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View Full Version : How late can they be released?



rob567
08-20-2008, 11:32 AM
Maxie is about 7-8 weeks old I think. I am wondering if he is going to be old enough to make a nest for himself by winter which in these parts starts to get cold in October.

Also do squirrels instinctively know how to build nests or is this learned from the mother?

Thanks

Mars
08-20-2008, 11:43 AM
Release needs to be before the leaves fall from the trees. Squirrel build nest instintively - but practice makes perfect and skill comes from the doing. Squirrels build winter nests in the hollows of trees. Another option would be to hang a deep well insolated nest box. Or to winter over and release in the spring. :)

rob567
08-20-2008, 12:07 PM
Thank you for the quick responses :)

If I have to over winter Maxie. Will I be able to build him something to stay in outside or should he be kept inside?

Thanks

Mars
08-20-2008, 01:57 PM
You can do either. If you winter outside you will need to winterize the cage - ie it will need an insulated nest box for warmth, a excellent wind break for protection from the elements and the roof MUST be able to carry the snow load. You will need to be able to get to and from the cage with food and fresh water at least twice a day ( mostly to change the water as it freezes ) You can use a snuggle safe to keep it melted for a bit but it will still need to checked twice daily. Electric heaters have been tried and the squirrels tend to chew through the wires :shakehead .

After last winter I don't think I shall winter outside unless I have too. It was just too much. We ended up with 9 feet of snow. Towards the end I couldn't get too let alone access the cages. I was very lucky they were empty - otherwise I would have been in a panic.

Wintering inside can be challenging too but in other ways. They get bored easily and need to be kept challenged or can develop some very bad and destructive habits.

What ever you decide we can assist you. :)

Sciurus1
08-20-2008, 03:33 PM
Not to upset this apple cart, for what has been shared here has merit, as to how to prepare for releases at the mnimum age a squirrel can be released, but I would like to share another view on this matter, of what age to release a juvenile squirrel.

First, if you are not limited by having a facility, where releases are moreover mandatory at the age of 4 months of s age, In order to to accomodate the facility's limits to care for orphan squirrels, then for you they are not so limited as to have to release a squirrel at that age.

To support this further, a lady I have a very high regard for, who is a licenced senior rehabber, having raised orphaned squirrels for nearly two decades now, both Eastern Grays, and Fox Squirrels, has a facility that is able to carry the load of juvenile squirrels, and so releases them beginning at 6-7 months, if they are spring babies, fit ot go, and the weather pending to be good. If they are late Fall babies, she winters them over till Spring. The survival rate for one year, has gone up since she began to release at this more mature age.


Their development also supports a release at this age as well. Interestingly, the idea behind releasing begining at the age of about 4 months, which is the MINIMUM age they can be released, that is by a soft release, then able to climb in the trees, has problems for at that age, even os they would be climbing in the trees after thei rmothers, orphans have no mothers to follow, show them the ropes, or protect them from competition or predators either! To deal with this disadvantage, some rehabbers, like my friend, conduct releases at the age the squirrel mothers would in the wild, which happens to be 6-7 months of age, when by instinct and biology, the mothers chases them off from following her, having competed her job. That is actually what then this rehabber aims at, completing that job, as to mimic as much as possible the greatest issues to their survival in order to afford the orphans hse has raised the best advantage she can give to them. Consdiering then that their natural mothers prepare their territory by chasing off other more mature squirrels from it, during the time their young are maturing, and before they release them is very SIGNIFICANT, for orphans, without wild mothers, are far more prone to accident, caused by chases from other squirrels, that were not cleared out by a wild mother, as sadly many members here have shared was the cause of their squirrels being injured early on in a release that was done before 6 months of age. Statistics then from our board on this, as well as from a trained and experience rehabber as to later releases resulting in a greater number of survivors after a year, do not lie.


There are other factors of course, the squirrel has to be fit to go, as well as the weather favorable, and the habitat is a big issue as well, for in a natural one like you find at Tomo's, where they do begin releases at the minimum age, around 4 months, there is an abundant food supply in the habitat that they are released into, and a very large amount of acreage as well, that can easily support the squirrels released there. This affords them much room to spread out, and establish themselves without far less competition of territory and food. Yet when it comes to most habitats, especially urban ones, there is allot of competition from established squirrels. Then add to that the key factor of not having a mother, to clear out thse older competitors, while her young mature, then lacking, so that chases of these younger juveniles, it become a key factor in the numbers injured at this younger age, unlike Tomos' where there is amply territory for the juveniles to spread out into. This is not to say that accidents won't happen to older squrirels, no, ut then there are far fewer from these rather rigorous chases they would not be put through to the degree they are if they had their mothers to stand off these older competitors, that is clear.

Truly Tomo's is UNIQUE in it's set up, preparation and habitat, that few then can match if for all the advantages it affords the squrirels that are released there! Yet for most of us that have raised a squirrel, we do not have that kind of habitat to release it in, with all those factor in place. We likely do not have a facility either like Tomos does, but we can do much to mimic it just the same, IF we release the juveniles we have raised at a older age, in order to afford them the advantage of maturity, both physically, and mentally, to overcome their disadvantages as orphaned squirrels.

Since all these FACTORS ADD UP, and matter much, when it comes to how a squirrel will do upon being released, we need to consider that the results won't be the same as Tomo's at the same age without them in place! It is best then to try to mimic what Tomo's does, as it mimics the wild experience, and where it doesn't, then to mimic the wild experience in other ways, as in releasing as juvenile squirrels, when their mothers actually do, being at hte age of 6-7 months instead.

* IR, or Adminstrator, knows of my views, and has shared with me that she may not agree in all things with them at times, but she will defend my right for me to share there here with our members, just the same! Thanks IR for your support!

Sciurus1
08-20-2008, 03:52 PM
Release needs to be before the leaves fall from the trees. Squirrel build nest instintively - but practice makes perfect and skill comes from the doing. Squirrels build winter nests in the hollows of trees. Another option would be to hang a deep well insolated nest box. Or to winter over and release in the spring. :)


Just a short note, if you do release early, what Mars shares here is correct, in order to allow a squirrel the time to build a nest. You can also provide a nest box for them yourself, with leaves and moss to line it with, and make sure you do not make the opening to big to allow larger predators in. More on that in other threads on how to make nest boxes, sizes and features. Just be sure to introduce a nest box prior to the time of their release, so they can get used to living in it.