when to intervene? and when to not?

[missPixy]

hi everyone, I just went through a horrific experience and in hindsight~~ well you know what they say about that.

yesterday late afternoon, among the adult gray squirrels who come by my house for some nuts, was a young squirrel I'd never seen. he had a completely fully fluffed tail and really looked exactly like a miniature squirrel. there seemed to be nothing wrong with him but here he was at "the cafe" with the rest of the regulars so I figured he was hungry. he also tried to follow a couple of the older squirrels around.

he watched a couple of the other squirrels come and take nuts, some take them from my hand. I kept encouraging him and he finally came up close enough to take a pecan (out of the shell) from me. I did the same with a walnut. he growled at other squirrels who simply came close to get their own nut. but I noticed when I gave him each piece of nut, he smelled my finger and held it a bit as though wanting a nipple. he was a combination of a miniature grown-up squirrel and a youngster.

he also didn't see to have the balancing thing down 100% while he stood on a nearby log to take the nuts~~ not that he had any neuro issues, but similar rather to how one feels unsteady on a bike if they're still in the learning phase.

but he didn't want to be held or touched, and ran away from me and up the nearby maple tree each time I went back into the house and then came out.

there was nothing wrong with him. he was just young. we still have a good 4 weeks' left of full tree cover in my state. temps are still in the 70s during the day and low60s/high 50s at night. he acted pretty independent. a thought buzzed through my head about whether I should try to capture him and overwinter him? but because he had nothing wrong at all, didn't seem skinny or dehydrated, fully fluffed tail and all~~ I let him go. He clearly didn't want to be captured and I'm not sure how I'd even have done that without causing him a ton of stress.

this morning I found his remains under the lilac shrub in our yard. I am still barely able to even type these words~~ :boohoo :sad omg all that was left~~ I can't even type that.

part of me doesn't understand this. he was perfectly alert and not trusting of even the adult squirrels around him, growling at them when they came near as he ate. I live in a house split up into 4 apartments. the guy who lives in the other ground-floor apartment has an outdoor cat, but the adult squirrels literally walk over him, he doesn't really pay attention to them, although he does kill birds including pigeons. my partner wondered if a raccoon might've killed him? could the cat have killed him?

yesterday I took about a dozen sweet shots of him on my iPhone, and was so looking forward to his coming back around today. now I'm stuck here at work and I keep crying and trying to not let anybody see me cry, and I can't even bear to look at any of the photos. I am so sad and feel like such a failure. I guess I need to know if this situation should happen again in the future, what is the best practice?

[ALittleNutty]

:grouphug:grouphug:grouphug Oh I am so sorry you experienced that. Since the cat doesn't bother the other squirrels it probably was another predator that got him. Still doesn't make it any better though. At least he had some nice treats from you. Just makes me want to :boohoo.

[TubeDriver]

:grouphug I am sorry for your little friend and also for you. :(


There are often judgment calls and I probably would have done the same thing that you did. I would have watched him carefully, made sure he got treats and fresh water and kept my fingers crossed. Nature is often cruel and not fair, often the smallest and the weakest are the ones that do not make it. It could have been a raccoon, they are squirrel killers (although a cat is also a possibility).

I recently found the body of a small adolescent squirrel who probably died in a fall. I understand how much it can hurt to see such an innocent and precious life that is stopped much too quickly.:( It really hit me in the stomach to see his little body in my yard and to know that maybe I could have helped him if I had just seen him earlier. I named him Pip and buried him in my garden.

Hopefully, your little squirrel is now playing with my Pip, they are both whole and healthy and happy. I would not have trapped him based on what you said, I think you did the right thing (even if it did not work out for this little fellow).

:grouphug

[Mommaluvy]

I am so sorry.. Are you certain the body was his? Maybe it was his sibling?

Hard to say about the cat? We have a neighborhood cat that does kill squirrels. Seen it happen. Yet this morning I saw an adult squirrel literally walk over the same cat. This particular squirrel shows no fear of this cat and this morning that can't could not have cared less about that squirrel. So.. Who knows.

[czarina]

I am so very sorry. That is a terrible thing to happened.

But, I also would not have trapped him. I would have just kept an eye on him. In my opinion, it is not right to trap a perfectly normal animal. It is just so tragic that his life ended this early. Sometimes young squirrels sleep really, really hard, and they become an easy target for a predator.

