Hello from Houston!

[wildindigo]

Hello everyone!
I am a recent squirrel lover. I live in a nice apartment where right outside are two huge oak trees that are home to many a squirrel. I love to watch them and see them watch my dog and me. I so badly want to touch one and know how soft they are!!!
Is there something I can put on my patio so they will come eat? I have a half covered, half open fenced in patio.
My mother sent me the link to this site and I'm so happy she did!!!
Nice to be here!
Megan:wott

[SquirrelCav]

:Welcome to TSB, Megan.

- Jay

[JakesLittlePrincess]

:wave123 :wave123
You can leave nuts out for them, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, a few peanuts (although peanuts would be my last choice) and some sunflower seeds. They are incredibly soft but remember they can crack a hard shelled nut in a few seconds so be careful should you get close to them. They can't always distinguish your fingers from nuts.

[rocky63]

Hello Megan:wave123 :wave123 :Welcome to the mjs board

[Anne]

:Welcome :Welcome I tpp am glad your mother sent you here to our board. Please stay. Read all the different threads and learn all you can about our fuzzy buddies. Many here do not have a "resident" squirrel in their home, but so love and enjoy their outside friends.
Ask any questions that you may have, and if you take any pictures, please share them with us. We love pictures :jump .
Afain :Welcome , we are happy to have you!!:grouphug :grouphug

[2ndHandRanchRescue]

Welcome!! Yep we all love squirrels here! And everyone shares such fun wonderful photos! Its my favorite place! :Welcome

[Skul]

:wave123 Megan.
I'm just north of you, up Hwy 59.

[gs1]

:Welcome

they're adorable animals... so smart ...and soft but not like a chinchilla or a rex rabbit ...more like a rat.... not silky ... well depending on the time of year and thier diet etc.....

i worry about your hands if you want to touch one....

i have hand fed many ... and these were the ones that their mother brought and the mother would let me pet her.....

squirrels are funny when they're trying to take a nut from your hand... they don't see in front of their mouths... (it's to do with their range of vision) ...so if you want to try and hand feed then you need to use a really large pointy kind of nut ... like a peanut in the shell.... something to keep your fingers away from their mouths.

it could happen that if they are excited and inexperienced with people that they'll jump on your hand and fight the peanut away from you ... that's happened with me about 4 times ... and even in that case those squirrels knew me very well and so were not as scared or excited as a normal wild squirrel would have been.

i have been bitten when i'd give unshelled almonds.... and that was usually my fault...even if the squirrel had taken almonds from me lots of times...sometimes they'd get a little more excited and their aim would be off ...and i'd be bitten very deeply ..... those teeth are razor sharp..they can cut through wood and very hard nuts.... so you must remember that.

the first time i was bitten and i went to the doctor she was alarmed enough to call our ministry of health for our city and they called me for the next few months to make sure that the squirrel kept coming and was in good health, for my sake. :) They worried about rabies... it's almost, almost impossible to get rabies from squirrels, but doctors don't believe that.

From the beginning i told them that i knew the squirrel and she'd been coming for several months already and that i wouldn't be catching her and turning her over to them - they wanted to put her to sleep and check that she didn't have rabies.

they also could have given me rabies shots.

what i'm trying to say is be very careful that you don't get bitten because it can mean death for the squirrel depending on your city laws. (and you might need stiches :)....)

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

:wave123 :wave123 :wave123