Newly Released Squirrel Coming Home

[jstalker]

Hello all!

Just some background info, back in March my roommate and I acquired a baby Eastern Gray Squirrel whom we named Rio and raised up to be a wonderful, handsome boy. He was getting extremely energetic and hard to handle, and we knew it was definitely time for him to go outside. We had him in his pre-release setup, which he stayed in for a fairly short amount of time before somehow escaping. I have absolutely NO clue how he managed to get out. His escape was about a week ago. He has been seen around since, but not when I was here. Today he returned to eat some bird seed and was ECSTATIC to see me. I fed and watered him, and he seemed very hungry and thirsty. He refused to leave my side, and even broke into the house TWICE (he found out that the screen door was loose before I did!). He is currently asleep in my sweatshirt, and I feel so heartbroken for my little guy. It seems like he's having a tough time in the wild. Would it be bad for him if I let him sleep here for the night, and return outside in the morning? Also, should I return him to the pre-release cage? He seems less stressed after returning from the wild than when in the pre-release cage, honestly, but at least in his cage he got food and water.

[lukaslolamaus]

It would definitely be safer for him to stay inside with you for the night. He won't be safe out there in the dark without shelter. You should try to figure out how he escaped the release cage and fix the problem. Maybe a little extra time in the outdoor cage would prepare him better.
How old is he?

[jstalker]

I'm glad to hear it's good for him to stay! I miss him a lot. :grin3

I looked over the cage when he got out, and had someone else look it over as well, and there was nothing that we could find anywhere. He's smarter than me, I guess.

He's a little bit over 11 weeks.

[lukaslolamaus]

That is quite young for release. I think 4 months is the youngest recommend for release. I'm not an expert and all babies I have released were overwintered so by the time of release they were a lot older. You really need to figure out how he escaped and he needs to be in the release cage for at least 4 weeks so he can observe the his surroundings and the weather pattern. Maybe you can take some pictures of the cage tomorrow and someone here can figure out what could have happened.
Did you use hardware cloth?

[jstalker]

I've read recommendations from a lot of different places and the recommended age range is so wide, that I just figured Rio would tell me when he was ready for release. It got to the point where we absolutely could not contain him. He chewed through his cage, and I repaired it as best as I could but after the initial breakout he chewed through at least twice every single day. I'm renting a house for the summer, and I was given specific instructions not to let him in the house and have been breaking them, so letting him run free around the house isn't an option. He had so much energy and just seemed like he would be happier out in the wild.

I'll try to get some pictures of the cage. I'll have to clean it out so it can be seen- he had a lot of branches and plants.

We couldn't afford hardware cloth. It would've been at least $150 to get the amount we needed, and that wasn't feasible, especially for a single squirrel. We used chicken wire, but he hasn't been able to bite through it. I checked the cage very carefully for holes, and there were none. Also, before the pre-release cage we let him stay in the cage in the house for a while, to let him get used to it. During that time I watched him carefully and he had very little interest in chewing on the cage, and if he did he gave up very quickly.

[lukaslolamaus]

I think pictures of the cage would definitely help to see if we can figure out together what could have happened. Squirrels are escape artists.
Do you think you can keep him inside while the escape mystery is being solved.
He's a smart boy for coming home to you, and thank you for helping him.
Maybe you can post pictures of Rio:Love_Icon everyone on the board loves pictures:grouphug

[lukaslolamaus]

How are you and Rio doing today?

[jstalker]

He slept with me last night, and he actually slept almost the entire day today. It breaks my heart to see that he was so exhausted, but he's back in good hands now.
I realized that when I calculated his "age" I actually told you how long I had him. He was 4 weeks old when I found him, so he is actually 15 weeks old.
I did not get a chance to go out and check his cage today, but it is top of my priority list for tomorrow. I also have tons of pictures of Rio- perhaps I can start a thread somewhere where it is relevant and show the chronology of Rio growing up :grin3

[HRT4SQRLS]

A member in Maine released Gus 3 times before he was ready to be a free wild squirrel. A singleton stays attached to his human mom/dad longer than a group of squirrels. When groups are released they have each other to hang with, a singleton has no one so they do tend to hang around longer. I see no problem at all with letting Rio transition slowly to the outside. He will frolic and play during the day, maybe spend a night out but then do exactly as Rio did... want to come inside to eat and rest. Eventually he will want to stay outside.

I REALLY worry about chicken wire cages outside. If you can't afford the hardware cloth, I do understand that too. The problem with chicken wire is not that he can't get out (but in his case he did) BUT predators can get in. Raccoons will pull arms and legs off of squirrels in a chicken wire cage. They are pretty nasty. They will reach in and grab a squirrel if they get a chance. It's happened before. :(

Others will probably disagree but I would put up a nest box in a tree and take him outside in the morning and let him go outside again. If he wants to come back in I would let him. Do you have trees? Another pertinent question is, do you have close neighbors? A TOO friendly squirrel can be a problem in a neighborhood with dense housing. They can and will approach strangers. That's a big problem.

I'm really afraid of the chicken wire cage. :sorry Do you have more chicken wire? Wrapping it again on the outside would make it safer.

[jstalker]

I absolutely understand your concern with the chicken wire. I was nervous about it, but we really had no other option. One thing that comforts me (and maybe will comfort you) is that he is right next to the outdoors deck, where I can see him from the large windows at all times. He also has his nesting box in there, which he goes in at night, which will protect him. I've never seen any raccoons around, only rabbits, squirrels, and birds, but that doesn't mean they're not around.

I'm definitely seeing what you're talking about with attachment. Since he is inside, he wants to be crawling over me 100% of the day, and I just can't handle him peering his nose into everything I'm cooking and peeing on counters and such, so I've had to lock him in a room with lots of windows so I can watch him, and he just spends the whole time running across the side of the room trying to find a way to get to me. It's sweet, but I'd love to see him better prepared to go off on his own.

The location I'm at is a small neighborhood that has pretty dense forest around it, but the forest doesn't go on for miles and miles. Our closest neighbor is actually one of my professors and a great friend of the owners of the place I'm staying at, and he would certainly never harm Rio. One of my concerns is the proximity to the university which I attend. That's where I picked Rio up, and the place is TEEMING with squirrels. Way overpopulated. They tend to carry a lot of diseases because of the density, and they are constantly causing a ruckus (for example, stealing entire slices of pizza from right under the person's nose). I'm worried about him running on over there. It's not super close, but still close. There is a large tree directly in front of the back deck which I plan to attach his nesting box to when the time comes. That way I'll be able to keep an eye on him, and he'll be right nearby if he needs some extra food or water.

My only concern with mounting his nesting box is if he decides it's a no go for him, and he wants to come back. I'll have to put him in the pre-release cage, and I wouldn't want him in there without his nesting box. What do you think?

[jstalker]

Oh and I apologize for the double post but I remembered- I am also concerned with wrapping the chicken wire a second time (I'd have to buy more) because the door is already giving us trouble. I am beginning to think that's how he got out in the first place- perhaps I did not fasten the door well enough. Originally we had wrapped utility wire around the door, but that made it extremely difficult to unattach and reattach. We switched to using book rings which we could snap on. If you were careful about how you put them on they worked great, but began rusting immediately and definitely cannot be a long term solution. Any ideas? The biggest thing is since the chicken wire is not as sturdy, the door has to be attached in multiple places.

[lukaslolamaus]

Are there any new updates on Rio?