mama & babies in the ceiling

[Secret Monkey]

Mama squirrel with adolescent babies up in the kitchen ceiling behind panel. I know this because one fell out of the roofline yesterday with some really gross large wart type growths all over it, dead,( a whole nother thread on this to follow). From the kitchen, the plan is to get a tall step stool and go up and lift that ceiling panel to peek into the nest.

Why? I don't need confirmation that they are there...... but I want to flush them outside. Hopefully the babies are mature enough to survive outside. The wart baby looked almost full grown.

Question: Will the mama jump on me if I open the panel? I am here alone, and I will surely have a heart attack if she does. Not worried about rabies, had my series done previously, but I am old and fat and will fall off the stool and break my ankle for sure, like I did the last time I was horsing around on the stool. If she doesn't jump on me I will be fine.
It is 2:43 p.m. and there is a lot of activity up there right now. Is this a squirrel for sure?
Some squirrel expert out there, please advise. I am ready with the tall foot stool, prepared to proceed.tinfoil

[farrelli]

The mom probably protect her young. Can you wait until they're a bit older? If thye're anything under 13 weeks they're really not meant to be on their own, and momma could have real issues relocating them. This is the middle of baby season and the worst time to do this kind of thing. Where exactly are you?

[Nancy in New York]

Do you still have the baby that passed? A picture would tell us a lot about the age.
What I am really wondering is if this wart baby actually has squirrel pox, and if perhaps it was the mama squirrel,
since you said it almost looked full grown.:dono

[farrelli]

That's a really good thought. I just emailed her to ask. The babies could be suffering.

[island rehabber]

This surely sounds like a case of the mamma having succumbed to squirrel pox (fibromatosis) and there may be very small babies up there starving, this time of year. Squirrels are not carriers of rabies and their pox is not zoonotic, so you have nothing to be concerned about in that regard. Just be careful on that stool!

[Nancy in New York]

That's a really good thought. I just emailed her to ask. The babies could be suffering.

Thanks for contacting her.
Hopefully she will come back on soon.

[Secret Monkey]

Hi, thanks for responding. I can wait if the kittens need more time But it's slightly un-nerve-ing to hear it/she/them doing the squirrel hop 3 feet above my head. Hope they don't destroy any electric wires.

Wart baby was still living when it fell out of the nest but died soon after I gently removed it from my little dog's mouth. Pretty sure it is an adolescent, not the mama.

What the heck is squirrel pox?! can you describe it? Does it look like the plague? If so, kitten has got it. Now I probably do too. I would like to assess the others in the nest to see if all of them have this condition or just the one. But i am afraid mama will jump onto me, and then get into the kitchen and be impossible to catch and release ( after I recover from my heart attack).

One of them, mama or babies, is running back and forth along the edge of my kitchen ceiling, which is along the wall facing the back yard, seemingly frantic, in the ceiling as I write this. I am charging my digital camera to take a picture and attach it. Coming asap.

[farrelli]

Yes, it does look like the plague but no, you can't catch it.

We're wondering if that might be the mom. Though the one you found could be a juvenile who over-wintered with its mom, many mom's have moved on at this point and are raising a new brood. If it was mom, the babies could be starving. We look forward to the pics.

[Nancy in New York]

You can read and see many more pictures here of squirrel pox.
http://www.wildthingssanctuary.org/squirrel-pox.html

Just a couple of photos, sorry I have to run for a while, good luck to you and the littles.

200154

200155

[stepnstone]

Hi, thanks for responding. I can wait if the kittens need more time But it's slightly un-nerve-ing to hear it/she/them doing the squirrel hop 3 feet above my head. Hope they don't destroy any electric wires.
Wart baby was still living when it fell out of the nest but died soon after I gently removed it from my little dog's mouth. Pretty sure it is an adolescent, not the mama.
What the heck is squirrel pox?! can you describe it? Does it look like the plague? If so, kitten has got it. Now I probably do too. I would like to assess the others in the nest to see if all of them have this condition or just the one. But i am afraid mama will jump onto me, and then get into the kitchen and be impossible to catch and release ( after I recover from my heart attack).
One of them, mama or babies, is running back and forth along the edge of my kitchen ceiling, which is along the wall facing the back yard, seemingly frantic, in the ceiling as I write this. I am charging my digital camera to take a picture and attach it. Coming asap.


