food. Sleeps alot I cover him up like a baby
He almost seems used to humans, has no fear at all. very sweet!
...I'm waiting for a Vet friend of mine to return from out of town to see if she will take a look at him. I call Him Circumference due to his cirlce movements.
I'm not sure of his age he measures aprox. 6 inches in body

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Bless you for stopping to help this baby. Sounds like head injury, and usually, rehabbers treat same immediately with Dex. Can you see if you can find a rehabber that can take quick action?

[Have a Heart]

I did look for one, but there isnt one close enough to me that cares for sm. creatures such as him, there a few hours away...What is Dex, so that my Vet friend may be told...I'm just glad that he is doing lots better then he was

[Have a Heart]

Do you think he may be blind, and thats part of the problem

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Dexamethasone.

[Have a Heart]

Thank you so much for replying...I'm waching over him like he was my own baby...I'll do what I can for sure.

[tatcat]

:grouphug ty for taking the time to care for the lil one and :Welcome to our nutty world!!!:grouphug

[Have a Heart]

Thank You..I will do what it takes for sure, such a sweetie

[FLUFFYTAILNUT]

How is C doing this evening??
Poor baby...
Looks like he is in good hands...:thumbsup
:Welcome Welcome to The Squirrel Board:Welcome

Could you get some pictures of him..so we can see what cuteness....you have??
Have a great night..
:wave123 FLUFFYTAILNUT....http://austshane.tripod.com/fairy59.gif..Bean's Squirrel Goddess.... http://austshane.tripod.com/fairy59.gif Rachel & Bean:wave123

[Have a Heart]

Here is little Circuference....So darn cute, and Is doing well today!



OK HOW DO I REDUCE THE SIZE OF THESE PICS...THERE HUGE!!!!

[Mrs. Jack]

:Welcome to you and little Circumference great name! glad he's doing better. Without being nosy I hope, are you in eastern Wa? Cause I'm over on the eastside of Seattle and I've never seen a douglas or foxer in real life :D

[Have a Heart]

no near hood canal area

[Have a Heart]

I am amazed at how well he does with human interaction, I dont bother him at all from day one he has had no fears of me...maybe cause he is getting spoiled having someone be his maid, getting him goodies and all! HMMMM

[Have a Heart]

Can anyone guess his age... Is this a baby?

[Mrs. Jack]

ah. My folks live in Chimacum.

I'd say he's not an adult.. but old enough to have been out. what's his tail look like? but there's way more better experts on here than me. I wonder if he's been fed a lot at a park or something, it is odd that he's so calm, unless there's something going on that renders him that way.. is he eating drinking pooping and peeing?

[Have a Heart]

his tail is about 5 inches, and yes he has no problems eating, pooping peeing, I even gave him a quick bath, water only when the sun was out...He has nipped at me about 4 times over all, not hard...maybe he just feels safe I let him down on the floor today to see how well he moved around and he is doing better and he came toward the sound I was making.

[Have a Heart]

Wait a min they live in Chimacum...OMG Neighbors, your welcome to come visit the next time your in the area.

[Bravo]

I think you gave the little guy a much needed break. Hopefully nothing more than overconfidence and trying to outsmart a car. Thanks for looking after him. :thumbsup

[Have a Heart]

thanks, the little guy has stolen my heart no doubt!

[Mrs. Jack]

Wait a min they live in Chimacum...OMG Neighbors, your welcome to come visit the next time your in the area.

We'll likely be making a trip up sometime this summer, I'll let you know :)

[Have a Heart]

By the way Bravo...nice stories on your web..Love Them!

[Secret Squirrel]

If I am not mistaken......he looks like a she !!!!:D His winky is too low on his belly to be a boy...do you have a better photo of his privates ???
There is a homeo product on the market for Trauma and nerve damage...it works well for injured squirrels but the best bet is the vet treating him/her with the dexmethasone as atlantasquirrelgirl suggested. Good luck...:thumbsup


www.squirrelsandmore.com (http://www.squirrelsandmore.com) for the trauma meds.

[Bravo]

By the way Bravo...nice stories on your web..Love Them!

Thanks, HaH. Glad to have another reader along for the ride. :)

[Have a Heart]

Thanks for the tip..everyone on here is geat

[muffinsquirrel]

I don't know if it's just me, or the camera angle, or what, but that squirrel sure does seem to have an awfully lot of TEETH!!!!! But he/she is absolutely adorable, teeth or not! Sounds like he's doing great - keep up the good work.:D

muffinsquirrel

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Looks like a juvenile. A full picture with the tail would help with aging her. She is tilting her head in your photos, so you need to get her on some meds ASAP. The fact that she's not afraid of you could be her age, or due to the head trauma.

