Raising a single grey for release

[kjphoto04]

Hi
I have a 5 week old grey that came to me because they could not find a rehabber who will take it. What are it's chances of being released if raised alone?

[Shewhosweptforest]

I just released a squirrel that I got on Labor Day weekend last year, overwintered her and released her this summer...she's doing great :great it works...they usually hang closer to home too :serene

[Daisey007]

I agree...

My only problem with a single is bonding too much with it myself! In fact, I tend to want to keep them!

[Spanky]

For singletons I always give them extra time in the release cage with limited interactions... :thumbsup

[kjphoto04]

The last 2 I raised I put them in a room along in a cage for 2 weeks. Only going in to feed them and not talking when I do it


They didn't bond to me so that is good. I hope to do the same with this singleton.

[island rehabber]

I believe that offering lots of branches, buds and leaves from the natural environment they will be released into is the key to helping singletons "wild up". If they spend their evenings sitting on the couch with you, watching TV, it's going to be a VERY hard transition to the trees. :grin2 Limiting interaction is very important as well; some rehabbers actually refill the food and water dishes in the release cage at night, long after the squirrel is asleep, so that the squirrel doesn't even associate food with human anymore. (I can't do that since my release sites are 20miles from my home, but if you have a release pen on your own property it's a great idea.)

[missPixy]

I had a singleton gray whom I raised from 4 weeks old~~ her eyes had juuust opened. she and I bonded quickly, and I often worried about how to release her.

Yet, she "released" herself~~ at 5 months old. Here was a squirrel who could be anywhere in my house and yet when I called her, she would come bounding to me. Not on this particular day, however. Maybe there was a squirrel outside calling to her. She quickly ran out our front door on a snow-covered January night when it was opened just a couple of inches. she ran out of a warm home with reliable food and shelter and love out into a cold night even though I called and called for her. No leaves on deciduous trees. Snow covering the ground.

Most amazingly, that summer, she came back to visit me and let me know she had survived that escape and actually thrived. Her coloring was a bit different from the squirrels in my immediate neighborhood so she had distinctive markings. Also, she climbed up on my kitchen window, very knowingly.

To see how bonded she was with me while I was raising her and yet how independent she became in seemingly a split second when she decided it was time to go, she did not hesitate. Even more was how she managed to survive. Personally I do think there may have been a male squirrel living inside a nearby tree and they somehow communicated with each other. There had to be a ready source of shelter and food and, since she was a girl, could probably find it easy to move in with a willing singleton male.

I guess I'm trying to say it's really more a matter of the squirrel's personality. I'm not sure from bonding closely with us necessarily voids out an independent squirrel's desire to be outside in nature, in the trees.

[Mennome]

I raised a singleton last year, my first! Her name is Squirrelie Dibble. She overwintered in the house. I researched and provided her with "work" and enrichment activities, fresh branches cut during the winter and cut in the spring as budding out, free play time, "jump practice", etc. I kept strictly (except for an occasional graham cracker!) to the prescribed squirrel diet. I kept her longer in her soft release cage than most probably would have.... But when she was ready, she stayed one more night.....and took forever to the trees. She lives close, high in an oak, and from what I can determine has babies now. It was the most fulfilling experience that both filled me with warm joy and made me cry all at once. I miss her, but I know she is where she belongs. When you see your little one look up and "long" for the trees next year...you will let it go....your heart will break but you will not want to keep it from a life of freedom! But for now....you have many long weeks ahead of you! Advice: put away anything you do not want chewed! Congratulations! :serene