Godspeed little one. :Love_Icon:grouphug:Love_Icon:grouphug:Love_Icon:g rouphug:Love_Icon

[missPixy]

thank you so much everyone for your replies. :grouphug the pain is suffocating and the only thing that could be worse would be the guilt of thinking I'd done the wrong thing by letting him stay wild outside.

ALittleNutty: Thank you for trying to find one bright spot in this.

TubeDriver: I really appreciated that vision of Pip with this little one. no doubt they are together safe and sound. you are definitely right, it was a pure judgement call on my part which made it even more regrettable this morning. but, good to know that given the circumstances, I wouldn't have been alone in that decision.

Mommaluvy: still hard to figure out. thinking about what I found left, I don't think a cat's jaws (at least this cat's) are strong enough to cause the damage through bone/skull that I saw ~~ it was so horrible. I hadn't even considered there might be a sibling around as well. I am pretty sure it was my boy from yesterday. the tail and hands.... I remember them because he was eating from my fingers and I love squirrel hands so I pay a lot of attention to them. but thank you for the optimism.

czarina: yes, I'd planned to keep a close eye on him. I'd even gotten up early today so I could get into work an hour early and leave early to be home during when the squirrels come by for "last call" before heading to their nests. I wanted to have more nuts shelled and in small pieces ready for him.

Your comment about the "deep sleep" is one I hadn't considered.

[MyBushyTail]

Mommaluvy: still hard to figure out. thinking about what I found left, I don't think a cat's jaws (at least this cat's) are strong enough to cause the damage through bone/skull that I saw ~~ it was so horrible. I hadn't even considered there might be a sibling around as well. I am pretty sure it was my boy from yesterday. the tail and hands.... I remember them because he was eating from my fingers and I love squirrel hands so I pay a lot of attention to them. but thank you for the optimism.

I am so sorry to see this. I too would have not intervened and just kept a close eye on the little squirrel. I really believe a raccoon did this - by the damage you saw through the bone/skull. I have had raccoons pull my squirrels out of their nests and nest boxes over night - kill them - chewing the squirrels bones to bits - partial carcasses left on the nest boxes - partial bloodied bones, partial hands/feet, partial body parts and partial tails left on the ground. Raccoons can definitely do the damage that you found - I have seen this way too many times. Again I am so sorry this happened. I totally understand what you said about the pain being suffocating - this is so unfair - way too young to have met his demise.

R.I.P. Precious little squirrel.

[Shewhosweptforest]

:boohoo Sooo sorry missPixy and sweet Lil wild boy :grouphug :shakehead this is nauseating and so depressing...but, you did the right thing. There's no way to know what tomorrow will bring...and it's not promised to any of us. Anyone of your squirrels could have fallen prey to this predator...there's no way to protect them all (if only we could :bowdown) all we can do is make their lives easier and enjoy them while they're with us :hug your last experience with him was special...full of love and trust...and yummies :dono it's like remembering to always tell our loved ones we love them. He knew you cared :grouphug You were a good hoomin :thumbsup

Sorry for loss of a sweet little soul :Love_Icon

[missPixy]

I am so sorry to see this. I too would have not intervened and just kept a close eye on the little squirrel. I really believe a raccoon did this - by the damage you saw through the bone/skull. I have had raccoons pull my squirrels out of their nests and nest boxes over night - kill them - chewing the squirrels bones to bits - partial carcasses left on the nest boxes - partial bloodied bones, partial hands/feet, partial body parts and partial tails left on the ground. Raccoons can definitely do the damage that you found - I have seen this way too many times. Again I am so sorry this happened. I totally understand what you said about the pain being suffocating - this is so unfair - way too young to have met his demise.

R.I.P. Precious little squirrel.


Lois, omg what you described~~ it must've been a raccoon. and for you to find that on the nest boxes~~ :boohoo after you spent so much time with these squirrels and getting them finally to the point where they could be released, that is a hellish sight to even imagine. I don't know how long it would take me to be right if I ever had that happen. I only knew this little wild for maybe an hour or two at the most and just that was enough time to be devastated by the loss.

