Request advice on when and how to release squirrel

[MischiefManaged]

I have a little guy (I’ve named him/her Murrfy) that I’ve been caring for, going on 3 weeks now. Rescued him from a cat; his mama is nowhere to be found. I think she came to a bad end, poor thing. Murrfy’s a scrappy little guy, fended off a cat 10 times his size, but he was awfully skinny when found. He didn’t have any obvious wounds, and has been taking formula very well; I’m giving him the goat’s milk+full fat yogurt+heavy whipping cream blended recipe I found on TSB. He’s also begun to nibble on broccoli and KayTee FortiDiet Pro Health rodent chow, which is the only rodent chow I’ve been able to find. I want to release him as soon as possible, but don’t have any experience in rehabilitating and releasing wildlife. I’ve searched high and low for a wildlife rehabilitator and there isn’t a single one to be found anywhere near. The folks I found are in the northern part of my state and they say the State Department of Game and Fish doesn’t want animals from the southern part to be taken into the northern part for fear of potential contamination of subspecies populations; so, they can’t take him. I have to release him locally. While he is cute and wonderful, I can’t keep him long-term and I’m afraid that the longer I handle him, the less able he will be to survive in the wild on his own. Plus, he is still so small. I’m not sure how old he is (6 or 7 weeks maybe?), but he seems just too small to release and I don’t know how I can possibly teach him to forage. One lady I spoke to told me that this species is pretty resilient, and that if I just release him into an environment where there’s food, he’ll figure it out and be fine. Is that so? How long should I keep him? How best should I handle him so that he can be released later? I’d really appreciate any advice you can give, and Millions of Thanks for the loads of helpful information I’ve already borrowed! I’ll try to attach some pics.

[pappy1264]

Is he a ground squirrel? He is much too young to even be thinking release. Ground squirrels are pretty territorial, as well, so will be tough to get him back into the population. Usually you try to do a group to be released together, as a single will more then likely be chased off or killed. do you have any zoos that could help? I would be very concerned releasing a single, but even if you try, he needs to grow quite a bit more before you do.

[Pip]

6-7 weeks is very young! They (grey squirrels I know) need mother's milk (or a substitute like Fox valley) up to 11-12 weeks (follow feeding instrutions and supplement diet as indicated on the SB and under nutrition section)! Here many people think about releasing when the babies are at 14-16 weeks old and when it is time to release they put them first (2-3 weeks) in a special predator proof release cage, giving them fresh food and water everyday, and this way they get them use to the outdoors and being on their own.

You have a beautiful baby! :thankyou Thank you for taking such good care of this baby. :thankyou :grouphug

[island rehabber]

He IS gorgeous -- look at those big eyes!
I would private message pappy1264 about ground squirrels-- she is one of our experts. :thumbsup

[Anne]

What an adorable little face! So glad he has love and a chance to live a good long life.:grouphug

[MischiefManaged]

Oh Thank-U-Thank-U-Thank-U to everyone for your helpful replies. I'm glad my gut sense was right, that he is too small yet to release; I'd been given advice to let him go right away because he is wild, after all. Obviously that's not a sound idea (eek). Since he is a lone one, he has no litter mates to play with, so he plays with me when I put him in my lap to feed him. It's really so precious:Love_Icon, but I also don't want him to become tame - if that's possible - because I can't keep him. I will have to let him go, as I'll have to be moving sometime in the near future and I can't take him with me. I have called and left a message with the local zoo director, but haven't heard back from him. By the way, he is indeed a rock/ground squirrel - Google to the rescue there. And I, too, am worried about his being rejected by other squirrels already on-site, which is something I've been considering when looking at potential release sites. On the other hand, he probably shouldn't be alone; I'd like him to find other squirrels to join with. (sigh). Anyway, I guess I still have about 5 to 6 more weeks of his "growing up" to figure this one out? I'm also wondering if little ones ever drink water from a bowl/saucer. I've never seen him drink. Whenever I place water in his box he just spills it everywhere. (:dono) Thanks again everybody!

[pappy1264]

Give him a bottle. It is very tricky releasing a single.