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msquizzle
06-14-2011, 03:02 PM
So I've been blessed with the experience of raising a baby grey for the past 7 weeks, as well as the education that everyone here on the board provides. Sketch is about 12 weeks old now, and I'm figuring that its starting to become that time for the little guy. He's an only squirrel, and quite a gentle soul, barring the ferocious wrestling matches in which we partake daily :D ... Based on this, I have a few questions:

When should the release process start?
Should I release him myself, or have someone more educated do it?

I'm living on the Jersey Shore in a development with moderately busy roads around me. I have anywhere from one to three dogs on my 1/2 acre at any given point. All neighbors have dogs, and while my yard is fenced in with some really nice trees, I don't think it is ideal. There are some woodsy areas near by, but realistically only a hard release is possible in these areas.

Any suggestions?

Jester
06-15-2011, 12:00 AM
Are you in north Jersey or south Jersey? If you're in south Jersey and looking for a safe-ish place to release, you could maybe try to release it near Stockton. They own miles of woodland, and since its a school zone its very safe and heavily protected from hunting and any other dangers, plus its a school thats biggest focus is biology related courses, they're extremely eco friendly. (Not to mention it was founded by hippies lol, true story.) I relocated a wild box turtle there not too long ago. You wouldn't be able to soft release but if you need to hard release its a pleasant place. LOTS of deer there as well as other critters.

What I recommend the most though trying the Forsythe wildlife refuge out in Oceanville, its maybe 15 from 20 minutes from AC. That would certainly be a safe place for a squirrel to live, there may even be people there to help you with release/soft release.
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/wildlife.html#forests

Hope this helps..

island rehabber
06-15-2011, 06:30 AM
msquizzle, send a private message to member I Love Lucy. She is in New Jersey and knows many rehabbers, and possibly a good release spot. You don't want to hard release a squirrel....you can hard release raccoons and opossums but not a squirrel. They need that sense of security at night, going back to a familiar nest -- at least for a couple of weeks.

msquizzle
06-15-2011, 06:37 AM
Great guys, thanks! I'll contact the Forsythe people, as well as I Love Lucy. I really didn't want to hard release if I could help it. Poor kid wouldn't know what to do with himself! :shakehead

msquizzle
06-19-2011, 07:56 AM
Ok, update. Sketcheroo is about 13 weeks now. I couldn't get in touch with ILL, so I'm looking for plan B. The Forsythe people would be a hard release, it looks like. Sooooo, I'm realizing more and more that while I could release him myself, the best thing would be to find a rehabber that would be able to do it far better than I... is there anyone in the NJ, NY, PA area that would be willing to take on a friendly, wrestley, fat and happy squirrel? I'm willing to travel for my boy and I'd be more than happy to donate my cage and all my other cages, sustenance, etc. and pay for his needs... it would be like boarding school! :crazy ... Any ideas would be appreciated!

msquizzle
06-22-2011, 02:05 PM
Bump! :crazy :bump

Jester
06-22-2011, 05:32 PM
I don't know any of these people personally, but here's a list of local rehabbers and phone numbers. If you look under squirrels I think there are 16 listed from across the state. :)

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/rehab_species.pdf
(Its a .pdf so don't get scared when it starts to download lol.)

I Love Lucy
06-23-2011, 09:45 AM
Sorry - I didn't get a message from you. I have been having intermittent problems with my PM. I would be happy to release your baby boy. I will PM you my cell # now. If you don't get it please post on here.

msquizzle
06-23-2011, 01:44 PM
:thankyou :D :thankyou

island rehabber
06-23-2011, 01:51 PM
Yay, Lucy -- :thankyou:thankyou
Our New Jersey team is awesome today! :thumbsup

msquizzle
06-24-2011, 07:53 AM
She is wonderful! I'm going to bring sketch to her sometime next week and she's going to do a once-over on him :crazy

island rehabber
06-24-2011, 07:57 AM
She is wonderful! I'm going to bring sketch to her sometime next week and she's going to do a once-over on him :crazy

He'll be in the best of hands! :thumbsup

I Love Lucy
07-01-2011, 09:29 PM
I had the pleasure of meeting msquizzle and Sketch today. He is soooo sweet. When I opened his cage he jumped out and I thought he would run but he just sat on my shoulder. He even let me pick him up and weigh him. I put him in with a late spring baby and they will be with me until the end of summer. They are hiding in separate boxes right now but they'll be snuggle buddies soon. :thumbsup Great job msquizzle.

msquizzle
07-02-2011, 12:01 PM
I am so glad that he is being good for you, ILL! thank you so much for your help! I'll upload photos/vid of when he was a baby asap! :thankyou