Frenzy is in the trees!!! But I have a question

[ohwiseone]

ok so the boys are almost 15 weeks and I let Frenzy out this morning for the first time. :osnap He is doing fine and I sat out there for over an hour just watching him run up and down the tree and jumping around in the tree tops. Well, basically acting like a squirrel. :alright.gif A wild squirrel teen saw him and tried to meet him and Frenzy jumped on me for safety. This wild was paying attention to Frenzy and not me and came within 2 feet of me before seeing me and backed off. All I kept thinking was "what if he jumps on me then freaks out and bites me?" :shakehead Anyway, they met and ran off together only to find Frenzy up another tree without said wild with him. :dono No idea what happened to the wild but apparently Frenzy ran him off. Too bad... it could have been a buddy for him.

Anyway, back to the question. While Frenzy was in the trees playing I put Noggin back in the indoor cage to bring him in since I have to keep the RC open for Frenzy. I was watching Noggin (whom I thought was deaf since he responds to nothing) :thinking and he was listening to everything!!! His ears were moving around to listen to all the sounds and he hid and alerted... all things I've never seen him do before.
:jump :wahoo :jump
Just wondering if you guys think that he was complacent because his brother was always with him and he leaned on him to let him know what was going on?? or maybe he just felt very safe and didn't feel the need to be scared??? but now that hes alone hes much more alert and cautious.

Does this mean that I can release him with Frenzy?? If so when should I do it?? Perhaps tomorrow when I let Frenzy out in the morning?? HELP!!! :help I bow down to your expertise :bowdown and I really want Noggin to be happy and out there in the trees too but I don't want to send him out with a death wish. And Frenzy can be with his brother and have a release buddy :Pals

What do you guys think??:dono

Correction- they are almost 16 weeks.

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Well, I wouldn't let Noggin out unless I was way sure he could hear. I no nothing about Ohio laws, but is there a vet that could take a look at Noggin for you?

[ohwiseone]

thanks sgm. I'm not sure how to be 100% sure though. I've tried making loud noises, crinkling stuff, blowing a whistle and nothing. Right now hes sitting in his cage looking out the window very intently listening to everything. They are worse than kids with the worry we have for them!! UGH!!!

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Well, if the vet looked in his ears and he had broken eardrums or something . . .
Is he listening intently or watching intently? I'm not trying to talk you out of releasing him, I just want you be 100% sure. :)

[ohwiseone]

I want to be 100% sure too so I appreciate all the advice I can get. He was watching out the window very intently and his ears were twitching and twisting all around. Does that mean he can hear or should I just keep him as a NR?? This is such a hard decision. He's curled up in his fleece sleeping right now. I'm just not sure.

[farrelli]

Does he have a treat jar that you could rattle, or quickly teach him that rattling means food? Seems to work with lots of squirrels to get their attention. If he doesn't look for food when it rattles, he's probably deaf.

I also would not release him until you're 100% sure. Can you delay the release of both?

[ohwiseone]

Oh good idea Farrelli!! Like a Pavlov squirrel!!:rolf I'll try that when he wakes up.

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Farrelli, why didn't I think of that?! At my house, when the nut jar makes the tiniest sound all squirrels are alerted. tinfoil

[ohwiseone]

ok so Noggin is inside in the indoor cage. He was resting on top of his fleece eyes open but with his back to me. I was 5 feet away and was banging on the wooden cabinets as hard as I could, then clapped very loudly, then yelled as loud as I could... I got no response from Noggin. No flinching... no ear twitching... no nothing. Pretty sure 100% hes stone cold deaf. I got myself a pet squirrel!!!:jump

Also Frenzy is not back yet and its getting dark... do they sometimes not come back after the first time out???:dono

[SammysMom]

Sometimes they spend the first night in the trees. Frenzy is such a big guy!!! Try not to worry (I know it is NOT possible) :grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[ohwiseone]

sammysmom... did you just say try not to worry?? :poke Not going to happen.:rotfl I do worry but I taught him all I know and its all up to him... I wanted a baby like Peaches that just hangs around the house being a house squirrel by his own choice but I guess this is ok too... He better come home for holidays or at least send a postcard or something every so often.:Love_Icon

[SammysMom]

Don't worry he will bring home his laundry and an empty sack to be filled with nuts!:D

[ohwiseone]

Don't worry he will bring home his laundry and an empty sack to be filled with nuts!:D
:rotfl typical... I have three 20 something girls that do that so why not add a teen squirrel to the mix.

[ohwiseone]

Ok he's not back and its pitch black out there. I hope he's ok but I do have to sleep. Hopefully he's in someone else's nest like perhaps that wild teen that wanted to be his friend. I'll wring my hands till I see him again.

[stepnstone]

Here is a few recordings of squirrel sounds.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/learn-to-speak-squirrel-in-four-easy-lessons/2012/04/09/gIQAV8Jr6S_story.html?hpid=z5

When you open the page scroll down they are on the left side,
turn the volume up.
Just out of curiosity I'm wondering if they will draw any reaction out of Noggin. :dono

[ohwiseone]

well I played them for him and had the speakers up loud with him about 10 feet away. the first alarm call I thought he heard cause he paused in his eating but I played it again and he kept eating. Apparently he just saw something outside that made him pause. I waited a bit and played it again and nothing. Poor baby can't hear a thing. I wonder if it was from the fall or if he was born deaf??

:thankyou for the link. it was interesting to hear the different noises and calls they make. Interesting enough Frenzy would make the muk-muk noise when eating from the syringe but Noggin never did. I've only heard him scream when Frenzy tried to take his pecan away and he makes a 'chittering noise' when scared. But thats it. nothing else. :dono :dono

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Sounds like you have a forever baby. :) :Love_Icon

[stepnstone]

I wonder if it was from the fall or if he was born deaf??
Without some type of x-ray / scan there would be no way of really telling.
Glad he's got himself a forever home regardless of either. :D

[Shewhosweptforest]

How's Frenzy doing? Did he come home for a visit...hope he did so you don't have to worry as much....:grouphug I think we're all in the WorryWarts Anonymous program we just have to keep being each others sponsors :thumbsup

Please let me know how he's doing:thankyou :grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[ohwiseone]

How's Frenzy doing? Did he come home for a visit...hope he did so you don't have to worry as much....:grouphug I think we're all in the WorryWarts Anonymous program we just have to keep being each others sponsors :thumbsup

Please let me know how he's doing:thankyou :grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug



He did come back 4 nights later. He loved all over me then went to bed I still give him food every day and sometimes it's gone and sometimes it's not. Mostly he's comes back now but it's after I have gone out there apparently because when I go out in the morning the food is gone and so is he. I'm glad he still comes back for a visit and I'd love to see him again but he comes home to late and is up too early.