This surely sounds like a case of the mamma having succumbed to squirrel pox (fibromatosis) and there may be very small babies up there starving, this time of year. Squirrels are not carriers of rabies and their pox is not zoonotic, so you have nothing to be concerned about in that regard. Just be careful on that stool!

Babies may already be without mom,
or the franic one could be mom looking for her baby.
Is there anyway to provide an opening to the outside from the attic?

[Secret Monkey]

ok, so pox not zoonotic, that's good. And rabies unlikely( also good, tho not a concern).
Tried to post pics here but they were too big. I posted them on my facebook page ( Sandy Carter-Szumikovsky) which has been temporarily set at "public" so you can see them and possibly identify the condition.

[Secret Monkey]

There are two openings that are being used by mama to go in and out. I didn't want to close these off because I knew there is a litter in there and didn't want to block their exit. This is the very hole that the baby fell out of.

[farrelli]

Here are the photos:

[farrelli]

That sure looks like pox to me, but I'm not an expert. Also, this one does look young. I hope the rest don't have it. Is there any way that you could look?

I leave it to the experts on this one as I have no experience with Pox. Please keep checking the site tonight. Someone will reply, but today the responses have been a little slow. Don't give up!

[farrelli]

Btw, perhaps an admin should be moved to the Life Threatening section?

[island rehabber]

Advanced pox...poor sweetie. Hard to tell the age, but someone needs to see if there are others suffering up there and at least give them the final 'release'. :(

[Fireweed]

Pox...poor sweetie. Hard to tell the age, but someone needs to see if there are others suffering up there and at least give them the final 'release'. :(
I agree. Poor, poor baby.
Please, please help the others in case they are suffering, too. :thankyou

[farrelli]

Isn't there some treatment if their not too far along? I thought I've read some stuff by Jackie on this.

[UDoWhat]

Welcome Secret Monkey,

Thank you for being so considerate for these guys. A lot of people would have just called the exterminators.

That young squirrel certainly looks like it had pox. Kudos to you for not freaking out. It is a frightening virus and often deadly to the squirrel.

Good luck figureing out about the rest of the bunch. Someone will be here to help you.

Trysh

[Nancy in New York]

This poor baby what a horrible death. The others may be as large as this one, I agree perhaps you can make an opening and somehow pad the floor/ground beneath it, or put something there for them to climb down on. Do you have a long 2x4 that you could angel up there as a ramp for them to come down?

Here is a link to a members experience with pox.
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38915

I am also going to alert Jackie in Tampa to this thread.

[Secret Monkey]

Oh, poor little thing. After looking at the posted pics of the pox, it sure looks like the same thing. So amazing that the lady who got the poxed squirrels spent the time and effort ( and heart break) to save those little guys. Thank you for being such a good caretaker :) Those babies are lucky to have been placed in your capable and loving hands.

I was in the medical field in the military so these things don't gross me out.

I guess I will have to get the tall step stool out after all. Hopefully mama doesn't jump out at me. I can handle anything but that. There sounds like so much activity up there. frantic mama? babies in pain? I guess I will find out. More later.
p.s. Thank you, ferrelli, for properly posting my images on here. This is my first visit here and I hadn't figured out how to downsize my pics for uploading.

[Secret Monkey]

I found this on an online site for the Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources:


"As far as we know, the virus only infects squirrels in nature. However, in the laboratory it has been successfully transmitted to woodchucks and rabbits.

In Michigan, where squirrel pox is common, there apparently have been no noticeable effects on squirrel populations. The disease is of no public health significance. The carcasses of affected animals are safe for human consumption, since current knowledge indicates the virus is not transmissible to man. Furthermore, the tumors are usually confined to the skin and are removed when the animal is skinned. If metastasized areas are found in the viscera, even though the lesions are not of public health significance, for aesthetic reasons the carcass should be discarded"

Return to Index
For questions about wildlife diseases, please contact the Michigan DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory.

