I NEED A REHABBER NOW!!!

[Somebody's Mother]

karen is 10 weeks old and extremely healthy. i have been trying to find a rehabber for three weeks to get some help so he can be reintroduced to the wild. every number i call either does not return my call or they no longer do rehabs.
i am at the point that i am going to buy a large cage and keep karen as a pet. this is totally wrong!!
he is healthy and he should be returned to the wild. he now jumps at me when i open his cage door to feed him. he wants to run. (i don't blame him) but i can't send an unprepared squirrel into the wild to become a snack of any predator that crosses his path.
so can anyone tell me of a rehabber in south carolina or southern north carolina that would be willing to take karen in preparation for release. if they have a squirrel that will not be fit for release ever i would be glad to take it on as a resident.
i am willing to deliver karen to a rehabber. i love my squirrel and i want him to be happy.
and i did call and leave a message with the rehabber in sumter,sc but he/she also did not return my call. :shakehead

[Critter_Queen]

Is it possible for you to release him yourself? You are doing a fantastic job so far, so why not? I don't release at home, so I'm used to finding other places for that...

Is there a reason you can't release him? Are you lacking cages or something like that?

I'm sorry your calls aren't being returned. Very few things burn me like an unreturned phonecall...

[Squerly]

Well I would sure take him for release but I won't actually be living in North Carolina for another couple of months, maybe longer. But if that fits your schedule I'm sure he would be happy at my place.

[Somebody's Mother]

he is currently in a large dog kennel. he needs a bigger cage. i have a garden shed 10 X 20 that is unoccupied. it was supposed to be a fort/playroom for my son. i have considered releasing him in there and letting him get used his house and just going in to feed and water him.
i know he needs more space to climb and be a squirrel.
i just watched a damn cat run across my backyard. it chills me to the bone to think one of those beasts will get my karen.

[island rehabber]

he is currently in a large dog kennel. he needs a bigger cage. i have a garden shed 10 X 20 that is unoccupied. it was supposed to be a fort/playroom for my son. i have considered releasing him in there and letting him get used his house and just going in to feed and water him.
i know he needs more space to climb and be a squirrel.
i just watched a damn cat run across my backyard. it chills me to the bone to think one of those beasts will get my karen.

SM, a garden shed would not be a good idea unless it is made of mesh and not solid material -- karen should not be in a place with no natural sunlight -- in fact, according to how old he is now he should be outside all the time in a large cage as you mentioned. If you can't find a rehabber to take him I would suggest either building an outdoor cage yourself or having one built for you by a local handyman. Then karen can spend the next 2-3 weeks outdoors, climbing to his little heart's content, with you there keeping an eye on him. The cats won't get into a metal wire cage that is elevated off the ground, don't worry. Then, when he's 16-20 weeks old you can either let him go free in your area or transport him to a better release site, along with his nest box and familiar bedding.

[thundersquirrel]

i think you could do it yourself, you just need the right method. we made a very large cage (about 3 x 3 x 8 ft) with double mesh, lock doors, nesting boxes, the works. making the cage is the hard part, but it's not complicated, it's just tedious. basically it's putting wood together for a frame and stapling mesh to the frame.

there is a quick link on how to build a pre-release cage. honestly, though, i feel like updating it. the cage described is amazing, but huge! it would probably be too big for most peoples' backyards. the one we have fits nicely.

we can get into detail if you want. i've got lots of detail. :D just let me know.

p.s. his friendliness is probably not your fault. when a squirrel is alone, it imprints far more easily. another rehabber might put him down, so again, i suggest you just release him yourself.

[Somebody's Mother]

i just got back from petsmart. they were able to offer two more numbers of possible rehabbers. i bought karen a ball and a nesting box/small pet playhouse. i put these in his cage and had to adjust his tree branch to fit over the house. he is most impressed with the ball. trying to figure out how to get it over the house. the house is sort of dividing the cage. he can go behind it and hide or store stuff. he seems to be in a good mood tonight. i had cleaned the guinea pigs cage and let the guinea pig run free on the porch and put karens' cage down so they were on the same level.
i am seriously thinking of building the prerelease outdoor cage. i think if he has someplace to get in out of the weather he would do just fine.
and he really is not a pet. he doesn't bite me but he protests if i try and hold him. my son tried to pick him up and he bit him. (did not break the skin) he is still terrified of the dogs. thank god.
a question. every time there is a thunderstorm he still gets quite upset. what will happen to him when he is in the wild? will he be okay? i think the incident that brought us together is deeply embedded in his brain.

[thundersquirrel]

he could still be a bit traumatized from the storm. especially if he had a close relationship with his mother. but he must get used to them if he's to live in the wild. a lot of this adapting can be done when he's outside full time. it's better to have a squirrel that's alert and scared than one that's happily ignorant.

here's a pic of my outdoor cage....just to give you some ideas....

[Somebody's Mother]

cool! yeah i think i could do that. i guess i know what i will be doing this sunday and monday. karen is really a sweet squirrel and very beautiful. every morning when i get home from work there are squirrels all over my yard and all i can think of is how happy karen will be to be out there with them.
i think i feel a bit guilty for wanting my squirrel child to leave the nest. i would love to keep him but it isn't his nature to be a housepet. and even though he could possibly live 5 times as long what type of life would it be?

