Wild squirrel in poor health

[acorniv]

I put out a new feeder recently and increased our squirrel population substantially. One old gent comes with his nurse ( at least that is what we call her) each day. We call him Blind Bob after someone I once knew, and he reminds me of Mr. Tilty. You know the sort - quiet, mellow and with a raggedy sophistication. He has something drastically wrong with his eyes - the left one has cataracts and I'm pretty certain he has no sight in it. The right one is half moon shaped because the lid droops so much. He can see out of it, but I doubt he sees very well. His head is swollen so that the shape is not squirrel like but round almost like a lemon as opposed to an almond shape. His reaction time is slow when there is a noise or someone comes up the steps - he follows the cues of Nurse and others.

He hangs out with a younger crowd who defer to him, even though he does not seem at all aggressive.

I took some photos of him but have never posted any here -- I'll see if I can figure out how to do it so you can see. I'm wondering if he has a tumor like Mr. Tilty had, or if that swelling is due to something else? I have no idea how I would catch him or what I would do with him if I did - I know one thing - I haven't the stomach to do what Mr. Tilty's momma did for him, eye wise. He does not appear to be in distress, and he has this cute little nurse looking out for him. I guess life could be worse...

What would you folks do?

[Isis]

Seems you're an observer of how life is...

You write eloquently (sp?) I recognise & appreciate that.

In my humble opinion (IMHO) is best to let nature take it's course... :Love_Icon :grouphug

[halo]

Thats a tough one. U hate to see it suffer but then again, what to do?
One suggestion is that you could try and trap it and get it medical help. If its response time is slow you could try catching it with a net. Or there are live trap cages you can get. Around here you can rent them from our wildlife center. Might want to try Wildlife Conservation too.

If thats not possible. I would assume the only thing you can do is keep food out for it and let nature take its course. :dono



Halo

[squirrelfriend]

If his reaction times are slow and he has swelling in his head he might have impared hearing as well. It is up to you what you want to do. With proper medication you might be able to solve whatever is making hid head swell up. That is cute that he has the nurse to help him around. If you can get the swelling under control you might be able to save the other eye otherwise he might go completely blind. Completely blind he won't last in the wild. If you could take him in and help him that would be great. He might make a great companion for you. Mr. Tilty is such a sweety. I can't imagine what would have happened to him if he had been left out there. He is such a gentle soul and I feel like I am the one that is lucky. I love that little guy so much. This little guy of yours might just be the same way.

Whatever you do don't just catch him to have him put down. I think this guy is saveable and could live a very happy life in captivity.

[acorniv]

Seems you're an observer of how life is...

You write eloquently (sp?) I recognise & appreciate that.

In my humble opinion (IMHO) is best to let nature take it's course... :Love_Icon :grouphug

Thanks, Isis :Love_Icon .

Well, I'm inclined to vote for quality of life rather than quanitity. Catching him and treating him might prolong his life, but will it improve it? I guess that is my quandary. Is he in pain? I can't see that he is, but after reading about Mr. Tilty and how having all that pressure removed cheered him up, I have to assume he likely is.

OTOH, he has this cute little nurse, and he might miss her and she him. MH would be a poor substitute, I fear. While Nurse is quite and patient, MH strikes me more as a Nurse Rachet type - she is quite the bossy one around here and does not take kindly to squirrels outside her window, though she seems more tolerant of slow moving Blind Bob than of most. She accepts Nurse too, perhaps because Nurse has quiet deliberate movements.

[acorniv]

Thanks, Halo.

Yes, letting nature take it's course may be the best thing. At the moment it seems most viable, but I'm really thinking about if it gets worse, if there is something I can do.

I can borrow cages for free from the Humane Society. You probably can in your area too. Medical help is a bit tricky - our wildlife center feeds them to their many raptors - not that they'd say that, but they do. Not an option. My old vet would treat him for free, but he retired, and the staff that took over isn't all that enthusiastic about wildlife. They are the only local vet listed on all the rehab lists, however. There was one other but they stopped doing wildlife. My retired vet told me no one is even doing exotic pets anymore. The money is in dogs, cats and horses, and that is it. Mostly in dogs. I'll keep nosing around though.






Thats a tough one. U hate to see it suffer but then again, what to do?
One suggestion is that you could try and trap it and get it medical help. If its response time is slow you could try catching it with a net. Or there are live trap cages you can get. Around here you can rent them from our wildlife center. Might want to try Wildlife Conservation too.

