Release squirrel with front foot injury

[Scruffer]

Our 2 released squirrels Long Tail and Short Tail have been free in the yard for two months now. Today Short Tail who only has half a tail and sometimes falls from the trees when leeping can not walk on her front left foot. They come every morning and evening for food and will still let me touch and hold them. I examined the foot and shoulder :thankyou and it seems to be all the toe areas. My question is ....is this likely to heal???? I am concerned as with her short tail she needs all the balance help she can get...thanks for your thoughts on this...ScrufferSquirrelsMom

[FLUFFYTAILNUT]

Our 2 released squirrels Long Tail and Short Tail have been free in the yard for two months now. Today Short Tail who only has half a tail and sometimes falls from the trees when leeping can not walk on her front left foot. They come every morning and evening for food and will still let me touch and hold them. I examined the foot and shoulder :thankyou and it seems to be all the toe areas. My question is ....is this likely to heal???? I am concerned as with her short tail she needs all the balance help she can get...thanks for your thoughts on this...ScrufferSquirrelsMom
If she still allows you to pick her up and inspect her...and she is injured..
I would bring her back inside...
If she is injured and has a problem with her footing and balance..she could be a target for a predator...and get killed...
And if you feel she ...once she is all better release her again....
BUT if you also notice..she is not HER...normal self...she may be a KEEPER....and be your inside...baby...:thumbsup
Are you prepared to make this comitment...just in case??
Hope this helps...
Rachel n Bean:wave123

[4skwerlz]

She will likely heal--they heal amazingly fast. But being injured puts her at a big disadvantage in the wild. Can you bring her back inside, or at least into a release cage until she's better? Then she can try it again in the wild. At the very least, a secure wooden nestbox and lots of extra food....

[Buddy'sMom]

Good ideas. We had a similar thing happen after we released Buddy -- he showed up one day not using one leg properly. We put him back in the release cage for a couple of days of R&R and that was all he needed (well, plus some extra love and attention from Mom and Dad :D ). Hope that's all Short Tail needs. :)

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[Frickster]

frick came back hurt after her 3 day escapade...little girl got grounded until she healed up. her little footsy just didn't seem right and it seemed like she just kept straining it. i didn't think it would EVER be 100% and was pretty much assuming she'd be nr....after several weeks, maybe even months you can't even tell anything was ever wrong. she did need LOTS of rest and tlc though!

[Scruffer]

:thankyou Thank you all so much for the responses. She is still holding her foot up today. I have two wooden squirrel boxes in the trees and she went in there tonight. I put extra food in there for her. She did eat today and was up in the palms chumping away. I am worried because she runs the fence like mad with 3 legs,I am sure she will fall off and there are cats around. I have a large cage which I used when they were babies, if she is not using he foot more tomorrow I will put her back in there to see if it will heal with rest. I am prepared to keep her in a cage if needed, they are both so sweet and they have been my babies since they were 3 weeks old. I will let you know how she progress....poor Short Tail....ScrufferSquirrelMom

[Scruffer]

I followed everyone's advice and brought Short Tail in the house and put her in their release cage, then took her out to the patio where her sister came to visit. The entire time she she just jumped around and paced, which is why I took her to the patio.She only rested when I covered her at night. She never used her foot just to help hold food. She was so irritated I finally released her again. She is running around outside but never uses the foot, my question is does any one know of an outside squirrel that has done ok with only one front foot working..... I am worried about Short Tail.. thanks so much.. ScrufferSquirrel

[PBluejay2]

I followed everyone's advice and brought Short Tail in the house and put her in their release cage, then took her out to the patio where her sister came to visit. The entire time she she just jumped around and paced, which is why I took her to the patio.She only rested when I covered her at night. She never used her foot just to help hold food. She was so irritated I finally released her again. She is running around outside but never uses the foot, my question is does any one know of an outside squirrel that has done ok with only one front foot working..... I am worried about Short Tail.. thanks so much.. ScrufferSquirrel

I've had experience with a couple of amputees, and most can do okay, from what I gather, with the loss of one hind or forelimb. They're very adaptable and learn to compensate, but, of course, the best plan of action is to try to find out what the issue is and treat accordingly. If she can use her front paw to hold food, that's a good sign--no real paralysis or nerve damage--and there's a good chance she simply hurt/broke/sprained it and it will heal.