Turned Squirrel Over to Rehabber--So sad

[Spock]

Hello--I posted a week ago with some questions about my 6 month old male gray squirrel, who hit "puberty" and started biting and showing aggression towards me and my husband. My post was "help on release method." I have loved and nurtured this squirrel for hours a day for the last 6 months and would let him out several times a day to run around the house. Last week, with the biting, I just was not comfortable with him out. He sat on my husbands shoulder and really looked like he was going to lunge at his face...so anyway, we kept him in his regular, fairly large cage.

Not being able to live with him in this cage, and being afraid of him, I called a local rehabber. She promptly admonished my for keeping him this long, and told me it was illegal (in PA). But I was desperate. My plan was to take his cage out a few hours a day to get used to the weather and wait until March. However, she scared me into releasing him to her with horror stories about mating season and squirrels killing eachother, thin coats, long teeth, Ca deficiency etc. I have read all about this and knew his worse problem was not being acclimated to the weather. He ate all the proper diet, had a healthy coat and tail, he gnawed wood and bark all day, so I knew his teeth were fine.

Anyway, she picked him up. I emailed her to ask how things were going. (We've all been in mourning for days missing him). She wrote back and said he's not happy. She indicated he's fine, and told me it was very difficult for them to adjust, losing their human family, wanting to mate but not able to, etc. Then she told me he was a picky eater and told me I couldn't visit him with my 3 sons because it would confuse him.

I am so upset and just wondering if you had any words of encouragement. She didn't indicate any problems--other than his coat needs to thicken, she has him in a colder room, a sun-lamp on him and trying to get him to eat higher protein foods.

It's illegal in PA to have a squirrel so it's out of my hands now. I just feel awful and that I made the wrong decision to let him go. Is this typical rehabber attitude? I do sense that they have hidden anger toward the general public who try to help wildlife. But for as many people who fail at helping them, there's just as many who succeed. There's probably some great rehabbers out there and just as many "bad" ones. So, I just was wondering any ones opinion.

Is there any other rehabber in PA who could get him?

[Mars]

Yes, There are good rehabbers and bad rehabbers. And yes, there good people who try to help and raise beautiful babies. But the truth in my experence is only about one in ten non rehabbers succeed in raising a releasable baby on their own. In most cases the babies die and those are the stories we don't hear because no one brags about the ones they lost. Of the ones that do make it into rehab most of those are sickly or they have no fear of cats or dogs(which could get them into very deep dodo upon release). Or they have been taught it's okay to climb on people. This also is dangerous for, as you know, they have very sharp claws and can hurt someone. On the other side of that coin an overly friendly squirrel can have unknowing people screaming rabies.

We are not trying to be pricks, we are more often than not just very frustrated. I know I wish more people who wish to raise squirrels would become rehabbers and learn the to do it right. I'm not personally against pet squirrels I just know it just isn't possible for to know ahead of time which squirrels will grow up wild and which ones can settle into an indoor home. As you read through the posts I think you will discover in door pets are few and far between. In all the time I've been rehabbing I have only had one squirrel not "wild up". And Iffen was deaf.

I have on the other hand seen all the well meaning and good people who love and care for their animals bring me problem childs. Babies to wild to be pets and too tame to be released. We are set the task to unlearn some bad habits and teach them to be wild squirrels.

I'm sorry I don't mean to go on and on. Being on the Board I can understand your feelings of loss and frustration. Being a rehabber I know the difficult task ahead of the little one as he gets ready to be released. Best I can tell you is Hang in there you've done the right thing.

[muffinsquirrel]

.......However, she scared me into releasing him to her with horror stories about mating season and squirrels killing eachother, thin coats, long teeth, Ca deficiency etc.......She wrote back and said he's not happy. She indicated he's fine, and told me it was very difficult for them to adjust, losing their human family, wanting to mate but not able to, etc. Then she told me he was a picky eater and told me I couldn't visit him with my 3 sons because it would confuse him.


It's illegal in PA to have a squirrel so it's out of my hands now. I just feel awful and that I made the wrong decision to let him go. Is this typical rehabber attitude? I do sense that they have hidden anger toward the general public who try to help wildlife. But for as many people who fail at helping them, there's just as many who succeed. There's probably some great rehabbers out there and just as many "bad" ones. So, I just was wondering any ones opinion.




Most of what the rehabber told you was true, although she doesn't sound like she was too very tactful about the way she said it. As you know, they hit maturity and 'wild up' on their own. Instinct kicks in and they want to climb trees and meet 'that certain squirrel' (or squirrels!), and raise a family.

You made the RIGHT, and only humane, decision to let him go to her. Now he must have time to adjust to being a squirrel, and learn to interact with other squirrels, build a nest, learn 'squirrel' language,(his life may someday depend on it). You have given him the best possible start in life, and now he's gone on to college to learn the lessons he needs to know to survive. I'm sure that the rehabber knows that the more contact he has with you and your family right now, the harder it will be on him to adjust and learn in the long run. Also, it is much better to have more than one to release together - that way they can help each other out during the learning and release process.

Yes, there are people that find a baby and manage to raise it right and end up with a happy, healthy squirrel. But for every one of those, there are ten that find a squirrel and manage to kill it because they don't know what they are doing, and they won't take the time to learn, nor spend the money to raise it right. As rehabbers, we see it over and over again, in babies that are brought to us to 'fix' after they are ill with MBD or have turned mean, etc.

You have done your part, and it sounds like you have done a very good job of it, raising a healthy, strong baby. Now it is time for you and your family, and for the squirrel, to look forward to the time when he will climb his first big tree and truly become a squirrel, the way he was meant to be.