If thats not possible. I would assume the only thing you can do is keep food out for it and let nature take its course. :dono



Halo

[acorniv]

Hi Squirrel friend, I wanted to see your take on this, since you've been through similar situation. I've wondered about his hearing and also about having such a killer of a headache that he simply doesn't clue in quickly. Did MT have the swelling? It is over that eye more than on both sides of the head, so there must be an infection of some sort or a tumor?

One concern I have is that he appears to be bonded with Nurse. What ever I do affects both their lives. I need to decide whether to cath just him or both, if I can. Then I need to have someone to help care for him/them.

I'm not going to have him put down ( never even crossed my mind). For now I will continue to observe. I'll keep asking around for a squirrel healer in my area because I am not one,. and in a couple of weeks I will be kept very busy with helping my dd in her first job ( she's running a circus camp for 30 paying dolls, and we have commited to costumes and props and photos, etc.)

We have a slew of new squirrels this year. Not sure why but boy are they out in droves. One young girl has only one ear, one has half a tail and then there is this one. I wonder if Blind Bob is from the litter we watched for three years - one of them has always had a cataract in the same eye.

Thanks! I went back and read about LF last night - she has grown so much! She is bigger than MH now. And CUTE!


If his reaction times are slow and he has swelling in his head he might have impared hearing as well. It is up to you what you want to do. With proper medication you might be able to solve whatever is making hid head swell up. That is cute that he has the nurse to help him around. If you can get the swelling under control you might be able to save the other eye otherwise he might go completely blind. Completely blind he won't last in the wild. If you could take him in and help him that would be great. He might make a great companion for you. Mr. Tilty is such a sweety. I can't imagine what would have happened to him if he had been left out there. He is such a gentle soul and I feel like I am the one that is lucky. I love that little guy so much. This little guy of yours might just be the same way.

Whatever you do don't just catch him to have him put down. I think this guy is saveable and could live a very happy life in captivity.

[squirrelfriend]

He might just have an abcess on that side. It would be hard to tell unless we could see him. IS it possible to post a picture of him? Tilty did not have swellin in the rest of his head at all. Just in the eye itself. I can understand that it would be hard to seperate him from his Nurse. That is cute how the one looks out for him. Your guy has his own Little Fart.:D

[acorniv]

I will try again to post a photo but am having computer problems so it might take a while.

Blind Bob and Nurse came today several times. I put MH out in her cage, and they came and ate just a couple feet from her. I was so amazed at their mutual tolerance! I sat in the door way a few feet from them too and they allowed me to stay as well. Nurse is very protective and she also waits for Blind Bob when he falls behind as they leave. He moves slowly because he has so much trouble seeing. You should see him make his way through the trees. He is thin and does not look well, but he can move when he needs to. His stomach is dark grey. Never saw that before - could be age or stress. The swelling is on his forehead and gives him an odd profile that I did get a photo of. It runs from one eye to the other but is worse on the cataract side. I don't know if it is an abcess, infection or a tumor or what, but it appears to be right in the middle of his forehead and extend to both eyes. I really don't see him having a lot longer to live.

I'm hoping they will befriend Miss Hickory, because Nurse obviously is very caring, and nurturing, and is used to signaling other squirrels about trouble. I also think she is going to need someone when she looses her old gent. They are the sweetest couple! She's short and fat and has enormous eyes.

I believe BB is from a litter that was born about 4-5 years ago. One of them always had a cataract in the left eye, and one only has one ear. I have not seen the one eared adult this year, but there is now a one eared youngster - could be hereditary? There was a third squirrel in that litter who was healthy, but she fell down our rainpipe and died this past January. They have always been the most frequent visitors at our feeder. The one with cataracts was not slowed down in the least in previous years.

[squirrelfriend]

I wish I lived near you. I would take him in for you and get him fixed up. Unfortunately I live up here in Canada and getting him across the border would be impossible. How long has his head been swollen like this? Did the swellling gradually work its way over from one side to the other? If so I am sort of guessing abcess or infection of some sort. I think a tumour would stay in one spot and grow not spread around.

[acorniv]

I wish I lived near you. I would take him in for you and get him fixed up. Unfortunately I live up here in Canada and getting him across the border would be impossible. How long has his head been swollen like this? Did the swellling gradually work its way over from one side to the other? If so I am sort of guessing abcess or infection of some sort. I think a tumour would stay in one spot and grow not spread around.

