Wilding up or not...?

[SammysMom]

Okay, my Sammy is still acting like a total loving baby at almost 6 months old. Is this a sign that he is NR? We have been putting him in an outoor pre-release cage that we built but, he is totally satisfied to hang out in it days and waiting to come in at night. Even when he has gotten away from me he goes nowhere. Am I being silly to think he might not want to leave?

[Busysqrl]

Wilding up can happen at different times, sometimes they are older when it happens, 9 mos to a year, it just depends on the individual squirrel. Some never wild up. I have a female foxer, she's 2 now and just as much of a snuggle bunny as she ever was as a baby. I think a lot has to do with how much they are handled and whether they are a single or not. I think the singles tend to bond more with their caretaker mommies than multiples do. The multiples have the other squirrel(s) to show them what a squirrel is supposed to be like, a single only knows it's human mommy. My girl was a single and we spent HOURS with her every day and still do. I think the singles that are handled a lot are the ones who tend to not wild up. You can never tell though. Enjoy your baby :grouphug

[SammysMom]

It astounds me every day how much happiness Sammy brings me. Funny how I thought I was helping him and in the end he seems to be the one doing the helping...lol I guess I feel like if he goes, he goes, but should he decide he would like to stay he is far more than welcome to! Thank-you for the quick reply and the support. :thankyou

[Busysqrl]

I know how you feel SM! I was SO happy when my girl didn't wild up. I was SO in love with her and still am but would have given her her freedom if she wanted to be wild. It was so funny, I have an outdoor cage for her when the weather is nice in spring and summer, one day it started to sprinkle while she was outside. She'd never felt that before, she shook and shook and I laughed and laughed. Wild squirrel my foot! She is totally an indoor girl, LOL!

[UDoWhat]

Single babies do tend to human bond. I have found that to be the case many times. But that doesn't mean it can't be done. HOWEVER, maybe Sammy isn't ready yet. Why push it? Relax and enjoy the experience for a while longer if need be. It's only Feb. I never release until the trees have leaves for cover and it is warmer. Sammy will tell you when he is ready.

Marty, Licensed Maryland Master Wildlife Rehabilitator

[SammysMom]

Thanks Marty! I do enjoy the little demon...even when he is trying to pull every key of the laptop or run off with my bluetooth...lol I am truly an animal lover who knows that wild is wild. If and when he is, he can go out an live in the trees as is his birthright. Until then, I will keep buying toys and Monday his new Critter Nation double cage will arrive. I'm sure it will be a wonderful addition to our dining room! TSB is the coolest place I have ever been on the internet. What a wonderful group of caring people! I am so happy to be a part of it. :thankyou

[pappy1264]

My four are the same age, all loveable.....but come spring, esp. if they are outside, with the wilds all around, then you may very well see a different squirrel! Love him and enjoy him....and see what happens. (I know I am going to need an intervention AND and exorcism to be able to let these four go! My heart breaks every time I look at them as the days pass.....for I KNOW what I have to do....but doesn't mean I have to like it! But it is February, and we still have about 4 feet of snow out there.....so I try not to think about what the spring will bring in regards to them.....I am just loving them.

(And I hit enter....and the tears started to flow.....just thinking about them leaving....crap!)

[Nancy in New York]

My four are the same age, all loveable.....but come spring, esp. if they are outside, with the wilds all around, then you may very well see a different squirrel! Love him and enjoy him....and see what happens. (I know I am going to need an intervention AND and exorcism to be able to let these four go! My heart breaks every time I look at them as the days pass.....for I KNOW what I have to do....but doesn't mean I have to like it! But it is February, and we still have about 4 feet of snow out there.....so I try not to think about what the spring will bring in regards to them.....I am just loving them.

(And I hit enter....and the tears started to flow.....just thinking about them leaving....crap!)

