Young Squirrel Question, Help?

[Devin]

Yesterday, my girlfriend and her sister tumbled across a young squirrel in a tree. They tried feeding it and he seemed friendly and was having trouble getting down from the tree. He ended up crawling onto my girlfriend and hung out on her shoulder for about thirty minutes. Anyways, when they tried to put him back on the tree the little guy fell off the first time (a little tree so he is okay) and then the second time he crawled up onto the nearest branch that he could possibly get onto to get back onto her shoulder.
He definitely isn't a baby, but he is still young. We want to put him back out on the tree and see if his mom will come back and claim him. According to her, they set him out there twice today and tried to see if anything would happen but nope. However, we are not entirely sure if he even is with his mom anymore because he is not a baby. We don't know what we should do.
We thought about putting him back on the tree, but they also have two dogs that would easily catch him if he fell over the fence. We could put him somewhere else, but then we don't know if his mom, if he has one, would find him.

I also think in California it isn't legal to keep a tree squirrel as a pet. We don't know if he is old enough to be able to take care of himself. Ive heard about leaving them in a small cardboard box (open of coarse) and see if the mom comes back and if she does then you let him out. Another plan was to take him to a wildlife center close by, but apparently they are "full" at the moment and cannot accept him.

My girlfriend is becoming more and more attached to him every minute. She absolutely adores the cute little guy and doesn't want to let him go. He seems pretty fond of her and her family as well. He is a friendly little guy. We don't know how they do as pets, or if its even morally right to keep him as one.
I was wondering if someone educated in this field could give us some suggestions on what we should do.

[Vheidr]

They can do all right as pets, but, that's assuming you know what to expect. They live for up to around 20+ years, they are very messy, can become incredibly territorial and bite the ever loving snot out of anyone who isn't who they see as "family"- and, well, they go to the bathroom pretty much wherever they please, can get very destructive if you decide to keep them in a cage where they can't run loose- and well, again, when they do get to run loose: they're awesome, fun, but super messy at times. Beyond that, there's medical care- which, as you aren't licensed and it's illegal there: you'll need a vet that's cool with it and cool with you, AND has experience with squirrels. There are a bunch of threads around the board regarding keeping them as pets- quite a bit of information both yay and nay. My "official" stance on keeping them is "No." but, I also know how it is, and I also know how it is on the rescue end of things- and yeah, we get full up pretty fast this time of year. That one? He wouldn't be too hard to keep until he can fend for himself and release. Unless you have pets. If he (Or she, I reckon) gets too accustomed to the things it's supposed to be scared of: being out and about on its own would be highly problematic and likely fatal.

If your girlfriend doesn't have it in her to keep him for a little bit and then release, you can try a safety cage for a few weeks. It's just keeping the critter contained, safe, and feeding it for a while and then helping it to learn to be on its own out there. But, don't consider keeping this baby caged as a pet. It won't be happy. That's not just my official stance, it's also how I feel: they need to be able to move their little fuzzbutts.

Good luck.

[Devin]

They can do all right as pets, but, that's assuming you know what to expect. They live for up to around 20+ years, they are very messy, can become incredibly territorial and bite the ever loving snot out of anyone who isn't who they see as "family"- and, well, they go to the bathroom pretty much wherever they please, can get very destructive if you decide to keep them in a cage where they can't run loose- and well, again, when they do get to run loose: they're awesome, fun, but super messy at times. Beyond that, there's medical care- which, as you aren't licensed and it's illegal there: you'll need a vet that's cool with it and cool with you, AND has experience with squirrels. There are a bunch of threads around the board regarding keeping them as pets- quite a bit of information both yay and nay. My "official" stance on keeping them is "No." but, I also know how it is, and I also know how it is on the rescue end of things- and yeah, we get full up pretty fast this time of year. That one? He wouldn't be too hard to keep until he can fend for himself and release. Unless you have pets. If he (Or she, I reckon) gets too accustomed to the things it's supposed to be scared of: being out and about on its own would be highly problematic and likely fatal.

If your girlfriend doesn't have it in her to keep him for a little bit and then release, you can try a safety cage for a few weeks. It's just keeping the critter contained, safe, and feeding it for a while and then helping it to learn to be on its own out there. But, don't consider keeping this baby caged as a pet. It won't be happy. That's not just my official stance, it's also how I feel: they need to be able to move their little fuzzbutts.

Good luck.

Thank you so much for your reply! We actually just received a call from her sister. Apparently she found a place in Ventura that will take him. We are going to drive down there now to say goodbye. Are these wildlife places good for squirrels?

[Vheidr]

Usually. It really depends on the rescue.

[Shewhosweptforest]

This may be too late....but I would have questioned them about what they do with young squirrels....and then read between the lines....also do not act emotionally involved because that could skew their answer. Most places do a decent job considering how many they have....but some will feed extras to their raptor rehabs. I would never take a baby squirrel to a facility with raptors. :(

[Shewhosweptforest]

Can we get an update on what happened at the wildlife center? :please