Run away

[GGnWallie]

I'm not sure how life threatening this is. I have/had a single 10wk old baby. She ran away close to 2 hours ago. I was bringing her to my car to take her to my parents for the weekend since I have to watch their dog. Input her in a smaller box for transportation and she jumped out. I feel so stupid. I should have put her in the cat kennel. I don't know what to do. I put her cage with her blankets and food in my porch with the door cracked. She just disappeared and I don't even know how! She's still just a baby. I live in a busy neighborhood and there are tons of people and loud things around. I'm panicking. What should I do??? Please help!!

[Shewhosweptforest]

Were you near any trees or bushes? Anything she could have gone under...like your car? Is there anything you do to get her attention, or to get her to come to you when you're in the house? Like clacking nuts together...or shaking a can or jar with nuts? If there is something you do...I would go out where she disappeared and do that...I would also bring a chair out and sit quietly...try to calm down...and talk to her like you would if you were feeding her...if you're still syringe feeding her...bring out a syringe with formula in it....be patient....she's more than likely hiding up a tree in some bushes...under something. She will not come out until she knows it's perfectly safe....so if you're anxious and moving around a lot....she's going to pick up on that. Try to relax and just wait a little while...listen for noises....rustling of leaves etc. other than that...I'm not sure what else you can do :sadness leaving her cage on the porch is good...but I'm not sure she will even go on the porch...she's never done that before. You may want to put the cage out there next to you while you sit :great good luck...ill be praying for ya :please :Love_Icon

[GGnWallie]

Someone please help! I just need some advice. I'm scared!

[Nancy in New York]

Someone please help! I just need some advice. I'm scared!

Sweeper posted above your last post.

[GGnWallie]

Were you near any trees or bushes? Anything she could have gone under...like your car? Is there anything you do to get her attention, or to get her to come to you when you're in the house? Like clacking nuts together...or shaking a can or jar with nuts? If there is something you do...I would go out where she disappeared eared and do that...I would also bring a chair out and sit quietly...try to calm down...and talk to her like you would if you were feeding her...if you're still syringe feeding her...bring out a syringe with formula in it....be patient....she's more than likely hiding up a tree in some bushes...under something. She will not come out until she knows it's perfectly safe....so if you're anxious and moving around a lot....she's going to pick up on that. Try to relax and just wait a little while...listen for noises....rustling of leaves etc. other than that...I'm not sure what else you can do :sadness leaving her cage on the porch is good...but I'm not sure she will even go on the porch...she's never done that before. You may want to put the cage out there next to you while you sit :great good luck...ill be praying for ya :please :Love_Icon


Thank you so much!! I'm out here now. I have been panicking and being crazy. I left for about 45 min and came back. I looked all in the bushes and trees around where she was. I looked in and under my car. I shook the jar of nuts, I shook her jar of filled syringes. Called her and clicked for her. I will try my very best, but unfortunately I have to go back to the next town over and watch my parents dog. I have to stay the weekend, but have friends watching out for her, I've moved her cage close to where she was. I just hate how loud and busy my street is.

[Spanky]

If you can go back first thing in the morning, that first hour of light is when these adventurous young-ones seem most willing to "return home" in my experience. I have seen them get high up into a tree and simply not move until morning... and when they come down, believe me when I say they are exhausted! They sleep half the following day....

[Shewhosweptforest]

Yeah...that's not good that you have to leave....I don't think she will come around other people...unless she knows them....how far away are your parents....could you go let the dog out and come back? Is it dark there yet....I see you're in the Midwest...if it's dark she's probably not going to come out...which is a good thing for her safety ....I would come back first thing in the morning...dawn...and try again....the dog would be ok for a few hours....if they're fairly close to you.

[GGnWallie]

Thank you guys! It is dark here!! And I have not seen or heard anything. She knows my housemates in my duplex. They watched for the hour I was gone and I came back to still nothing. My friend will be out here at 4:30am and I'll be back around 6:30/7am to check on her cage. I'll try my very best. And if it gives you any idea of how my town is, there is a bar on every other corner and police sirens everywhere.

