foursquirrels
08-26-2013, 04:11 AM
Hi all from northern Illinois. Gray squirrel turf. Here's my story thus far.
4, 6-7 week old, eyes open, squirrels. Saw one wobbling around the yard. It was nodding in and out and was obviously distressed. I picked it up and put it in a pile of fresh brush so it had some cover while I hit the internet for info. Found the post about reuniting them with ma so I lashed a large box around the tree that I saw the first one climbing down from. Two dreys in that tree. I actually saw two little ones, over the course of the day, climb down from the same nest. I waited til sunset as I know they are diurnal and ma never showed up.
Now I've never been a big squirrel fan, they've been eating everything in my gardens and living in my neighbors attic for 30 years. He won't make repairs to exclude them and it's not my place to tell him what to do. That's why I decided to let nature take it's course with the one but of course I had to keep going outside to check on it every half hour, lol. Anyway, saw another one and another one and another so, I had to round them all up. Family life is of the utmost importance and this crew was obviously a family. I picked them up, they were so weak they didn't even flinch, and put them in a large, tall brown box. All in all though, I'd say they were in very good shape considering the drought here. Ma must have met her demise very recently.
Day 1:
Started them off on tomatoes, watermelon, carrots, celery, kale, purslane; which grows all over my garden beds. I eat a lot of it myself. Kale, cucumbers etc. These are all the things I've been sharing with their ancestors for many generations. They are crazy for tomato and watermelon and literally nursed on chunks of it the first day. I let them go for it as they of course needed hydration, watermelon/tomato. Anyway, a smorgasbord seemed appropriate since it was all I had. I also sprinkled all the veg's with calcium that I ground in a mortar and pestle.
Day 2:
Found the scalded milk diet and meticulously prepared it with a thermometer. I brought it to 200F in a double boiler to make sure it was truely scalded. Three grudgingly accepted it from a nippled syringe I purchased at p*tco. 1, the smallest and most precocious, nursed like a perfect machine. Actually, I had to buy the large syringe AND the little nursing bottle with a nipple so I could attach the nipple to the syringe. Too bad they didn't come together as a kit. I punctured the nipple a few times with a good sized safety pin, but it was clogging so I heated the pin and burned a proper hole in the tip of the nipple which works well. I also scuffed the business end of the syringe with a serrated knife so the nipple doesn't pop off under pressure. This works very well.
The biggest problem I found with scalded milk was that it was too thin. No matter how slowly I fed them a bit would always come out their nose and believe me, I fed them very, very slow.
Day 3-5:
Scalded milk worked well with no diarrhea or aspiration, they're pretty old so they snorted the liquid out without a problem, lol. I can see how the thin scalded milk diet could be fatal for the very young ones. I kept up the 24 hour smorgasbord. Fruit flies are a big problem with the 24 hour Vegas diet so I googled further. Keep in mind that I've been studying the little beasties since I got my first pc in 1997 not to mention lifelong observation :) The thing is, I was only focused on repelling them not nurturing so I needed help and of course I found this site. TSB. Bought the Zodiac flea spray and dabbed them all over with a Q-tip. Fleas were crawling off them onto the sheet I place in my lap when feeding and some were getting on me. Don't need no damn fleas! One miniscule application of Zodiac and all fleas ceased to exist. The rest of the jug will probably never be used. They should sell that stuff by the ounce. 15 bucks for a few dabs it was.
Day 6:
Switched to the goat's milk formula and bought the blue bag kaylee fortidiet chunks. They don't get all that enthused over the chunks but it's clear they need it to keep them from getting diarrhea from the tomato and watermelon. Their lackadaisical nursing turned into a feeding frenzy, they bite the heck out of me in anticipation now, when they got a shot of the goat's milk, yogurt, cream stuff! I still give them plenty of veg but cut the portions down to what they will only consume in an hour or so. Can't hack the damn fruit flies. They also get their pecans which they expect on schedule!
Day 8:
I belong to a local freecycle group so I posted a request for an animal cage, taller the better. Got an immediate response but it was an 80 mile round trip. Despite the fact that the generous woman was recovering from recent and very serious back surgery, she responded with pictures and such, as I didn't want to travel 80 miles for an insufficient/useles cage. So, I got a nice cage for 25 bucks worth of gas. Very kind person she is. I'll post some pics when it's all squared away. Scrubbed it with diluted bleach and water and scrubbed it again with dishwashing liquid. Let it stand all day in bright sunshine and through the night.
The first thing I did was to laminate a heating pad between a 1/4 inch piece of plywood and a thick chunk of plastic. Plastic on top with bedding, plywood on the bottom. The electric cord is secure and beyond gnawability, lol. I mounted that as a shelf up high in the cage. They freaked out when I put them in the new crib, climbing the bars like gecko lizards but settled in after less than a half hour.
Currently:
You guys have been an invaluable resource. I have a lot of questions but I'll contain myself and only ask the one's that seem most pertinent at this time.
Since it's the end of August and they're 8-9 weeks old, I'm not sure if they will survive if I release them in say, October. Northern Illinois winters can be bitter.
I've been giving them powdered calcium, on their food. I grind up 1 600mg tab with D and sprinkle it on their favorites, watermelon and tomato, once a day. I understand that they need it but how much is too much?
Also, why is scalded cows milk bad and raw cream ok??
I'm nodding off and can't remember the other things I wanted to ask. I'll go feed them again, crash and hopefully clear my mind. I don't know how you take care of the really little ones, manage the rest of your life and stay sane!
