How to release a 10 weeks old male estern gray

[Trooper]

Hello to the forum, great to be here. I have a question related to the release of a 10 weeks old eastern gray squirrel into the wild again. The little guy was dropped by a crow while he was trying to scourge the nest, got away with the sibling but my guy fell down 21 feet to the soft ground. My Dalmatian dog found him on a walk and having had experience with rehabilitating wildlife (snakes, armadillo, stork, crane and ostriches in So. America) I healed his wounds and re-hydrated/warmed and fed Esbilac until I got my hands on some FVN which he still loves today.

To make this story short, as I'm sure you've all heard the similar scenario, my concern is that the local rehabs in the So. West Coast of the USA are overcrowded these days with the fall/summer batch of orphaned squirrels, and could not find a suitable place that would take care of Trooper per my standards. So I decided to do the best I could for him and he is doing fine, according to the percentiles versus his age (health, weight and vital had been checked by my vet).

My concern is Trooper has become too acquainted with me,wife, son and dog and I'm afraid that since he is a single fellow, has not been able to learn proper squirrel etiquette and will be hard for him to be released and deal with territorial disputes. Now he is in a 6' x 4' x 3' aviary cage with a big redwood tree stump and a 'chalet' style redwood box with predator baffle. He has stuffed the box with leaves and other natural matter as well as fleece and feathers and I have even placed a square of live sod where he sometimes digs and hides his acorns and other nuts.

Would a 'soft release" be ideal for him? Should we try to 'deprogram' him from humans and turn him more wild as shown on Mary Cummings paper at http://www.mary.cc/squirrels/tametowild.htm, has anyone had this kind of experience?

Your help will be rewarded with an infinite deluge of gratitude as my only interest is making sure Trooper gets to be a happy fellow.

Thanks,

Trooper:wave123

[Jackie in Tampa]

HI..well he is much much too young to release at 10 weeks.
HOWEVER...if he is aquainted with your dog...there's plenty of time to UNDO this...
they need to be seperated and the sq cannot see you interacting with the dog...you must not 'SMELL DOGish' either.
The very youngest I would put him outside is 16 weeks for pre release...
and allow him to stay in the release cage for 3 weeks 'ish.
Daily he will get fresh green branches with leaves and the local fauna..
He must be under a sturdy tree and hopefully there are other sqs the same species as he is, playing near by. Hang a second nest box above his release cage as high as you can the day of his release, otherwise another sq may take it.
I am in milkd weather florida and cannot speak whether you have enough time to do this thgis year or if you'll need to wait for Spring, your little guy is very young right now.
If the cage he is in has small bar spacing {preditor proof} and has a roof over at least half of it...if the 6ft is tall...it may work as a release cage also...make sure it is snake proof as well...

others will be on to give better info...
hugs and thanks to you for helping!

[Trooper]

Dear Jackie:
Thank you for your prompt reply to my post and your input. The details about undoing Trooper's familiarity to our dog is the kind of information I was seeking for. We shall implement that right away. So. Western USA is very mild in winter and our area does not have snakes of the kind that could threaten Trooper.

We have a nice backyard, which is very naturally landscaped with 4,500 square feet of possibilities. One 75' tall redwood tree, and about 6 other trees that in the past have been used along with the redwood by other squirrels for nesting. Local eastern grays are in and out every day now burying nuts and have lots of desirable fauna (and undesirable ones like raccoons, hawks and cats).

One question for clarification on your comments; you stated: 'Hang a second nest box above his release cage as high as you can the day of his release, otherwise another sq may take it.', did you mean put two nest boxes on the tree the day of the release in hopes that any other squirrel that may want to take it will use the second one? Or did you mean have one nest box inside the cage with Trooper and one on the tree the day of the release?

My other concerns are:

1) How do we de-program him from us the humans?
2) Do we have only one person have contact with him?
3) Will having other squirrels roam about the yard while he is out be sufficient for him to learn how to "be" a squirrel (we believe he thinks he is a little human)?
4) Will he learn to fear other dominant squirrel that may call our backyard his/her domain?

I know these are too many questions, but when you care about a living thing the way we do, these are not enough unknowns for us to be at peace of mind he will be O.K. if released.

Thanks again and here are some pics of Trooper and his nest box: