Does anyone know how long female squrrels stay in heat?!

[squirrely pearly]

Starting a new thread..hopefully someone knows this answer!! I have researched all over the internet for 2 days..they all say different things. just wanting an accurate approximation. I am positive I saw Pearly today..not in a good way..4-5 males had her out on a very thin limb she was trapped..and crying and I sooo wished I could climb a tree at that moment. If it's her, she looks thin and weary. hope it ends soon

[tomcics]

I read this on a squirrel site:
"A male squirrel can smell a female in heat up to a mile away. Mating season is February through May with a 44-day gestation period."

Just like you, I have seen a lot of different reports.

[prncsbabs1]

Ok, according to this book I have "Squirrels - The animal answer guide"
(pg 92)...(yes, I love to read and find the answers)
It states a female eastern gray's estrus lasts only one day. She is the one who usually makes the males chase her....whoever finds her first gets to mate with her.

Hope this helps :tilt

[tomcics]

Hey, you must be a better reader than me, I just looked in that same book and could not find the answer but that sounds right because I have read that the Red Squirrel only spends one day in heat. Just went to page 92 and found it, thanks

[prncsbabs1]

Page 92....I also found this site below...it is really long but it also states 1 day...I actually thought it was longer....I learned something new today...lol

http://cals.arizona.edu/research/redsquirrel/res_pdf/Other%20Squirrel%20and%20Sky%20Island%20Publicatio ns/Behavioral%20Ecol%20Making%20the%20best%20of%20a%2 0bad%20job.pdf

[squirrely pearly]

lol now thats a new one I haven't heard! 1 day! wow...I have read on the internet everything from 1 month, to a week. Well the way those fellas chase the poor girl, I hope it's just 1 day!! Imagine leaping through high trees and being pushed to the edge all day everyday for a month! or even a week..er well, pushed to the edge probably happens to us that often :crazy

[squirrely pearly]

thanks you guys for the help I am fixing to click on that link and start reading..wondering how often they go in heat as well. which I've heard 2 times a year..and tomics I think you wrote your read it was feb through may..maybe the ones who writes this stuff can't keep up with the little buggers to find out the right info!! love reading about the squirrelys! thanks for the effort and time!:) :thankyou

[Lulu-Bean's Mommy]

Ok, according to this book I have "Squirrels - The animal answer guide"
(pg 92)...(yes, I love to read and find the answers)
It states a female eastern gray's estrus lasts only one day. She is the one who usually makes the males chase her....whoever finds her first gets to mate with her.

Hope this helps :tilt


I've got that book too! To me, it's a little vague on sexual maturity and answers regarding it, but that's why I love this site! :)

So if she makes the males chase her, and it seems like Pearly was trapped, could it be that she was chased for another reason? :dono

[squirrely pearly]

the site prncsbabs1 put up for reading explains alot. If that was Pearly I saw, can't be sure it was..I suppose all the squirrelys make the same little noises , it sounded just like her though!!to high up to be sure :flash3 anyway, if it was, then after reading what I just read then it looked just like how it is suppose to be. she sounded tortured though :dono
being her mommy, it made me seriously consider how I could possibly get up to the top of that huge tree and rescue her..10 minutes later they were all in another tree, so I guess she wasn't so trapped as I thought :wahoo :wahoo

this is a nightmare after her just being released to see all this! (if it was her),I can't imagine what the boys mommies feel like!! but we are all in it together!!

[squirrely pearly]

well that information was right. all day yesterday the trees were rumbling and the squirrels were everywhere. lots of barking, squeaking etc. today it's so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop. I've been out with binnoculars all day since early morning and still no sign of Pearly..6 days now..I am so scared I will never see her again.

All week I have been hoping and praying. It just doesn't make sense to me. She had the whole set up and was loving it, her nest box high in a tree, all the nuts and fruit she could eat, and she just disappeared. Everyday for a month she would explore the house , and close proximity. Now nothing.

All these squirrels run from me when I go out, so I know they are not her. EVeryday just seems more and more hopeless. I have tried very hard to think positive..and have succeeded for a few days. But today I just can't iimagine what she went through.
It just seems so empty to think she's not out there somewhere.

[Hannah]

prncsbabs1 -- interesting link.

From what I understand, eastern gray squirrel behavioral estrous, when the female is receptive to the advances of the males, occurs on one day (and I think lasts only a few hours), but the males may chase the female for up to five days (according to D. C. Thompson).

squirrely pearly, I hope Pearly is alright, and she returns soon. :grouphug

[squirrely pearly]

yes Peter I read that too last night..and thank you for the support! After watching those squirrels yesterday chasing the female and cornering her out on flimsy branches with no way out, and I saw her jump over them a few times and get away. My worry is if that happened to my sweet Pearly, she's not as fit and fast in those trees as the more experienced wild squirrels, so my mind races with her lying out there somewhere injured or dead..some have said once she breeds her maternal instinct kicks in and she will get really reclusive. Just wish I had some assurances I guess. Or just 1 little quick visit so I can know she's where she wants and needs to be.

