Disaster

[Liza]

OH guys... I am so upset I can hardly type. I was letting my sweet babies enjoy this last gorgeous indian summer day on the patio in their big cage when I opened it to switch out a clean water dish for a dirty one... when one of my precious little girls got out of the cage!! She skittered around a bit and then ran into our garage, which is far from a safe haven for baby squirrels! I am not sure if there are holes that she could escape through.. so I am hopeful, although far from positive, that she is still in there.

My son and I looked all over in there (we saw her several times.. she even came and got a peanut from each of us, but refused to let us get a hand on her) but it has been 2 hours now since I've seen her and I"m just sick. To try to lure her back in I took the aquarium they were in as tiny babies and tipped it on its side and put a few of her favorite yummies in there and her blankies. (she is a blankie lover) I put a piece of wood over half of it so that if she shows up in there I can just slide it across the opening and have her safe again! Right now the big cage with the other babies is in there too, hoping to lure her out with the sights and sounds of her siblings, but not working yet. They will be coming back in the house in a few minutes because they HATE it in there- they cried and fussed like little kids when I put them in and shut the door.

Say a prayer if you will that little Miss Fern finds her way back to her warm blankies and her sweet little family. She is probably close to 14 weeks old- we've had them inside for a good 7 weeks, and I think they were probably 6 or 7 weeks when they were found, so maybe she will be ok if we continue to feed her... she is one that still nees formula, though. We have been off the syringe for a while now, but they get thier bowl of warm formula twice a day, and she is the first one there and the last one to leave. I am so worried about her!!!!!

Liza :hissyfit

[Critter_Queen]

I know it's hard, but try not to worry too much. It would actually be better if she did get out of your garage if there are chemicals, etc in there that could harm her. At 14 weeks she could very well survive on her own. Even though she was still drinking the formula from the bowl, it was probably more of an availability thing than a necessary one. Usually I have all squirrels weaned from the formula around 12 weeks...as long as they are eating a varied diet of solids, there's not much point in continuing to formula feed beyond that age. And like someone else here said...some of them will take formula until they're 21! :)

IF you can get her to come close to you again, I would suggest using a towel to help you catch her. Most of the time, you can just drop the towel over them and that should give you enough time to snag her.

I know you feel bad and are worried...but they really can do quite well even when we aren't so sure they're ready....

Good luck finding/catching her...you are doing the right things to try to coax her...

PS- if you use the towel trick, make sure you put one hand in front of her face (face under the towel) as you snatch her off the floor...she will BOLT as soon as you touch her...

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

This is what I would try. Do you have a place to put the others for a few hours a safe place?
Take her cage out where you last seen her..about night fall she may very well come back. Sit back and watch that cage carefully!
If she is 14 weeks though I dont know?
At this point are they outside for their 2 weeks before release yet or not?

[Liza]

Thanks guys... I am hopeful she will be ok in any case, but I feel so guilty. To answer Rippie- No they are not in a pre-release mode yet. I live in MN and the weather here has been mighty yucky lately.(frost at night, windy and snow during the day, although not accumulating, just making things COLD and crappy). . I've about accepted we will have them for the winter. They just recently became able to chew through nuts, so maybe I've been babying them too much and they'd be better off released for the winter. I just don't think so, though. They are still very babyish, they have no warm nest, and it gets to 30 below zero around here in the winter. I would feel much more comfortable releasing them this spring so they have a whole summer to get ready for the next deep freeze.. ya know??

I just feel like part of myself is lost in that cold dark garage and can't find it's blankie!

Liza :hurt

[Tammy]

Hi Liza- I'll say a little prayer for you that she is going to be ok. Hopefully she finds a warm place for tonight and you will see her in the morning. Good luck in finding her. Sweet little things aren't they? I currently have a little orphaned male that I will be overwintering. He's all by himself with no buddies. Hopefully he'll be fine when released in the spring- I'll be a wreck though. Hope you find her!!!

[Mrs. Jack]

Could you put a bowl of warm formula out there for her? Maybe she will smell it and come to get her drink. She might be easier to catch with the towel if she is drinking rather than snatching a peanut...

[Critter_Queen]

Very good idea Mrs. Jack! I would do that...

[Liza]

We still don't have him. (yes- it is a "him", not the one we thought). I don't know how I could have screwed up the identity like that, but when I got the cage back in the house, I realized we had 2 girls and one boy :skwredup :eek: With all the confusion and stress, they weren't acting like themselves, and I assumed because of size and something my son said that it was the littler female, when in fact it was the smaller male that escaped.

In a way, this is good.. The male that is out is almost weaned, and is pretty good at chomping through whatever he can. He is also a "go-getter"- I am much more confident that he is able to take care of himself than the passive, more immature female that I thought it was.

I still have the aquarium tipped and waiting, full of tempting yums and the blankets out of their cage. I also scooped some of the cage litter (pine shavings) from the cage and put in, hoping the scent of his sibs would call him in and he would snuggle up there for the night. My dh is an early riser (usually up by 4) and promised he would go check the aquarium right away in the morning. I am pretty hopeful he will be sleeping like a baby in there. It is supposed to get really cold tonight, and the garage is not heated, so I hope he finds somewhere warm, even if its not the aquarium. This is his first night alone, so I am still worried, but less than I was, KWIM?

Thanks for all your good thoughts and prayers.:Love_Icon . I will keep you posted-

Liza and three of the gang of four :crybaby

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

well you did all you could just be on the look out for cats thats all.
Other than that they can do very well at taking care of themselves.

[Critter_Queen]

Don't feel bad about him getting lose. Hey, they're squirrels after all...and we WANT them to be able to get away from people, right? :)

And if he stays in the garage, it won't frost in there. They can handle a lot of cold real easy, it's the frost that's bad (for bare, padded feets!)

Can you close the garage to make sure nothing ELSE comes in to get the yummies you left for the squirrel?? (or get the squirrel while he sleeps?)

[Gabe]

Usually they will return to the cage when they calm down and realize the rest of the "family" is still in it. Just give him free access to the area where the cage is.Let us know if he comes back.