Can you help one of our little buddies?

[Uplink]

Hello,
We live out in East Northport on Long Island and have been feeding a small group of squirrels for about a year. One of them 'Patrick' always looked unkempt like it was a bad hair day but always seemed very healthy and was happy to eat the nuts and seeds we left out without being too skittish. This morning he seemed 'not right'. When I got a better look it seemed like he was either hit by a car or attacked. His left ear was folded flat against the top of his head but not bloody. His right rear leg was swolen almost 2x the size of his left. The foot of that leg was almost 3x the size of the left and had some blood between the toes. He can't walk or climb with it and a few times tried to scratch himself with it but couldn't. Is there anything we can do to help him? He's been a good little morning friend before work for so long and its sad to see him hurt like this. I doubt he will survive long on his own from either infection or the neighborhood cats. He didn't seem injured otherwise and was capable of climbing (slowly) our railing with a few peanuts before hobbling off across the yard. I'm sure this is a time critical problem for him. Should we try to find/catch him and bring him to a local vet? If he comes back for more food I'll try to get some pictures of the leg.
Thank you for your help.
-Mike

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

There is an excellent vet Im looking for the info now.
I have pm'd him info on Dr. P if anyone can elaborate please do so.

[Nancy in New York]

Here is a link to some rehabbers in your area. I am still looking for one in particular. Be right back.

http://www.nycwildlife.org/rehab.html

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

wildlife rehabber Barbara Bellis-Picon NY
specificlly if anyone can help or knows her contact info!!
Sissy is checking her book of rehabbers

[Nancy in New York]

I just PM'd uplink with her phone number. This is the one I had from a couple of years ago. I hope it's still the same...

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

:thankyou nmognoni nycap.rr.com

[Nancy in New York]

I also have her address from a couple of years ago too. If you want you can PM me.:thumbsup

[island rehabber]

I just saw this now -- will give uplink a call right away to see if I can help.

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

:thankyou

[island rehabber]

OK I just spoke with uplink -- what a nice guy! -- and our plan of action is for him to get some pix of this poor squirrel by luring him closer with things he loves -- peanut butter, for example. In the meantime uplink will be buying or borrowing a Hav-a-Heart trap and I am also going to contact a few Long Island rehabbers to see if they can help. (Uplink is about an hour & 15 mins away from me; someone else may be closer and able to spend more time there trying to trap this little guy.) The squirrel is still able to climb so just throwing a towel over him isn't an option right now...but uplink will be providing more nutritious foods and keeping an eye on him. :thumbsup

[Nancy in New York]

Thanks for the update...poor baby.

[Tomo]

OK I just spoke with uplink -- what a nice guy! -- and our plan of action is for him to get some pix of this poor squirrel by luring him closer with things he loves -- peanut butter, for example. In the meantime uplink will be buying or borrowing a Hav-a-Heart trap and I am also going to contact a few Long Island rehabbers to see if they can help. (Uplink is about an hour & 15 mins away from me; someone else may be closer and able to spend more time there trying to trap this little guy.) The squirrel is still able to climb so just throwing a towel over him isn't an option right now...but uplink will be providing more nutritious foods and keeping an eye on him. :thumbsup


I just PM'd Uplink, Dr. P's info as well. Let me know if I can help.

[Uplink]

Thank you all for the quick and helpful responses! I just got off the phone with Island Rehabber and we have a plan of action.

I placed more food out (PB, Walnuts and water this time Island :) ) so hopefully he will come back and I can either trap him or at least get pictures then contact Dr. Pilney. We're ~an hour away from his office.

I scoured the yard but Patrick seems to have headed home for the day. Unfortunately the habit of our little guys is to show up in the morning (when we're usually leaving for work) for breakfast then we don't see them for the rest of the day. At least he's in good enough health right now to know where to come for food and how to get home. With any luck he'll come back in time to save him.

Thank you all again, I'll keep everyone posted.
-Mike

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

:thankyou for caring!

[island rehabber]

Update: an excellent Long Island rehabber just responded to me off another rehab list and she is calling Michael. :thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

[Buddy'sMom]

:bowdown :bowdown :bowdown :bowdown Uplink and Rehabbers!! :bowdown :bowdown :bowdown :bowdown

[skye]

God Bless you for helping your little yard buddy:grouphug and Bless all who are helping:grouphug :thumbsup prayers said and wish you all best of luck.

[Minnie's Mom]

:bowdown :bowdown NY Resue Team :bowdown :bowdown I bow down to all of you.

:thankyou Uplink for saving this little one. :grouphug

[4skwerlz]

Way to go guys!:thumbsup
:bowdown :bowdown :bowdown

[Uplink]

Well, it took all morning and a smorgashbord of food for what seemed like the entire neighborhood's squirrels (I kept filling dishes with Peanut Butter, Walnuts, Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds and Apples from ~8am until almost noon and they just kept coming! :D ) but finally Patrick came around. He seemed a little better today (actually chased another squirrel around the deck a bit) but he is definitely favoring that leg and still has some purple between the toes. I've posted a few pics and videos at www.ewcbbs.com/patrick but I'm not sure at this point if trapping would be more damaging. Pic 428 you can see the foot swolen. He's definitely still too quick and healthy to get a blanket or towel over. What do you all think? I know the have-a-heart is gonna get the wrong squirrel a dozen times over until he comes around so I'd have to take the day off work tomorrow to supervise it or risk traumatizing the wrong guy for 8 hours.

Side note, not one of them touched the bowl of water. A few sniffed it but none took a drink.

[Uplink]

I'm guessing his accident happened yesterday. I didn't see him Friday before leaving for work but Thursday he was ok. As far as I can tell, yesterday he looked pretty bad and I wasn't sure he would make it through the night. Today his left ear is back up (was flattened to his head) and he was able to scratch a little with the foot as well as chase another squirrel a few feet which is an improvement. Between his toes are still purple while yesterday they were red/purple so maybe he cleaned the blood off. Would a bad fall with blood like that mean a broken leg? Or do you think maybe it was a fight and his foot took a nasty bite?

[island rehabber]

hi uplink. Patrick doesn't look too debilitated from those pix so at least he's a healthy squirrel for the most part. Maybe the thing to do is keep an eye on him, as you've been doing, and only if you see signs of infection then try to trap him. These guys are amazingly resilient, and once the soreness of a fall wears off you may find he's right back to his old self. :dono

[4skwerlz]

I agree, looks like a "watch and wait" case. Wild squirrels heal really well generally. Just watch for signs of an infection out of control: pus, swelling getting worse, redness, increasing soreness (limping more than he was), signs he's not feeling well--basically any signs that it's getting worse.... If any of this happens, he'll need to be trapped and treated with antibiotics.