Keep/Release conflict...

[Liza]

I just read the post by Harold and Maud's mum... I think they are secretly related to my cageful of fur. I am in the same situation, only I live in a COLD climate (MN) and I am not sure I even CAN release at this late date. Mine are 18 weeks, and just in the last few days the one male and female that used to be so quiet and skittish that I rarely even petted them have turned into the Bonnie and Clyde of the squirrel world! Today when I went to clean some mess from the cage (did you know that if your bury strawberries like nuts that they get green and smelly?) I swear she deliberately distracted me while he tried to attack my arm like it was a foreign army!!!!!! He is almost silly looking when he does this, but he squats down so he looks really low nad wide...and he CHARGES really fast with his little fuzzy head down like a battering ram. The first time he did it I laughed...until he bit a hole square through my fingernail. Ow.

All the while, my sweet little Daisy stays totally away from them, never getting into their screeching battles over whose walnut it really is... and looking at me sheepishly from over by the water dropper thingy like she was extremely embarrassed by their bad behavior! I want to keep her and release the other 2!!! Would that be hateful? She does sleep in the nest with them (technically it is HER nest.. she made it, tore the paper up, carried over the teddy bear, etc.) but they do all sleep together. Would she miss them too much?? I have no rehabbers in the area at all.. the closest one that would even talk to me when I had a squirrel before was half a state away, and she basically said "hes gonna die- get over it". (I had an electrocuted male grey we tried desperately to save). I'm not sure I want to hand my babies over to somebody else anyway.... I'm pretty attached, kwim??

Anyway, sorry for the rambling post.. probably better suited for the general discussion board... but I do need to know if it is too late to start acclimating them for release or do I just get used to being squirrel fodder until spring?? (And what about that reproducing thing?? I never even considered that!!! I guess because they are siblings... and I thought squirrels had better manners than to reproduce in my living room!!!!!!

Liza, one delightful Daisy and 2 nasty weeds

[Spanky]

Hi Liza! Glad to hear I'm not alone. Our squirrels are almost the same age and the predicament of keeping "one out of some" are similar. Hopefully a few more people will chime in with knowledge and opinions. I wish you and your squirrel clan the best. :)

[island rehabber]

Liza, you do have a predicament there. The best thing would be for all three to be in an indoor/outdoor kind of pre-release enclosure -- a BIG one, like 12' x 8' type -- until spring. They could hone their leaping and climbing skills, grow their winter coats, and not go too insane until it's release time. The problem is that in 5 or 6 weeks sexual maturity will set in (24 wks is typical) and then you will be in a pickle for sure. It will be necessary to separate the girls from your male at that point, and he'll be alone until spring. :frustratedx I know you don't want to give them up, but unless you're ready to build a big enclosure the best thing may be to find a rehabber with that type of facility or a nature center that will let you overwinter them there. If they have access to other squirrels I don't think they'll be messing around with each other but if they're kept together all winter, well...... :nono

[Gabe]

Put yourself in their place, if you had three young children, their parents suddenly died, a kindly relative stepped in to raise them, but only wanted one, and the other two went to foster care, how would that one child feel? Seperated from his family. It's been studied and proven that animals bond and animals grieve.

[susanw]

I live in florida and it's going to be in the high 30's tonite, so it's got to be pretty cold where you are at. You are going to have to get them used to being outdoors before you can release them. If the female squirrel is building a nest, than she is ready to go outside and it wouldn't be fair to her if you keep her. Please think about it, for her sake.:)

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

Just because your female is nice today dosent mean she will be tomorrow. They change quickly at this age.
I know how painful it is to release them, but keep pleanty of food around they will come everyday, Once they get past their first adventure.
The first release I did, will be by far the hardest, I adored my LittleGirl. She was my sunshine. That was June I see her everyday when she comes to eat. I know I did the right thing. This is Rippie Boy & Little girls on the left.
I miss her little kissable head. But I did what was best for her (them).:Love_Icon :Love_Icon
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k93/margaretmowery_2006/100_2001-1.jpg

[Liza]

I know you guys are right. Gabe's post about the foster kids about tore my heart in two. Daisy has always been the one to build and take care of the nest. She tears paper into little bits (and t-shirts and whatever else I give her, including a good sized piece of poplar wood she shredded into long thin shreds.) She tears it apart regularly and "redecorates" as we call it. She has a teddy bear about the same size as she is, and she prefers its company to the company of her siblings. She drags it around with her and grooms it. It is so adoreable I could just watch her play with it forever!

I guess I never thought that she was "ready" to build an outside nest because she can build one with inside materials... Do I keep supplying her with stuff to build with or let her find her own stuff once outside? It is funny- she prefers silky material over fleecy- I gave her an old piece of jewelry box lining (satin, maybe?) because it was a nice size... she tossed out her piece of purple fleece and redid her whole place for the silky stuff. Such a girl!

See how attached I am to them? Its crazy, isn't it? Oh well, I knew that independence day was coming- I just thought it would wait until spring. We have had unseasonably warm weather lately.. I s'pose I better start letting them take advantage of it....

boo hoo

Liza

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

Liza my LittleGirl was the one out of the 2 who cared about building a nest out of everything. When they moved outside SHE built the nest while HE played in the trees.:nono ..later it rained he got in the nest & she hung underneath a branch to stay dry. I'd hate to think about where he'd be without her by his side. Then later when they would come to eat he'd bite her if she would try to eat first. :shakehead It's definitly a mans world..even in a squirrels world.

They will find things to build with although now they may be able to use a nesting house. Remember the one Heidis hubby built? I pm'd you a link of one.

[Gabe]

Liza, I'm proud of you. It is hard to let them go. But yes, give them anything you want to line their nest with. I have red squirrels that are leaving the release cage and everything they can carry is heading out the door with them. Leaves, newspapers, small squares of cloth. I like to track animals that I have released when it snows and I can see their prints. I'm sure it will be easy to find their nest, it will have scraps of blue and yellow hanging out of it.

[Buddy'sMom]

.... It is funny- she prefers silky material over fleecy- .......
Interesting about that. Although Buddy loves his fleecy, furry stuff, he also apparently liked silky. I had tied a small cloth purse in the corner of his cage. It was lined with black silky material. While he never actually went inside, he kept pulling the lining inside-out so he could craw underneath. (the first few times, I thought it was by accident and very "helpfully" tucked it back in. It wasn't an accident, just how he wanted it!)

Know exactly how you are feeling, Liza. The attachment factor is quite astounding. In addition to being heartbroken at "losing" them, you will also be delighted to watch them doing their outside squirrely stuff. And proud that they are doing it. And terrified watching them. And terrified when you CAN'T watch them because they take off for a while or you have to leave the window to attend to the rest of the things in your life. You've done what you can so they are strong and healthy and ready to go, and will now be their support system in the background. So, while you are missing them like crazy, also enjoy watching them figure out how to be wild. And be proud that you made it possible for them to give it a try. :thumbsup

[island rehabber]

You've done what you can so they are strong and healthy and ready to go, and will now be their support system in the background. So, while you are missing them like crazy, also enjoy watching them figure out how to be wild. And be proud that you made it possible for them to give it a try. :thumbsup

...Spoken like a born rehabber. :) :thumbsup