[thundersquirrel]

not a very good one. some squirrels seem to want a domesticated life, but karen doesn't seem like that, from what you say.

if you've got questions, ask them. since this cage will last a long time, you want to build it the right way. basically it requires these things;

double mesh
sealable squirrel-only exit/entrance
small door for food
big door for you
nesting box
sticks
a "canopy" (we use old sheets)

we put locks on our cage doors, because we have a lot of people in our neighborhood, as well as fiddling raccoons. that's only necessary in cases like ours, though. you can consider that.

good luck. ;)

[Somebody's Mother]

i have locks on the fence gates and i would certainly put a lock on the big door. don't want to take a chance. it would be nice if he could bring friends to visit in his outdoor cage.

the only other thing i had really hoped for was to find other squirrels his age to be released with him. i guess i could post a notice on one of those squirrel dating boards. (haha!)

[Secret Squirrel]

i am willing to deliver karen to a rehabber. i love my squirrel and i want him to be happy.
. :shakehead

Keeper of the wild will take your squirrel if you are willing to drive to St. George, SC.
We have a large pre release cage that would be perfect for Karen. You will love our facilty....90 acers and all the food he can eat.
Check us out at www.keeperofthewild.org (http://www.keeperofthewild.org)
Tell them I sent ya:peace

PS the web site is a little out dated....we are working on it!!

[Somebody's Mother]

i just sent an email to keeper of the wild. as i said i care alot about my squirrel and if they can help i will find a way to get karen to them.
thanks to all of you.

[Secret Squirrel]

Cool !! Glad I can lend a hand :thumbsup

[Squerly]

Keeper of the wild will take your squirrel if you are willing to drive to St. George, SC.
We have a large pre release cage that would be perfect for Karen. You will love our facilty....90 acers and all the food he can eat.
Check us out at www.keeperofthewild.org (http://www.keeperofthewild.org)
Tell them I sent ya:peace

PS the web site is a little out dated....we are working on it!!Hey Secret, I checked out the site. It looks good but how come they don't have a link to The Squirrel Board? :dono

[Critter_Queen]

Can you folks transport squirrels (or any wild animal or bird for that matter) across state lines legally? We can't do that here...mostly because the Mississippi River divides us from a lot of rabies and such that is prominent on the eastern side that we don't even have on this side. But we can't go west across state lines either...

Just wondering.

I hope Karen will be VERY happy in his new home outside. You shouldn't feel guilty at all for wanting to release him...it's what you should do... I'm pretty sure that the Kestrel we released in July was killed somehow four days after release. She was imprinted, so we tried to wild her up as much as we could...even managed to teach her to hunt insects (she wouldn't do mice unless already dead...we tried so hard to get her to hunt rodents) and she did fantastic for four days, and then she never came back again. (released at my mom's acreage) We were feeding her thawed mice, so there was no reason for her not to return. Hubby is VERY sad that Kes is gone, but I asked him if he were wild, would HE want to spend the rest of his life in our kennel/flight or would it be worth it to him to live just those four days soaring through the sky like a REAL falcon for the first time in your life? Hands down, we'd both want freedom for those four days...

You are doing the best for Karen that anyone could do. Thank you!!

[Somebody's Mother]

thank you critter queen. it is so hard to think of letting him out into the big bad world. but when you watch the squirrels in the trees playing together and jumping from branch to branch i can't believe that any size cage or even running loose in the house would make him as happy.
my son reassures me that he's a tough squirrel. he says thats why he made me keep his name karen. to toughen him up. :D

[Critter_Queen]

Yeah, he better be tough being a guy named Karen! LOL! Watch, he'll end up the dominant male in his territory and all the girl squirrels will be in love with him... :thumbsup

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

It's a shame you can't release him yourself, nothing beats those little surprise visits for food. Do you have squirrles around your house? If so I would release him yourself.
Just take it slow letting him out to smell around everyday a little..when he is sure of himself he wont return to the cage. And like I said those little visits are priceless!
Dont get nervous & make a quick move to give him away. A soft release is the way to go!

[snakegetters]

Well, I'm not too far from taking my three over to another local rehabber who has 17 acres and is set up to do a safe soft release. Having them joined by another one might be possible.

[Secret Squirrel]

Can you folks transport squirrels (or any wild animal or bird for that matter) across state lines legally?!
We are in the same state !

Quote form Squerly:
Hey Secret, I checked out the site. It looks good but how come they don't have a link to The Squirrel Board? :dono

Sorry Squerly........Iam breakin the rules.....!!!
I'll check and see if we can get you on there.......honest injun!!

[Critter_Queen]

Hmmm...must've imagined that you were in different states! Sorry! :thumbsup Better get my coffee in before I start posting around here! LOL! I'm slackin'!

[Somebody's Mother]

just an update. i have had offers of help from the southern part of sc and georgia and north carolina. right now i am leaning toward taking him to the rehab in south carolina.
it will be a three hour drive but i think we are up to it :thumbsup
i will keep everyone updated. thanks.