After seeing him today I'm pretty sure you are right about it being an abcess as it is quite a bit larger today. From what I can tell, it looks soft too - like an abcess, and there is a little bald spot now that might be the source of an injury. He seems quite a bit weaker. He took forever to get to our feeder, looking carefully as he picked his way along his customary branch and didn't stay long. I took him some extra nice food but he has not been back as far as I know. Cheeky, our neighbor's cat has been on patrol today too (grrrr!).

I don't think he can feed except for here. Nurse came too, but didn't feed. She stayed in a tree and kept a watch out. She must love him so much!

I do so wish you were nearby, but I think I could treat this sort of thing if I had a vet to work with. Perhaps I could lance it and drain it, but I'd need antibiotics too, don't you think? I'm not certain I could catch him, though, nor am I certain he could take the stress of the process as he is in bad shape. I'm afraid he will not be around much longer.

[acorniv]

I wish I lived near you. I would take him in for you and get him fixed up. Unfortunately I live up here in Canada and getting him across the border would be impossible. How long has his head been swollen like this? Did the swellling gradually work its way over from one side to the other? If so I am sort of guessing abcess or infection of some sort. I think a tumour would stay in one spot and grow not spread around.

Forgot to add that when I first saw him the swelling was already covering his forehead, but is (or rather, originally was) slightly more raised on the side with the cataract, which is also the side that appears to have an injury site. It may not be directly related to his vision issues.

I want to put a hot compress on that forehead so badly!

[ravenlaws32]

it could be many things but without a touch and feel its poking in the dark. The abcess idea is a good conclusion thou. the main thing is if it is an abcess is hopefully it will bust open and drain , i know sounds nasty but it needs to drain big time without any type of bandages . hopefully it will bust on its on are someone could catch it ,doctor it , release. i have a few small havaheart traps where i actually accomplished this but realize you are messing with a wild and hurt animal ,my pointer finger still bears the scar of 8 stiches but i would do it again in a heartbeat to help them . good luck

[Kathy56]

Acorniv, could you pm me and let me know where in the south you llive. My vet will work on wildlife.:D

[acorniv]

Acorniv, could you pm me and let me know where in the south you llive. My vet will work on wildlife.:D

Thanks! I PM'd you :-)

[acorniv]

it could be many things but without a touch and feel its poking in the dark. The abcess idea is a good conclusion thou. the main thing is if it is an abcess is hopefully it will bust open and drain , i know sounds nasty but it needs to drain big time without any type of bandages . hopefully it will bust on its on are someone could catch it ,doctor it , release. i have a few small havaheart traps where i actually accomplished this but realize you are messing with a wild and hurt animal ,my pointer finger still bears the scar of 8 stiches but i would do it again in a heartbeat to help them . good luck

Ouch! Well, I'm pretty fearless, especially with a guy who can't see at all on one side and hasn't much strength these days. I'm game to catch him and try to treat him if I can get supplies,. or to take him to a vet, though the two near me who used to do wildlife no longer do.

I may be able to arrange a havaheart cage but not until tomorrow afternoon. Our humane society loans them out in the event an animal gets trapped in the house. Problem is, he only sees what he knows now, I think. I am more likely to catch everybody else and leave him standing outside. I do have a strong butterfly net ) the kids caught a chippie in it last week and I caught baby birds yesterday with it) but how to sneak up on him? I don't want to take a chance on scaring him off for good.

Another possibility is chasing him into the house, and then I can catch him for sure. I would have to string up netting or some such to accomplish that.

I know exactly how he approaches and leaves, because with his vision he never varies his path unless something blocks it. What I don't know is when he will arrive. I'll need to have something set up that we can easily block his path and hopefully net him.

[squirrelfriend]

A strong butterfly net will do it. The trap will probably get all the others instead and freak them all out so that they will never come back. or worse it will trap the Nurse and leave him out there by himself. I have caught a few before by using a butterfly net. Put out food to distract him and as soon as he is close enough net him. Have your cage ready near by to put him in. Once he is in the cage you can get a better look at him to see what the problem is.

[acorniv]

A strong butterfly net will do it. The trap will probably get all the others instead and freak them all out so that they will never come back. or worse it will trap the Nurse and leave him out there by himself. I have caught a few before by using a butterfly net. Put out food to distract him and as soon as he is close enough net him. Have your cage ready near by to put him in. Once he is in the cage you can get a better look at him to see what the problem is.


Okie dokie. I will set it up for tomorrow morning, if you promise not to tell my husband, LOL. He told me today he understands that I really need to do this wildlife thing and he'll help me build an aviary but please don't go catching sick wild adults (meaning, specifically Blind Bob).

