Hello

[Chunky Skunky]

My name is Maria. My husband found a baby squirrel in the road about 9 weeks ago. He looked like a tiny squirrel puppet with a round head and flat body. We were told his eyes had just opened by a rehabber friend. Jorge put him back in the overgrown yard of an abandoned house that it appeared he came from and drove around the block. The squirrel was back in the road so he picked him up and brought him home. Roscoe the 10th Ave Squirrel spent the next two weeks on a heating pad. We think he was too young to maintain his body temperature and maybe the warmth of road attracted him. My friend said to go back and search for any siblings in the yard in case the mother had been killed. We never found any so Roscoe has been an only squirrel. Here are a few of his early pictures.

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/jpenterprises123/?action=view&current=Roscoe009MediumWebview.jpg

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/jpenterprises123/?action=view&current=Roscoe030MediumWebview.jpg

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/jpenterprises123/?action=view&current=Roscoe035MediumWebview.jpg

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/jpenterprises123/?action=view&current=2011-08-24_21-42-30_787MediumWebview.jpg

We were first told he should be released at 4 months and then someone else told us to keep him until spring even though winter is pretty much a non event in South Florida. We took him with us to the skunk show in Kissimmee and two licensed rehabbers thought he was not releasable as he is extremely friendly to humans. Another felt he would be ok but we live in a neighborhood where people have dumped their cats when they moved so there are a ton of feral cats around. Roscoe is already too casual with the old cat who lives here so we have to lock up the cat when he is out of his cage.

Roscoe has grown like a weed and his body weight is good. He weaned himself at 10 weeks and we started him on rodent block which wasn't popular but he gagged down a couple a day. I was making him a calcium supplement for a week or so and he started on Henry's Blocks Growth Formula on Friday. He likes the Henry's but I am getting a little squirrelytude over cutting back on the shelled nuts. This morning he dumped his food cup when he didn't get any nuts.

I have been enjoying the resources of this board to help give Roscoe the best start in life. Here is his most recent pictures with his first Henry's Block.

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/jpenterprises123/Roscoe/?action=view&current=RoscoeNewFood2MediumWebview.jpg

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb381/jpenterprises123/Roscoe/?action=view&current=1.jpg

[Skul]

Cute little monster. He seems to eat well.
You were right about the heat.

There are a whole bunch of TSB folks in Florida.
One may pop up and give you a better place to release other than a cat haven.