need squirrel advice!

[Twiggles]

My husband and I have a 1.5 year old Eastern
gray squirrel named Twig. Right now she is in a 6 foot tall, 2 feet deep, and 3.5 feet wide ferret nation cage. There are branches, nest box, hammock, and shelves. Over the past 6 months she has gotten more and more aggressive towards me. She goes out of her way to attack my hands and arms. She loves my husband and she is okay with new people (she will climb on them without attacking). We have come to a crossroad and are unsure what to do. My husband has taken a job where he can be gone for weeks to months at a time. So i cannot interact with her while hes gone unless i want to walk away with bloody hands and arms. So do we build her a larger cage or do we work on releasing her back into the wild this spring? (We live in central Minnesota). Any advice is much appreciated!

[HRT4SQRLS]

:wave123 Twiggles
:Welcome to The Squirrel Board

The problem you are describing is all too common. It's very common for squirrels to become very attached to one caregiver to the exclusion of the rest of the family. They can be very aggressive and cause serious injuries as I'm sure you have discovered.

If Twig is a healthy squirrel, I think it would be in your and Twig's best interest to release her. Of course, it would need to be done in the proper way. When the weather permits, she would need to be put in a release cage outside. It would need to be predator proof. This will acclimate her to the outdoors, while keeping her safe. We can give you instructions about the process. MOST squirrels, when given the choice, will chose freedom in the trees as opposed to being kept inside. It's just the way it is. They are hard wired to be wild critters.

I would think about it. With your husbands new work assignment, I really think it would be best. :tilt

[island rehabber]

:wave123 Twiggles
:Welcome to The Squirrel Board

The problem you are describing is all too common. It's very common for squirrels to become very attached to one caregiver to the exclusion of the rest of the family. They can be very aggressive and cause serious injuries as I'm sure you have discovered.

If Twig is a healthy squirrel, I think it would be in your and Twig's best interest to release her. Of course, it would need to be done in the proper way. When the weather permits, she would need to be put in a release cage outside. It would need to be predator proof. This will acclimate her to the outdoors, while keeping her safe. We can give you instructions about the process. MOST squirrels, when given the choice, will chose freedom in the trees as opposed to being kept inside. It's just the way it is. They are hard wired to be wild critters.

I would think about it. With your husbands new work assignment, I really think it would be best. :tilt


I am in complete agreement with HRT4SQRLS. :goodpost
We see this scenario here over and over again, with squirrels who were cuddly pets one moment and then land sharks the next. It's awful for the family member who is the 'target' of the squirrel's frustration, but it always signifies the same thing: the squirrel is wilding up.

[Shewhosweptforest]

It's very tough....especially for your husband, because she's cuddly with him :dono but it's not fair to you, he won't be there, and either you or Twigs is going to suffer. :sadness I do find it strange that she's ok with strangers :dono we did have another squirrel, recently, who was aggressive with her caregiver and she's worked through it. The bad thing is, this has been going on for six months, right? So what happens is you get hurt so you back off, well this just makes it worse. You have to have daily interaction with a squirrel, especially the first 1-2 years, if you want them to remain bonded with you...it's a lot of work and sacrifice. If you are interested, here's the other thread http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?48888-My-2-1-2-yr-old-female-has-cried-for-hours-What-can-I-do-to-help-her
If you and your husband are in agreement, then a slow release will work. Twigs may be a perfect yard squirrel :thumbsup Good luck, I know it's hard finding what's right for y'all and Twigs :Love_Icon

[czarina]

Hi and :Welcome

I have to agree with the others. And, in reality, if your husband will be gone for long periods, she will not be very friendly to him. They require daily interaction to remaine tame. (Thats not to say that she wouldn't warm up to him again, but it would take a signifigant amout of daily intetaction on his part.)

And, if he will be coming and going, it just doesn't sound like it would be in her best interest to keep her caged, even in a larger cage.

It is quite common for a squirrel to only bond with one petson. That is the norm.
Please be very careful, if you let her on your friends. That is VERY unusual that she is not attacking her. Frankly, I would not let het on them, for fear of a lawsuit. A squirrel attack, can be vicious, and, they target where they will attack. Yours is biting hands and arms, (thats what mine do, too. Mine have drawn blood on every member of my family). But, they are very scent oriented, and you never know when one of your friends might try to handle her, while wearing the "wrong scent", be it perfume, deoderent or hairspray, etc. You do NOT want her attacking someones face.

I'm sorry, we probably aren't giving you the answers you wanted to hear, but, we are speaking from the heart, about what is best for Twig. You don't want to have to be the woman who has to wear the metal colander on her face, to interact with her squirrel! ( it has been done! )

We will help in any way we can. Read up on " soft release", so you will have an idea of how its done.

Good luck!

[stepnstone]

So do we build her a larger cage or do we work on releasing her back into the wild this spring?

She is instinctively a wild animal and belongs to the wild.
A larger cage is not going to replace or alter that.
Prepare her for release and give her her freedom.