Oh I feel your pain...I have Magenta's Babies and Fluffer, 5 total. I try not to think of it. But daily I always have a reminder. Fluffer while only two weeks younger is still my baby, and Magenta's Babies have never taken to him. So he has me. Oye....the thoughts of it kills me.
SammysMom I agree, if he is fine, let him and yourself enjoy the time, he may be a fall release..................of 2017...:rotfl :rotfl :rotfl
You know IR reminded me, and it's so very true, when you see them out in the woods doing what they were born to do....it just does your heart good...I try to think of that. But I feel too selfish at times where all I want is to protect them, but then I really think....is that a great life for them? OK no more of this tonight...I'm also going to start crying....:shakehead

[SammysMom]

Mary, I can't even think it without tears...lol We still have some now too and the cold seems to be back. He does still spend his days outdoors with a fleece-filled nest box. He is totally oblivious to the wilds who spend their days climbing all over his cage trying to figure out how to get the nummies inside...lol Rather than him wiling, they are "taming". One of the regulars will climb us just like Sammy does looking for a treat. It will both please me and break my heart when he decides he wants the company of squirrels, but I will feel like we succeeded in doing the right thing by him. It will also give me the opportunity to do it again. If he stays, I am afraid he will be the first and last as Hubby will worry we will end up with a houseful of fluffy-tailed chewing demons!

[SammysMom]

Yes Nancy...now I'm crying too..lol Hubby thinks that I should stay off TSB if it makes me cry! He doesn't get it! Neither do I, but I am addicted to squirrels!:D

[TimDolbear]

Hey all, Ours, Sparky, is 6 months, and started wilding up 3 weeks ago, at first he did not want to go out side, but when we would take him out, into the trees he went, played for a half hour then back on us and into the house for the night. A couple weeks of that and then he spent 3 days in his cage outside watching the world, and other squirrels and learning the sounds, and we still took him out at 4pm to ventured into the big main tree, but back to his cage he would go at 5pm and into the house for the night with us. 3 days ago at 4 he went, he was ready and he chose, and was gone all night, he went from our 1 big tree to literally every tree with in 4 properties that we could see, marking every branch and running wild. LOL. Side note, if he is out there and does not want to come in, don't force him or go get him, let him come to you, the state of mind they get into is wild and you will get bit.

Anyway, Next morning at 10am he was back on and in his cage, since it has a small opening at the top for him (Its 6ft tall and on wheels). He and 2 new friends are in our yard now though out the day and come 5pm, they disappear. Next morning he is back for food and hangs out all day, back yard, front, on the roof, thru the trees... I am so happy he is going to have a squirrel's life, but yet so sad cause I miss him, and worried because he is still getting his street smarts and has to deal with every danger that is out there.


So, if yours is wilding up, try what we have, let him choose, to see him go and be so free and so happy, sad as it is for us, its worth it. I love my little guy!

[BamaHam]

So glad to hear I'm not the only one feeling sad and anxious at the same time. I worry about him making it in the wild. He's not afraid of our dogs. We tried to teach him to stay away from them but he runs up behind them and smells them or nips at their feet then he runs away. With the exception of our Australian terrier, they face each other and smell. I'm hoping he thinks we're his pack(including family dogs that live inside) and doesn't run up to any other. He is skittish and squirrely about sudden movements and noises. He also hasn't met a stranger yet. I've only had a 5 other people come to our house and jumped on them and greeted them. He's just 7 1/2 months old so I'm waiting to see if he changes as he matures. Only time will tell. I just don't want anymore bad dreams or sleepless nights worrying. I thought I rescued a squirrel but he actually rescued me. I love my Hammy!:Love_Icon

[Scooterzmom]

I feel as if I'd been reading my own words here. I too am nearly going nuts trying to think how I possibly could release Hami in this ever so dangerous place that is my neighborhood.

Yes, there are tons of squirrels here, but that's it... it's a very competitive world out there for food and for nests. And worse, I keep seeing bunches of them who get hurt - even maimed - by cats and dogs, and in the last 2 years I have had the heart wrenching task of picking up 4 of them (2 of my "personal" wild babies - I mean wilds who used to come feed from my hand, one who was still nursing!!!) dead from being hit by a car... on a street that is supposed to be max 25mph speed limit :sad

I don't even have a tree to place his cage close to. :(

[SquirrelsinSingapore]

I feel as if I'd been reading my own words here. I too am nearly going nuts trying to think how I possibly could release Hami in this ever so dangerous place that is my neighborhood.