I just hope he is well enough to come and that I don't mess it up. I'll wear dull colors like brown as colors seem to be the one thing he sees quickly. Any other suggestions? He has enormous thighs, so I know he can jump and kick. He almost looks like a frog, because he's so thin, except for the thighs.

Oh - I tried to post a photo and just can't on the equipment I've got now. Should be able to next week but can't now. Just picture swelling from eye to eye across the forehead. It gives him a profile like a dinosaur - if you look up a saurolophus, it is very similar.

[acorniv]

It looks just like this chap's lump:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dinosauri-bora.it/testa_saurolophus.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dinosauri-bora.it/dinosauri_con_corna.htm&h=273&w=300&sz=17&hl=en&start=22&tbnid=5wbW2dItyWspmM:&tbnh=106&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsaurolophus%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20% 26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN

[squirrelfriend]

Poor little dude. If your husband is going to build an aviary why can't Bob and possibly Nurse stay in there too? That would be great for Bob. He would be safe from predators there but still have his sunshine and large area to move around in.

[webld4u2]

SO how long has he actually had this abcess??? I am trying to figure something out in my head, (and thats not so easy these days)....

[acorniv]

Poor little dude. If your husband is going to build an aviary why can't Bob and possibly Nurse stay in there too? That would be great for Bob. He would be safe from predators there but still have his sunshine and large area to move around in.

That would work for me. We have a big porch and can handle all three ( plus my parrot, who thinks MH is the cutest thing on the planet)

I did not see BB&N today though. I hope they show tomorrow!

[acorniv]

SO how long has he actually had this abcess??? I am trying to figure something out in my head, (and thats not so easy these days)....

I first saw him about a week ago, after we changed our feeder - plus I was gone for a week. We got very few squirrels this year until then, and then suddenly we got a bunch.

[Pam]

If you can catch the squirrel, the abscess needs to be lanced. Roxy was very sick when she had her abscess. She ached all over and cried if I touched her. As soon as the abscess was opened, she felt so much better.

She was sick for about five months before the abscess formed. I thought she had MBD back in January. I asked my DH to end her suffering. He refused and found the abscess that day. She is now 100% better and acting like a her old self. :)

[acorniv]

If you can catch the squirrel, the abscess needs to be lanced. Roxy was very sick when she had her abscess. She ached all over and cried if I touched her. As soon as the abscess was opened, she felt so much better.

She was sick for about five months before the abscess formed. I thought she had MBD back in January. I asked my DH to end her suffering. He refused and found the abscess that day. She is now 100% better and acting like a her old self. :)

Well, he did come today, and the swelling was larger, but his tummy was clean for the first time and he looked pretty chipper. I didn't have a chance to try to catch him though, because Nurse was on high alert over a squirrel in a nearby tree. On days when he comes and seems to feel well enough, they visit the feeder several times, so I will keep trying. That lump looks like it would burst if anything touched it, but you never know. It is very much on the left side now, over that bad eye.

He was well enough that Nurse ate too. When he feels poorly she gives it a pass. She eats somewhere though - she's is a round little thing,m and her tummy is always freshly laundered. She really looks like a nurse, LOL Today he looked well enough that we wondered if they might be litter mates. I'd always assumed he was much older before.

DH is really not pleased that I am thinking of taking on another squirrel, so I will have a double battle if I catch him :-(. I know his main concern is the heartbreak that might occur. It's why he doesn't like having pets - can't handle their deaths.

[4skwerlz]

I too am the self-appointed "guardian angel" for a large group of wildies. It's heartbreaking sometimes. He sounds like an old squirrel who has had a near-miss with a predator. The fact that he has a "nurse" would be hard to believe, except that I've seen squirrels do so many incredible things! We know so little about these amazing little creatures.

For what it's worth, this is what I would do. Most sick and injured squirrels starve to death, so here's where you can make a difference. Personally feed him peanuts and walnuts (shelled so he can eat them easily), and make sure water is available in a dish on the ground. If he were one of my "regulars," an otherwise young healthy squirrel, I'd try dosing with amoxy in peanut butter smeared on a nut.

If the squirrel isn't old, just injured, and you can keep him fed, he may surprise you. Squirrels IMO rely surprisingly little on eyesight. And I've seen my wildies recover from broken hind legs, mange, hawk attacks, and car encounters. But if this is truly an old squirrel, then the poor guy may be near the end of his natural life. Some nice nuts, some kind words, and some compassion (which I believe they can sense) is probably the best and only thing you can do. Good luck.