[Have a Heart]

Yeah I do believe she may be young, he/her tail is not bushy enough, but here you go two photos

[Have a Heart]

Sorry... and as requested her is photo to comfirm Gender:dono

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Poor baby is having a rough start. The tail should be fully furred at 10 weeks of age.

[Have a Heart]

Oh the little pumkin is that young you think....Trama meds are on there way(thanks to "secret Squirrel" Tip on the homeoathic meds. ...atleast till Vet friend returns.

[Sciurus1]

Me thinks it be a Douglas Mamm!

It has a very deep golden venter, and darker dorsal, and the tail appearing to be like unto a Douglas. This would also explain the toofies being as large as they are, and overall developed in body, than a foxer of that size would be too. As you can see from these distribution maps below, Foxers are rather scarce in Washington State, but Douglas Squirrels are very abundant. If this squirrel is located outside of the Fox Squirrel Territory, then it has to be a Douglas. Again I could be wrong, for it is hard to see his overall shape, and dimension from the one photo of all of him, but this is my educated guess for now. My brother in law has Douglas in his woods in Astoria, Oregon, and says they are quite friendly!

[Have a Heart]

Yeah she is a douglas Fir...! beautiful little girl... she is orangish red, and where I'm located thats what I identified her as last week. I think that your observation is correct as well.

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

That being the case, my aging might not be accurate. I'll defer to somebody else to age her.

[Apple Corps]

I'm late to this case but the med you would want to get her on is Dexamethasone - do you have access to a vet that ou can trust? Dex is best started as soon as the injury happens. It may not be appropriate if she improves more by tomorrow.

[Secret Squirrel]

I'm late to this case but the med you would want to get her on is Dexamethasone - do you have access to a vet that ou can trust? Dex is best started as soon as the injury happens. It may not be appropriate if she improves more by tomorrow.


Yep AC....check post 2 and 5......it's the best drug to use. The Trauma homeo is good to use if a vet isn't avaliable .:thumbsup

[Feeze]

Oh my, a little Douglas.:Love_Icon You certainly do "have a heart.":D You are doing such a good job with all the descriptive pics.

Prayers for the little one.:grouphug

[Have a Heart]

:thankyou Freeze....She is a sweetie, Those big eyes are a heart Breaker, I'm Just glad she isn't my Teen Daughter I'de be in trouuuuble !!!

[Lady Squirrelly]

Such a cute little thing.

I hope she is doing well.
:grouphug

[Have a Heart]

Yeah she is doing alot better in the week I've had her, I go camping tommarrow and she will be going as well...man does she love apples

[Have a Heart]

what is the best bedding material/litter for me to use

[Sciurus1]

As for what not to use, wood shavings have problems, for it has dust that they can breath in that can cause problems. TP, and tissues are too absorbant, and can suck the moisture from their eyes, so they stick closed. Also towels and some other fabrics are not good, for they get their they get nails caught on them. As for good things to use, places like Home Depot have a bag of clean cut up white T shirts pieces, which they call rags, which would be a very good to use for bedding. They like those inexpensive lightweight poly throws on top, that come rolled up. Walmart and many other stores carry them.

[Flanker]

A fascinating little brown devil! I guess he is 6-7 weeks old. At this age his mother should still be looking for him. Has everybody seen the video of the “drunk” squirrel? – YouTube - Drunk Squirrel. The squirrel on that video is in reality gravely sick. Was your baby squirrel, Have a Heart, running in circles in a similar way? The head tilted down and sideway is a common thread. My Parachuter has this symptom too. Maybe I should administer Dexamethasone to him.

[Apple Corps]

Flanker - dexamethasone is a powerful steroid that reduces swelling in the brain - usually administered proximate to the injury.

Please tell us a bit m ore about the improvement you have seen over the last 24 - 36 hours.

[laureng]

Several years ago, I also found a squirrel (gray) doing circles in the road. An SUV was heading away, and my first thought was that the squirrel had glanced off a tore or bumper. I was afraid its spine had been injured. Couldn't leave it there so I used my T-shirt to wrap it up and took it to a vet clinic in Baltimore known for working with wildlife. They took it back into an exam-room, and when an aide surfaced some time later I was really ready to hear that it hadn't made it/couldn't be helped/had been euthanized. Instead, I was told that they had suspected a sprain and had given it a small shot of a steroids and that now it was absolutely fine and hopping all around a cage. They were going to release it to a reserve that have for rehabbed critters.

Just wanted to share that.