[missPixy]

:boohoo Sooo sorry missPixy and sweet Lil wild boy :grouphug :shakehead this is nauseating and so depressing...but, you did the right thing. There's no way to know what tomorrow will bring...and it's not promised to any of us. Anyone of your squirrels could have fallen prey to this predator...there's no way to protect them all (if only we could :bowdown) all we can do is make their lives easier and enjoy them while they're with us :hug your last experience with him was special...full of love and trust...and yummies :dono it's like remembering to always tell our loved ones we love them. He knew you cared :grouphug You were a good hoomin :thumbsup

Sorry for loss of a sweet little soul :Love_Icon

thank you so much for this. :hug he was so innocent, and just in the wrong place at the wrong time. my partner thought that maybe since he wasn't able to get back to his original nest, he didn't have his own place to sleep and may have been too close to the ground at night, which left him vulnerable to predators.

"sweet Lil wild boy" I like that. :tilt I think once I'm a bit less depressed by this, I'll make a post for him in Rainbow Bridge and title it Sweet Lil Wild Boy. at least I can share the few photos I took of him. thank you.

[island rehabber]

MyBushyTail is correct....before I rehabbed squirrels, I thought raccoons were adorable. Now I can't stand them. I would never ever hurt one, but .......ugh.

missPixy, please do memorialize Sweet Lil Wild Boy in the Rainbow Bridge forum, when you are able to. We can see his pictures, and celebrate his little life. Sweeper said it best, as well: He knew you cared. :grouphug

[TubeDriver]

Raccoons will climb a tree at night and reach in with their 9" arms and just grab a squirrel and kill it. Raccoons kill squirrels, no nice way to say it.
MBT has trapped and relocated many raccoons from her yard after she had many of her squirrels killed.


Raccoons are VERY easy to trap with a correctly sized hav-a-hart. Then you can release them far from your yard (many miles away).

[missPixy]

MyBushyTail is correct....before I rehabbed squirrels, I thought raccoons were adorable. Now I can't stand them. I would never ever hurt one, but .......ugh.

missPixy, please do memorialize Sweet Lil Wild Boy in the Rainbow Bridge forum, when you are able to. We can see his pictures, and celebrate his little life. Sweeper said it best, as well: He knew you cared. :grouphug

Right? before I was a rehabber I lived with my partner in an old house on the river, and during one part of that time 3 baby raccoons started visitng our backyard nightly and, before you know it, they would come right up to our door and take nuts from our hands (yes we've been feeding the wilds probably for as long as we've been able to offer a snack to a creature). and I was like, oh how adorable!

after yesterday, I'm all militant and ready to launch my offensive. :pissed :robot :overkill although I live in a pretty much suburban neighborhood, it's upscale with oldgrowth trees and lots of squirrels, skunks and raccoons. the raccoons seem to live in the sewer system. each spring, a mom will emerge with 4 or 5 babies in tow. so weird, just over the weekend before all this happened my partner mentioned how few sightings of raccoons we've had this year. apparently they've become more stealthy. :shark

thank you so much for your kind words. I will definitely post a tribute to Sweet Lil Wild Boy in the next few weeks.

[Rhapsody]

I am so sorry for your loss. I know the feelings of losing a squirrel with out a single reason why..... (((hugs)))
and while our hearts are breaking their little squirrel souls have been set free to run among the lily filled pecan trees. :Love_Icon

[missPixy]

Raccoons will climb a tree at night and reach in with their 9" arms and just grab a squirrel and kill it. Raccoons kill squirrels, no nice way to say it.
MBT has trapped and relocated many raccoons from her yard after she had many of her squirrels killed.


Raccoons are VERY easy to trap with a correctly sized hav-a-hart. Then you can release them far from your yard (many miles away).

every once in a while I'd see a raccoon halfway up a tree in my yard and think, "oh, how cute." now I know better. :pissed

I actually already have a raccoon-size hav-a-hart trap that I was using to trap feral cats for relocation. time to bring it out again.

[missPixy]

I am so sorry for your loss. I know the feelings of losing a squirrel with out a single reason why..... (((hugs)))
and while our hearts are breaking their little squirrel souls have been set free to run among the lily filled pecan trees. :Love_Icon

thank you for that sweet and gentle vision. :hug

wednesday night I buried his remains in my garden. I couldn't leave them just scattered under the lilac bush. at work the next day I sat outside on my lunch break feeling so sad just thinking about him. and then a dragonfly came out of nowhere and hovered near me for a few seconds before flitting away. I think it was the spirit of sweet lil Wild Boy telling me he was okay, he was someplace safe with no suffering. I sit outside on this bench frequently and haven't had a dragonfly visit me before, so I hope it was him. :hug