Yes, there are tons of squirrels here, but that's it... it's a very competitive world out there for food and for nests. And worse, I keep seeing bunches of them who get hurt - even maimed - by cats and dogs, and in the last 2 years I have had the heart wrenching task of picking up 4 of them (2 of my "personal" wild babies - I mean wilds who used to come feed from my hand, one who was still nursing!!!) dead from being hit by a car... on a street that is supposed to be max 25mph speed limit :sad

I don't even have a tree to place his cage close to. :(

Hello Scooterzmom

Hm them got run over by vehicles is gona be really sad. We could do more to avoid that ever happening. If you are to release your squirrel, pls choose not the busy city with streets, instead, choose the quiet countryside with tree grown foodsources. It is indeed hard not to see the squirrel as frequently. Saftely should still be pirority. That way we also keep dogs away... =)

CM2021 CM2021 CM2021

Josh

[SquirrelsinSingapore]

Single babies do tend to human bond. I have found that to be the case many times. But that doesn't mean it can't be done. HOWEVER, maybe Sammy isn't ready yet. Why push it? Relax and enjoy the experience for a while longer if need be. It's only Feb. I never release until the trees have leaves for cover and it is warmer. Sammy will tell you when he is ready.

Marty, Licensed Maryland Master Wildlife Rehabilitator

Hello Uknowhat

I agree with you we should relax and enjoy the experience. Let it mature physically and mentally, and never rush the process of putting it out too soon. Let them choose to be kept or stay in the wild... We should provide both sets of experience, not judge for them which is better then which. They need time to adapt, so pls pls opt for the soft release approach, to enable your squirrel ample time to adept at life outdoors.

The best scenario is still if your house has a enclosed yard that is private with a few trees, etc. I would have opted for someone with those outside facilities, and who loves squirrels -as much as i do!

:osnap :osnap

[BamaHam]

Luckily we do live in nice neighborhood in a culdesac so not a lot of traffic in front of my house. But there are cats behind my house that the dogs keep afar. He'll be protected that way. Our dogs don't mess with Hammy indoors but outside they might get confused he's another squirrel and chase him. That is what I'll have to monitor. I think he'll stay around his home. Not too many squirrels around our house but there are some in neighbors trees a few houses down. There is a girl squirrel that comes to our bird feeder. I joke with my kids and tell them that Hammy's future girlfriend is visiting.

[pappy1264]

My backyard backs up to 'the forest' and it runs almost the legnth of the town, so they have plenty of safety amoung the trees. Pinkie (she was released last August) has stayed and actually has her own babies. She still comes to me for food, and knows her name (she stops dead in her tracks if she is running and I call her! lol) And I have a pot filled with soil up on my side stoop, which is under the overhang from the roof. It does not have any snow in it (unlike the 4 ft in my yard...lol) Pinkie actually comes to 'her pot' to bury her stashes! lol (She isn't afraid, 'she used to live here'.....lol)

So I think of her (and feed her still every day) and it helps a tiny bit. (Of course, I have not seen Fonzi since Sept, so that part hurts.....praying wherever he went, he is doing well. He was closer to me....but the males do tend to 'move on' in my experience.)

So, I have two males, two females, and I love them all, but Sebastian is MY BABY........I literally get chest pain when I think of the day I will release him. But it is his birthright to be free. (Now, if he says 'I'm not going anywhere....I won't lie.....I won't complain....lol) But for today and the next while, I will get to love them and TRY not to think past today. (Oh, I have dogs, but my guys have never been exposed to them, as far as the dogs getting anywhere close to them...but my dogs also have been trained very well....they do not chase any of the critters outside. Red will lie down about a foot from the bird feeders....the chippies come right up to him....they know he is 'harmless'....lol)