[Nancy in New York]

The sooner you get to the little ones the better.
Wear thick gloves and a sweatshirt or something that will protect your arms.
Do you have anyone that you can call to help you out with this problem?

[farrelli]

I've got to go until about 8:30, but what is the plan here? If they have pox, I assume that you'll come back to report. If they're really young and that was momma, we can help you care for them. But if they're young adults, are you going to shoo them out? If so, maybe you can put out some food and water for awhile. If you can avoid shooing them until the morning though, that would be best so that they can try to find shelter before dark. But, as Nancy said, if there are abandoned babies up there, time is of the essence. Good luck! :Love_Icon

[Secret Monkey]

Hey to Nancy and Ferrelli, first, rest assured that I will not shoo any babies out until they are old enough, which I am assuming they are not, because they are still in the nest.

If they are young adults and the mama is dead, I will of course put out food, water, etc, inn case they are healthy and can survive. If they are very young, and motherless, I will make sure to protect and care for them.

Now, Nancy... can you tell me what to expect, nest-wise? My ceiling in here is the dropped "styrofoam " looking panels, and the nest is over my fridge along the exterior wall. When I work the panel loose enuf to lift it, what kind of nest should I expect? A bowl shape? a plate shape? I will try to avoid getting my scent on the babies by touching them, but I may have to move nest material around to see in it.
I will leave the babies in place for the time being, don't want to panic mama any more than she already is. Dusk has arrived, and she is most likely roosting up there right now.

[Secret Monkey]

btw, my son will be home from work in 6 hours, so he will probably help me if it comes to nest extraction, etc.

[Nancy in New York]

Last year a neighbor actually brought me a nest of babies that he had removed from his garage ceiling. There were twigs, grass, leaves and basically looked like a clump of debris. The babies were sort of in the middle of it under a lot of the stuff. I'm not sure what the typical nest that a squirrel would make would look like, I have seen them in trees, and they do look to be round, but the one that was given to me was in a box and just a mess. Not sure if it came out that way, or if that was from him removing it?!?
Whatever the case we need to prepare for babies with pox as this is highly contagious to other squirrels, so most likely the little one that died is not the only one with pox.
I will wait until Jackie comes on. She has dealt with this before and can better explain what you will need to do to support them. I know that I have some immune boosters here that you can dose in their water that I will gladly send to you.
Let's wait for Jackie, and we will take it from there.:thumbsup
Don't worry about getting your scent on them, mama will take them regardless, I believe that is an "old wives tail". :D

edit: I am so glad that your son will be home. If you are worried about falling, please don't do it until there is someone around, or let your son do it if he is willing.

[Shewhosweptforest]

We found a squirrels nest in our garage attic...it looked like a pile of insulation...but further investigating showed a small tunnel into a small nesting area...but just looking appeared to be a pile of insulation. Probably the same nesting material she'd find in your ceiling....Good Luck ..praying for you all:bowdown :Love_Icon

[Skul]

Isn't there some treatment if their not too far along? I thought I've read some stuff by Jackie on this.
That was adding Echinacea to the drinking water.
Doesn't cure it, just helps their own immune system fight it.
I am unaware of any cures.

[Shewhosweptforest]

Aww still no word on the babies in the ceiling :shakehead I fear the worst...:shakehead :Love_Iconbroke

[MollyBear361]

no update??

[California Squirrel Lover]

I was wondering the same thing. What ever happened??

[Southern Wildlife]

If you are going to try and remove them and the babies are old enough to travel out the same hole the mama uses you could put up a couple of one way doors with traps attached (live) and this will catch the ones that are not even attracted to bait yet. Then you can hold onto them until you catch them all then release to a suitable habitat with a nesting box with the insulating material from the nest so the smells will be familiar and will be more likely to use the box or bring to a rehaber to be taken care of. We do this all the time and it works great. Then when you have them all gone i would strongly suggest you seal up the house so you will not have this problem again and trust me if they liked your house once they will like it again and will be attracted to any of the remaining smells left by the previous family of squirrels.