[Twiggles]

Thanks for the advice everyone! After much discussion we have decided to do a slow release in the spring. We both feel will be much happier free. I remembered that when my husband was gone for a week she was obviously very stressed. Not fair to make her go through that often.
So heres what we are thinking...we are going to move her cage outside under our deck in the spring. How long do we want to leave her caged before we open the cage up? But after opening the cage we plan to leave it out there a while so she can return to it if she wants. We are also going to hang her nest boxes in the trees. We plan on leaving veggies and nuts out as long as she hangs around. If she comes up to us when we are outside, do we let her come up or chase her away?
Does our plan sound okay?
thanks again!

[czarina]

Yes, I really think that is what is best for Twig. Please go and read up on soft release. It will answer all your questions.

Squirrels are all different, different personalities. I even know of 1 squirrel, who goes outside everyday, but comes back inside , at night, to sleep.

This is unusual, though. There is a gokd chance she will hang around and take treats from you, but, this may not happen. She may take off, and return 4 months later. There is just no way to predict what her pattern will be.

But, we can predict something. That is how happy she will be when offered freedom. They are hardwired for it. They are cute and cuddly when babies, but then , well everything is. Then they mature, and the trees are calling them. :squirrel3

Please read every thing you can about soft release. This will make the transition easier on all of you.

And thank you, for caring about Twig.

[SugarHill]

I leave their nest boxes in their release cage- that way they always know where one is. I've put up others near their release cages-sometimes they use them but other times they don't, which has always puzzled me. If Twig has her own nestbox from the start, it may make the transition easier.
:)

[HRT4SQRLS]

Thanks for the advice everyone! After much discussion we have decided to do a slow release in the spring. We both feel will be much happier free. I remembered that when my husband was gone for a week she was obviously very stressed. Not fair to make her go through that often.
So heres what we are thinking...we are going to move her cage outside under our deck in the spring. How long do we want to leave her caged before we open the cage up? But after opening the cage we plan to leave it out there a while so she can return to it if she wants. We are also going to hang her nest boxes in the trees. We plan on leaving veggies and nuts out as long as she hangs around. If she comes up to us when we are outside, do we let her come up or chase her away?
Does our plan sound okay?
thanks again!

I do see a few problems so let me explain. You said her cage is a Ferret Nation. IMO, a ferret nation is not predator proof. I worry about the 1 inch bar spacing. Keep in mind that a predator will be quite interested in the captive 'dinner morsel' in the cage. There have been cases when a predator pulled parts of a squirrel through the cage bars ... as in pulled arms off, etc. Sorry to be graphic but I'm sure you would rather know about the dangers than find out the hard way. :sadness

Another issue with the ferret nation is the HUGE door. I have the Critter Nation cage so I assume they are similar. When you release a squirrel, they exit through a very small portal like maybe 4"x4" hole. You do not want the opening so large that a predator can get in the cage. That would be tragic. Your baby needs to be able to go back in the cage without a predator following them in.

With all this said, I believe you could probably MAKE the ferret nation predator proof. You would need to buy a roll of hardware cloth. Hardware cloth has 1/2 inch squares. You would need to cover the FN cage completely with the hardware cloth. I would cut sections and zip tie or wire the sections to the FN cage. Someone said that Harbor Freight has metal zip ties. That would be perfect.

As far as the huge door that could also be remedied. I would remove one of the doors and cut a piece of 1/2 plywood to fit in the hole. Of course, it would need to be secured. I would cut a small hole in the plywood for an exit door. You could make a hinged door with hardware cloth for your small exit portal. You open the small door during the day. If they return to the cage at night you can close the small door until the next day. Eventually they will either occupy the nest box in a tree OR they will build their own drey.

I would definitely get a nest box in the yard. If you're not the handy type and would rather not try to do this you could probably find a suitable cage on craigslist or something like that.

You leave the squirrel in the outside cage until they are acclimated to the sights, sounds and elements outside. The time in the release cage varies from squirrel to squirrel. Some acclimate rapidly and are anxious to be free. Others are afraid, shy or just slower to acclimate. Because Twig is a year and a half old, it might take a little longer.

I have limited release experience. I have released 6. You can sorta tell when they are ready to go. If they are crawling all over the walls of the cage and pacing they are ready to go. I actually enjoyed releasing them because you can just see the joy when they get to climb their first tree. :grin2 After release you continue to feed them until they can make it on their own. Some will leave pretty fast. Some never leave and will hang around your yard to be 'yard pets'. I have a yard pet. All I have to do is go out, clap my hands, shake a nut bag or call her name and she comes running. She is a wild girl now but she still allows me to be part of her life. I just love it. I would never chase her away. If you have close neighbors, that is a different story. You don't want her so friendly that she will approach your neighbors because that always turns out bad.

[island rehabber]

HRT4SQRLS is so right: Ferret Nation, Marshall and Martins cages, unless they are the 1/2" x 1" mesh, are extremely dangerous as outdoor release cages. It bears repeating that raccoons CAN and WILL pull off parts of your squirrel through the bars. :pissed

There are a number of great plans and pix of release enclosures in this Forum:

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?199-Cages-nestboxes-suppliers-materials-and-ideas

You definitely want to do this part of it right. :thumbsup:grin2