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grayhrt
05-30-2017, 11:07 AM
On March 8th our granddaughters found a very young squirrel, a pinkie, on the sidewalk in front of their house. No sign of any mama squirrels, but they put it in a small box and watched for the rest of the day. Nothing. So they brought it to me before it froze overnight. I had successfully raised a squirrel from pinkie to release many years ago and have always loved all animals. I did make an effort to call some rehabbers in the area that were listed on the DEEP website without any luck, but then decided to just raise it myself after buying all the recommended equipment. I love taking care of animals and squirrels are the cutest! Anyway, Nuts thrived and is now twelve weeks old. But this time around I haven't had any luck at all finding anyone who can take him to prepare him for release. In the past three weeks I've emailed a total of 12 rehabbers from the DEEP list and called three more. The vast majority haven't answered my emails or returned my calls. Three of them answered but did not have any room in their release cages so they couldn't help. One said he could help but when I emailed him back to set it up he said he had since taken other babies and could only take those who were older because of his work schedule.

I don't know where to proceed from here. I'm afraid the longer this goes on the harder it will be on Nuts. He is still happily taking Esbilac formula three times a day, along with Henry's hi-protein squirrel blocks, rodent blocks and assorted veggies. But I have to admit he particularly loves his formula and just uses the other food to munch on once in a while. Should I be weaning him? It seems too early for that but maybe that's what is making it hard to place him?

Our area isn't the best for squirrels since we have had a resident fox family living at the back of the property next door for years. Each year they raise their kits there. We see them traveling through our back and front yard each day, usually more than once, and have witnessed them carrying squirrels many times. It seems to be a favorite food. Very upsetting!! I couldn't stand if that happened to Nuts.

Sorry for the long post. I'm very worried though. Any help or advice on where to proceed from here would be much appreciated! I also have in the back of my mind a worry about Nuts being consficated and euthanized by some DEEP official... :thankyou

Mel1959
05-30-2017, 04:27 PM
Please reach out and send a private message to Sammysmom who is a licensed Rehabber in Connecticut. Maybe she could help you find someone to do a release?

I agree, with foxes on your property it would not be a good release site.

Thank you for helping this little one. Best of luck. :grouphug

grayhrt
05-31-2017, 10:03 AM
Thank you for the suggestion! I did reach out to Sammysmom and she's going to help me find someplace to eventually release Nuts. I feel much better just being in contact with someone who wants to help! The Squirrel Board has been the best ever for information throughout this whole adventure! It's been permanently open on my computer since March :w00t