[DaSquirrelMom]

If there are trees near where she escaped, she went up one. You may not be able to catch her. If you can't catch her, make her adjustment to outdoor life easier by leaving out a large dish of water and piles of sunflower seeds/walnuts/pecans/hazelnuts/acorns near tree trunks in the early morning and late afternoon hours (where squirrels are awake to eat). Although this was not the release you had planned, she can still survive and thrive at 10 weeks.

[GGnWallie]

If there are trees near where she escaped, she went up one. You may not be able to catch her. If you can't catch her, make her adjustment to outdoor life easier by leaving out a large dish of water and piles of sunflower seeds/walnuts/pecans/hazelnuts/acorns near tree trunks in the early morning and late afternoon hours (where squirrels are awake to eat). Although this was not the release you had planned, she can still survive and thrive at 10 weeks.

The thing is, I've invested in this and made the potential life commitment. I'm so sad and if she doesn't come home and lives a happy healthy natural life, I will be so very happy for her. I'm just so attached and so for my own selfish needs I want her back. However I completely get nature and wish her a well safe life with friends. Luckily I have a walnut tree that she's probably in. It is her name after all. Aka Wallie.

[DaSquirrelMom]

I'm sending hugs to you. It's hard to be without the animals we love.

I'll bet you see her this weekend. If she's in the trees near your house and you put food for her on your porch, she'll soon be on your porch early every morning and late afternoon looking for you. (My daughter conditioned several of her neighborhood's wild squirrels to wait near her porch when she comes home from work. She feeds them as soon as she gets home.)

[GGnWallie]

I'm sending hugs to you. It's hard to be without the animals we love.

I'll bet you see her this weekend. If she's in the trees near your house and you put food for her on your porch, she'll soon be on your porch early every morning and late afternoon looking for you. (My daughter conditioned several of her neighborhood's wild squirrels to wait near her porch when she comes home from work. She feeds them as soon as she gets home.)

That is wonderful. I really hope she comes back for her food at least 💞🐿 thank you!!

[Delo729]

Some squirrels raised by humans will approach other humans. Have you asked your neighbors if they've found a friendly squirrel?

[Frances]

Awww So Sorry to hear the baby got away, but as I understand it 12 weeks is the beginning of release.

From what I see the more senior and experienced folks on the board are saying she should be OK, so no worries squirrel mom - she'll be OK. :hug

We had a grey baby when I was a kid that we released and she lived around our house her whole life. It was really fun to see her all the time although heart-breaking to me as a kid to have to let her go.

Know you did a GREAT job raising her, :thumbsup she is healthy enough to jump away and up a tree, and she's probably up the tree watching your house now!

You'll see her again, I'm sure! :serene

[GGnWallie]

Good news everyone. The girl returned. She's still taking formula and hasn't weaned herself off yet. I sat out there at sun rise and called her. She came down from the tree and reached for her syringe. She got right in her cage, hopped on her hammock and started munching her treats. However, she was still on her high!! Would it ever be possible that I got the wrong baby? She just seems different. I mean I know it's her and selfish me still feels like I need her a little longer and will plan for a soft release if she will. She had too much fun.

[lilidukes]

So happy she came back.
Getting a little late in the year to release now.
She would have spent this winter with momma
squirrel naturally.
I don't ever go to the release cage before they're
16 weeks and then I keep them at least another
3-4 weeks before opening the doors.
Personally I'd keep her over the winter and start
her release as soon as the trees start getting
leaves back.

Very happy for the both of you:grouphug

[Mel1959]

:yeahthat:yeahthat

[Frances]

:w00t

She might be a little 'different' because she was able to interact with other squirrels and see how it is to be in the trees. When our grey left for a week she came back but was VERY different. She was still very friendly to us and wanted cuddles and warmth but was extremely protective of her food. We guessed it was because she had to learn the wild squirrels don't share as nice as we did....

At any rate, if the weather is cooling some where you are she may have found the slightly chilly night and no warm milk was not to her liking yet.

Enjoy the baby!!

[GGnWallie]

So happy she came back.
Getting a little late in the year to release now.
She would have spent this winter with momma
squirrel naturally.
I don't ever go to the release cage before they're
16 weeks and then I keep them at least another
3-4 weeks before opening the doors.
Personally I'd keep her over the winter and start
her release as soon as the trees start getting
leaves back.

Very happy for the both of you:grouphug

Thank you!!! I was thinking the same thing by just doing some research. She's had her fun, but needs to still be warmed up and fed.