It's funny the whole point of releasing these little sweethearts is so they can be wild and happy as is meant to be. But when that moment comes and you can't see them anymore it's terrifying!! I never thought it would be this way..always thought when release came, we'd both be happy as larks. I hope and pray she is! cuz I'm a wreck!!

[Hannah]

squirrely pearly,

My relationship with the wild squirrel I photograph is little more than one of mutual recognition, but still if one is absent for a few weeks, I get worried, and start thinking perhaps the worst has happened. Often they come back eventually.

Squirrels can range a long ways, maintain several nests or tree holes, etc., so you never know -- Pearly is probably doing fine. :)

Even though the uncertainty must be hard, I'm sure you did the right thing releasing Pearly into the wooded home she innately yearned for. Hopefully, you'll see her soon.

[SandyC]

I also am curious about how long they stay in heat. I have a 1 yr old eastern grey that I've raised indoors since she was 5 wks old. For the past 5 days now she's crazier than ever. Her energy level is thru the roof but she's not eating much. She's LOVES her pumpkin seeds n isn't eating those either. I tried changing her diet. I introduced avocado (n several other different fruits n veggies) which she seems to like but doesn't eat much. She also is hiding the food I give her which she never did before. She always gulped it right it up. But I'm sure the portions I was giving her before were way too large. Maybe she's eating the right amount? Maybe this is how they eat when they reach adulthood? I also noticed her lil poopies r tiny now. I'm so worried!! I love her w all w my heart n in nj a vet is not an option. Please tell me I'm being paranoid! Please help!! She's my baby n I can't loose her!!

[Spanky]

Their actual estrus cycle lasts about 1 (One) day.

As a 1 year old, I would suspect what you may be seeing is a squirrel maturing and starting to long for the wild....

[Eejay]

lilo was a year old in july. she has been out on her own since june 24 th . when she visits i look her over as best as i can. for the most part she looks good. im thinking she looks like she either is still the same weight or a bit chubbier. could she be pregnant ? since it wasnt till end of june that she had freedom
she actually came home last night slept in her release cage. first time since beginning of july that she has done that

[island rehabber]

lilo was a year old in july. she has been out on her own since june 24 th . when she visits i look her over as best as i can. for the most part she looks good. im thinking she looks like she either is still the same weight or a bit chubbier. could she be pregnant ? since it wasnt till end of june that she had freedom
she actually came home last night slept in her release cage. first time since beginning of july that she has done that

Could very well be preggers....we see pinkies in our area (NY metro) right up until late August sometimes. There is a thread here already about one of our members' releases having babies in her release cage. :grin3

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?54931-Sabrina-had-babies-in-the-RC&highlight=Sabrina

[Lighten-Up]

Could very well be preggers....we see pinkies in our area (NY metro) right up until late August sometimes. There is a thread here already about one of our members' releases having babies in her release cage. :grin3

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?54931-Sabrina-had-babies-in-the-RC&highlight=Sabrina

Babies in the RC -
I too had this happen.
I released my two babies last August, I had two nest boxes for them in the release cage. Over the winter, there was a shortage of nest sites in the yard, and I don't know how many squirrels spent the winter in the RC, it appeared to be a lot. Come spring, two females used the nest boxes to raise a family, one of my releases and a wild squirrel. That was an experience not to be forgotten, two non-related females in one release cage?! We all survived. When the babies were old enough to begin venturing out (which was a long time), the wild finally took hers somewhere, and peace was once again restored to the RC, with my one girl owning the place till she also left as the summer got hot.

[Eejay]

im gonna try to keep an eye on her size. she is back in her cage again tonight..i cam home from work late and she was in her bed inside cage. i brought her some food out and she ate it all and went back inside her box.
she had stopped coming home for quite awhile.
and was visiting in the mornings. she was missing fur as well just over a week ago so im wondering she could have been chased off from where ever it was that she was staying
291296
291297

[Eejay]

some of you. may also remember Lilo has always been a bit on the larger size.. she was really chubby when she was 8 months old.. slimmed down a bit by the time i released her

[Trooper]

If I remember correctly, according to John L. Koprowski, Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, mammalogist, conservation biologist, and leading expert on the ecology and conservation of squirrels, in his book titled "Squirrels of the world", the female sciurus carolinensis (eastern gray squirrels) becomes in estrus condition for 8.5 hours, one day only. This is the reason for the high ratio of males to females in estrus (12-15 males to one female) and the great chases that happen at that time of the year.

Trooper's dad

[Eejay]

Could very well be preggers....we see pinkies in our area (NY metro) right up until late August sometimes. There is a thread here already about one of our members' releases having babies in her release cage. :grin3

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?54931-Sabrina-had-babies-in-the-RC&highlight=Sabrina

not preggers anymore..lol she just had 3 babies yesterday or day before