I know you feel badly now, and are questioning all of the decisions you had to make, but you truly did make the right ones. Look into becoming a rehabber - they are very much needed in all parts of the country. Then every year you can have the joy of saving the lives of small bundles of fur that would not have made it without you, and you will have the bittersweet joy of releasing them, and feeling the thrill they feel when they first taste freedom, and climb that first big tree. Rehabbing is not easy, but the reward of giving a squirrel the life he was meant to have far outweighs the hurt of seeing your baby go.

Keep visiting us on the board, remember that you did the right thing for the squirrel, and seriously consider becoming a rehabber. We need more people like you.

muffinsquirrel

[island rehabber]

Yes, Spock -- I second everything Mars and muffinsquirrel have said above, and agree that you did the very best thing. It's a shame you did not get a "warm and fuzzy" rehabber to ease you thru the painful separation from your squirrel friend, but she is not wrong in what she says. The fact that your squirrel "is not happy", acccording to her, is a good thing: it's the first step in his 'wilding up' process. He's probably both fearful and angry, and that will encourage him to understand that he's on his own -- a big, strong, independent squirrel. That's how you want him to be.
If that rehabber wasn't in PA I would have sworn she was the one I contacted when I found my first squirrel. God, was she MEAN. :soapbox Really 'ripped me a new one', as they say around here. I cried for days. But I stayed in contact with her, learned from her, and she encouraged me to become a rehabber. Now we're best friends and I release squirrels on her property. Don't worry, Spock -- it will turn out OK and you did the very best thing. :peace

[Somebody's Mother]

i am not a rehabber. i considered looking into becoming one but i can't handle the attitude that if an animal can't be released back into the wild it should be euthanised.
my first squirrel was a grey squirrel. her family was killed when lightning hit the tree her nest was in. she was the only survivor. i took her in and tried calling for rehabbers help but no one would even return my call. so i found this board and raised her. i really had no idea what i was going to do with her. i respected the fact that she was a wild animal but i pretty much let her make the decisions. By the time she was a couple months old she made it clear she wanted to be free. through a recommendation from this board i took her to one of the best rehabbers ever. (the only one i have ever met in person) and she was introduced to other squirrels her own age and allowed to make friends and then released into the wild with the group. the rehabber,janet, was the most kind person. karen bit her upon introduction. janet took it all in stride. she assured me i had done a good job and that i was making the right decision. she understood when i cried and when i called for updates on karens progress.
i am so sorry that the first rehabber you came in contact with was such a butthole. please don't think they are all like that.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I have had plenty of experience with bad rehabbers! You have to remember though, that they have heard and seen all kinds of horrible things done to animals by people trying to help them. They become angry and take it out on anyone with an animal that needs help. For example, just in my 3 summers at the wildlife center I volunteer at there has been a call of someone microwaving a baby squirrel because it was cold, putting a basket of baby squirrels about 2 weeks old out on the tree stump overnight (they had cut down the tree with their nest in it) in the rain waiting for the mother to come get them (all 3 had pneumonia when they got to the center and 2 died), someone shot and killed a mother beaver and then brought in the little one, someone found a paralyzed baby rabbit and took care of it for 2 days before bringing it in and then went ballistic because it had to be put to sleep (I felt sooooooooooooo bad for both the lady and the rabbit, I mean the poor thing couldn't use either of its back legs, they were just stuck out behind him but you could tell that she truly loved him and thought that somehow he could be saved), and so many other horrible things. I think that all of this wears on the rehabbers and they become frusterated because they feel as though there is nothing they can do but yell at the people.

You definetely did what was right for your squirrel, though, so don't worry! I am sure that he will be very happy after he adjusts to his new friends and learns that he is a squirrel. And he will be much happier being released with some friends that he can hang out with and learn from instead of all by himself still thinking he needs you to survive. You have given him his independence by sending him. You should definetely think about becoming a rehabber, it sounds like you really care for the baby squirrels and you are willing to do the right thing for the squirrel, no matter how much it hurts you, and that is the most important thing!

[Kathy56]

Spock,
You did the right thing for your squirrel. He let you know that he wanted to be free. I'm sorry the rehabber seemed so mean. I just turned my first squirrel over to a rehabber on Jan. 3rd. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do because that little boy was the love of my life. I was lucky because I saw Somebody's Mothers thread about releasing Karen and I contacted her and she told me how to get in touch with the same person she turned her squirrel over to.Miss Janet was wonderful. She held me while I cried and told me to call her anytime. She allowed my daughter and me to come see Rufus after he was released and even took pictures for us.Don't judge all rehabbers by the one you met. The ones on here are a warm, wonderful, caring group of people. I had a hard time making the decision to turn Rufus over. The selfish part of me wanted to keep him but I knew he was not happy. He started biting back in Oct. and the only way to feed him was through the bars of his cage.He let me know that he wanted to be free and I loved him enough to let him go.Seeing him in his tree, making a nest and running free and playing with his friends was the best feeling and I knew I did the right thing.Give your rehabber a few weeks and contact her again. Ask her if you can come and see him when he is released.Maybe she will be in a better mood and you can see for yourself that what you did was the right thing to do. You gave your baby back his birthright. Stay in touch. I am always here if you need someone to talk to. :wave123

[Critter_Queen]

I agree with everyone else...you did the right thing. I'm also sorry that you got a rehabber that is probably burned out (like most are) and wasn't very friendly to you.

She is right, though, that you probably shouldn't visit...though I would think that the rehabber would be willing to give you photos and updates if you asked for them. You might also consider donating some money or goods to her...even though she's not being very nice. If you show her that you understand her frustration and what it takes to do what she does, maybe she would soften a little, ya know? Not that you feel like being nice to her right now... I probably wouldn't either...

I'm sorry that you feel so bad. I understand that. But you really did what is in your squirrel's best interest. :grouphug :thankyou