Thanks to all,
Bill
4, 6-7 week old, eyes open, squirrels. Saw one wobbling around the yard. It was nodding in and out and was obviously distressed. I picked it up and put it in a pile of fresh brush so it had some cover while I hit the internet for info. Found the post about reuniting them with ma so I lashed a large box around the tree that I saw the first one climbing down from. Two dreys in that tree. I actually saw two little ones, over the course of the day, climb down from the same nest. I waited til sunset as I know they are diurnal and ma never showed up.
Now I've never been a big squirrel fan, they've been eating everything in my gardens and living in my neighbors attic for 30 years. He won't make repairs to exclude them and it's not my place to tell him what to do. That's why I decided to let nature take it's course with the one but of course I had to keep going outside to check on it every half hour, lol. Anyway, saw another one and another one and another so, I had to round them all up. Family life is of the utmost importance and this crew was obviously a family. I picked them up, they were so weak they didn't even flinch, and put them in a large, tall brown box. All in all though, I'd say they were in very good shape considering the drought here. Ma must have met her demise very recently.
Day 1:
Started them off on tomatoes, watermelon, carrots, celery, kale, purslane; which grows all over my garden beds. I eat a lot of it myself. Kale, cucumbers etc. These are all the things I've been sharing with their ancestors for many generations. They are crazy for tomato and watermelon and literally nursed on chunks of it the first day. I let them go for it as they of course needed hydration, watermelon/tomato. Anyway, a smorgasbord seemed appropriate since it was all I had. I also sprinkled all the veg's with calcium that I ground in a mortar and pestle.
Day 2:
Found the scalded milk diet and meticulously prepared it with a thermometer. I brought it to 200F in a double boiler to make sure it was truely scalded. Three grudgingly accepted it from a nippled syringe I purchased at p*tco. 1, the smallest and most precocious, nursed like a perfect machine. Actually, I had to buy the large syringe AND the little nursing bottle with a nipple so I could attach the nipple to the syringe. Too bad they didn't come together as a kit. I punctured the nipple a few times with a good sized safety pin, but it was clogging so I heated the pin and burned a proper hole in the tip of the nipple which works well. I also scuffed the business end of the syringe with a serrated knife so the nipple doesn't pop off under pressure. This works very well.
The biggest problem I found with scalded milk was that it was too thin. No matter how slowly I fed them a bit would always come out their nose and believe me, I fed them very, very slow.
Day 3-5:
Scalded milk worked well with no diarrhea or aspiration, they're pretty old so they snorted the liquid out without a problem, lol. I can see how the thin scalded milk diet could be fatal for the very young ones. I kept up the 24 hour smorgasbord. Fruit flies are a big problem with the 24 hour Vegas diet so I googled further. Keep in mind that I've been studying the little beasties since I got my first pc in 1997 not to mention lifelong observation :) The thing is, I was only focused on repelling them not nurturing so I needed help and of course I found this site. TSB. Bought the Zodiac flea spray and dabbed them all over with a Q-tip. Fleas were crawling off them onto the sheet I place in my lap when feeding and some were getting on me. Don't need no damn fleas! One miniscule application of Zodiac and all fleas ceased to exist. The rest of the jug will probably never be used. They should sell that stuff by the ounce. 15 bucks for a few dabs it was.
Day 6:
Switched to the goat's milk formula and bought the blue bag kaylee fortidiet chunks. They don't get all that enthused over the chunks but it's clear they need it to keep them from getting diarrhea from the tomato and watermelon. Their lackadaisical nursing turned into a feeding frenzy, they bite the heck out of me in anticipation now, when they got a shot of the goat's milk, yogurt, cream stuff! I still give them plenty of veg but cut the portions down to what they will only consume in an hour or so. Can't hack the damn fruit flies. They also get their pecans which they expect on schedule!
Day 8:
I belong to a local freecycle group so I posted a request for an animal cage, taller the better. Got an immediate response but it was an 80 mile round trip. Despite the fact that the generous woman was recovering from recent and very serious back surgery, she responded with pictures and such, as I didn't want to travel 80 miles for an insufficient/useles cage. So, I got a nice cage for 25 bucks worth of gas. Very kind person she is. I'll post some pics when it's all squared away. Scrubbed it with diluted bleach and water and scrubbed it again with dishwashing liquid. Let it stand all day in bright sunshine and through the night.
The first thing I did was to laminate a heating pad between a 1/4 inch piece of plywood and a thick chunk of plastic. Plastic on top with bedding, plywood on the bottom. The electric cord is secure and beyond gnawability, lol. I mounted that as a shelf up high in the cage. They freaked out when I put them in the new crib, climbing the bars like gecko lizards but settled in after less than a half hour.
Currently:
You guys have been an invaluable resource. I have a lot of questions but I'll contain myself and only ask the one's that seem most pertinent at this time.
Since it's the end of August and they're 8-9 weeks old, I'm not sure if they will survive if I release them in say, October. Northern Illinois winters can be bitter.
I've been giving them powdered calcium, on their food. I grind up 1 600mg tab with D and sprinkle it on their favorites, watermelon and tomato, once a day. I understand that they need it but how much is too much?
Also, why is scalded cows milk bad and raw cream ok??
I'm nodding off and can't remember the other things I wanted to ask. I'll go feed them again, crash and hopefully clear my mind. I don't know how you take care of the really little ones, manage the rest of your life and stay sane!
Thanks to all,
Bill