[GGnWallie]

:w00t

She might be a little 'different' because she was able to interact with other squirrels and see how it is to be in the trees. When our grey left for a week she came back but was VERY different. She was still very friendly to us and wanted cuddles and warmth but was extremely protective of her food. We guessed it was because she had to learn the wild squirrels don't share as nice as we did....

At any rate, if the weather is cooling some where you are she may have found the slightly chilly night and no warm milk was not to her liking yet.

Enjoy the baby!!

I love that little baby so much. Yeah she looks like she had a little too much fun or got in to it over something. Either way, my poor little girl was a little messy looking when she came back. She was so hungry, so I'm glad she knew she could be fed safely inside. I'll try to post a pic of her.

[GGnWallie]

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[Shewhosweptforest]

Wow...this is the best news...you were lucky and more importantly she was lucky:serene I would overwinter too :Love_Icon thank you for taking our advice and getting there at dawn :bowdown you probably saved her life again in doing so :Love_Icon

Would love pics :klunk

[GGnWallie]

Wow...this is the best news...you were lucky and more importantly she was lucky:serene I would overwinter too :Love_Icon thank you for taking our advice and getting there at dawn :bowdown you probably saved her life again in doing so :Love_Icon

Would love pics :klunk

TSB saved her life with me. Over the last couple months, I wouldn't have been able to do it had I not found this group. 💞 Was the picture able to upload?? I posted one, I can see if it'll work again. 😀:grouphug

[GGnWallie]

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[GGnWallie]

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[cava]

:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon :Love_Icon:Love_Icon Green bean pic! :Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon :Love_Icon:Love_Icon

[GGnWallie]

:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon :Love_Icon:Love_Icon Green bean pic! :Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon :Love_Icon:Love_Icon

It's my most favorite pic of her!! The other one is my next favorite.

[cava]

There is another photo that I saw somewhere on here of a squirrel eating a green bean, similar to this one. I want them blown up into posters and put in every elementary school classroom in the country.

[Shewhosweptforest]

Awww I just happened to miss the first pic :great she is adorable....I love her coloring...her face reminds me of "dirty faced squirrels" :serene

I turned this one for you....for me too...purely selfish:laugh2

[stepnstone]

I'm very glad to come on here and see she came back unharmed and did not get run off as many inexperienced escapees do.
You are both very lucky! Now you know how quickly these things can happen when not safely secured, lessons learned. :grouphug

[Nancy in New York]

Awww I just happened to miss the first pic :great she is adorable....I love her coloring...her face reminds me of "dirty faced squirrels" :serene

I turned this one for you....for me too...purely selfish:laugh2

Thanks for turning this Sweeper.
She is JUST such a precious looking little sweetie,
I'm SO thrilled that she is home safe and sound! Phew! :w00t:Love_Icon

[SammysMom]

They really are smart! So glad she is home and safe. That sick feeling is not one I would wish on anyone! :hug

[GGnWallie]

There is another photo that I saw somewhere on here of a squirrel eating a green bean, similar to this one. I want them blown up into posters and put in every elementary school classroom in the country.

I think it was mine!! You've helped me before with questions and I shared that same pic. It's my favorite, the other one is more current, but I can't resist the green bean pic!!

[GGnWallie]

Thanks for turning this Sweeper.
She is JUST such a precious looking little sweetie,
I'm SO thrilled that she is home safe and sound! Phew! :w00t:Love_Icon

I am too! Thank you all for the continued support! She had a bath and let me help with her nails and just stayed so calm and let me rub her cute little ears!

[GGnWallie]

They really are smart! So glad she is home and safe. That sick feeling is not one I would wish on anyone! :hug

I wouldn't either! It was an awful 12 hours. So short, but felt like a lifetime.

[GGnWallie]

I'm very glad to come on here and see she came back unharmed and did not get run off as many inexperienced escapees do.
You are both very lucky! Now you know how quickly these things can happen when not safely secured, lessons learned. :grouphug

Definitely. I sure thought I had it figured out. Next time she's going in a real carrier, which I have. 😄

[Delo729]

How freaking awesome is this? so glad you got that baby back!!!:Love_Icon

[kendradfw]

Shes just precious! Glad you got her back!