Baby pine cones

[JoanP]

Am I correct in assuming that newly forming pine cones are a good food for a 10 week old squirrel? He loves to chew and eat pine branches, and they often have young, just forming cones on them. I just found a young pine cone from one of our huge 60 ft. tall white pines, and he went wild for it too.
Will they instinctively know what foods are edible and good for them?

[UDoWhat]

Am I correct in assuming that newly forming pine cones are a good food for a 10 week old squirrel? He loves to chew and eat pine branches, and they often have young, just forming cones on them. I just found a young pine cone from one of our huge 60 ft. tall white pines, and he went wild for it too.
Will they instinctively know what foods are edible and good for them?

No they do not always know what foods are edible and most of all they don't always know if it is good for them to eat. If you put the word aflotoxin in the search box you can see that squirrels don't always know what is safe to eat. Be careful !

[Lighten-Up]

A "good" pine cone I'm pretty sure is a good thing. However the major concern is that pine cones can harbor dangerous mold/aflotoxins, especially the ones that have been lying on the ground in the moisture etc. I never realized this until I raised squirrels. In the beginning, I collected everything, acorns that had been laying on the ground, pine cones; I was so excited to bring home surprises for them. Thankfully, I saw the warnings before I gave them any. I had gallons of acorns I was collecting. I got a huge laugh when I realized that all my efforts were now going have to be used for some other artistic purpose, not for the intended purpose of blessing the baby squirrels. :thinking

Basically, a newly forming pine cone is going to be a lot safer than and old one picked off the ground. But there is a risk.

Just use your gut and exercise as good a judgement as you can. I once had a windstorm knock a 15 foot larch branch off a tree, I took it home for my girls awaiting release. They loved it! I felt pretty okay, because the branch was fresh off the tree, it was loaded with cones. I knew there was a risk, but I felt it was worth it in that case. All was well in that case.

[JoanP]

A "good" pine cone I'm pretty sure is a good thing. However the major concern is that pine cones can harbor dangerous mold/aflotoxins, especially the ones that have been lying on the ground in the moisture etc. I never realized this until I raised squirrels. In the beginning, I collected everything, acorns that had been laying on the ground, pine cones; I was so excited to bring home surprises for them. Thankfully, I saw the warnings before I gave them any. I had gallons of acorns I was collecting. I got a huge laugh when I realized that all my efforts were now going have to be used for some other artistic purpose, not for the intended purpose of blessing the baby squirrels. :thinking

Basically, a newly forming pine cone is going to be a lot safer than and old one picked off the ground. But there is a risk.

Just use your gut and exercise as good a judgement as you can. I once had a windstorm knock a 15 foot larch branch off a tree, I took it home for my girls awaiting release. They loved it! I felt pretty okay, because the branch was fresh off the tree, it was loaded with cones. I knew there was a risk, but I felt it was worth it in that case. All was well in that case.



I did give it to DASH since it was a bud of the large white pine tree cones, and had just fallen from the tree. I washed it well and gave it to him still wet. He reacted to it with total joy and ate more voraciously than I have ever seen him eat, except for his formula. The only effect I could see was huge energy and wanting to play even more than usual.
Thanks for your input. I would never have thought that a baby pine cone bud could have any danger for a squirrel.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Fresh pine cones are pretty safe. It's the acorns that are risky.
I have given fresh pine cones before. My biggest complaint is the mess. The pine sap can make for some messy, matted fur.

[UDoWhat]

Please be careful. I only warn about the pine cones from direct experience. This past spring a first time squirrel owner I was working with brought in a pine cone to their boy one morning. Only a few hours later they called me frantic saying their boy was dying. He was throwing up, lethargic and curled under. I told them to meet me at the Vet. Their precious boy was gone before they reached our Vet. It is not always just the pine mess ... it can be a deadly innocent mistake. My caution comes from a very real and tragic experience. We are all still devastated..:sadness :Love_Icon

I don't mean to scare people. I was heartbroken over the loss of this sweet precious boy.💔 He was about 2 years old. I was looking forward to getting to know them and their boy. He was one of the sweetest and cutest squirrels I have worked with. :Love_Icon

[JoanP]

After doing much reading on Alfotoxin, I put all the nuts I had in the cabinet right into the freezer. I will not give even the newest pine cones to DASH, and frankly, I am terrified about him dying from poisoning once he is on his own and living in the trees.
He still does not seem to be really eating the Henry's High Protein blocks but enjoys tearing them apart. I am waiting to get delivery of the other varieties of HHB, but I read that one kind has peanuts in it. Then, what happens when he is on his own? Where will he get his nutrition from?
How do wild squirrels get enough protein? Not from greens or bark? Our wild ones seem to eat a huge amount of the bird seeds we put out, and look and act healthy.
Are their tails so very thick and bushy because they are much older than DASH who is now about 10 weeks old?

[Lighten-Up]

After doing much reading on Alfotoxin, I put all the nuts I had in the cabinet right into the freezer. I will not give even the newest pine cones to DASH, and frankly, I am terrified about him dying from poisoning once he is on his own and living in the trees.
He still does not seem to be really eating the Henry's High Protein blocks but enjoys tearing them apart. I am waiting to get delivery of the other varieties of HHB, but I read that one kind has peanuts in it. Then, what happens when he is on his own? Where will he get his nutrition from?
How do wild squirrels get enough protein? Not from greens or bark? Our wild ones seem to eat a huge amount of the bird seeds we put out, and look and act healthy.
Are their tails so very thick and bushy because they are much older than DASH who is now about 10 weeks old?

I have been studying plants a lot lately, and there are plants that contain a lot of protein in them, I was really surprised at that, so yes, there is a lot of protein that can be found in plants. Squirrels were designed to thrive in the environment that they were created to live in, so it is my opinion that the trees etc, do provide all they need. I don't know all the specifics on that, but they were designed to thrive without human intervention, so for the most part they will be okay. If your little one can pick up on how wild squirrels eat, he should do just fine.

The threat of alfotoxins is very real, but most squirrels find a way to avoid it, or they would all be wiped out. In general there are far more dangerous issues for the squirrels than alfotoxins. I see no need to mention those....we all deal with them.

I have fed the wilds bird seed, and they eat a lot. I feed the birds, but the squirrels get a healthy dose of it. So long as they eat a lot of their wild greens, this is fine for a wild. What I have noticed is that a few squirrels have taken to depending more on the seed as fun, filling, yummy, easy food, and this is not healthy because it has made them unbalanced in their diet. So I have personally decided to stop feeding the birds in the summer, so it makes the squirrels eat what they are supposed to eat in nature. In the winter, I will resume feeding more seed, and then of course, the squirrels will get a lot of seed again, but they will have eaten balanced throughout the summer. I'm not saying everyone should do this, this is what I am doing in my situation.

I can't speak to the tail, I see all kinds of tails from full to thin.

[sdreamcatcher]

We have a mugo pine out front, and I trimmed a few branches today. I was going to give Hollie a branch with last year's pine cones on it, but I should take those off, right? There are new cones forming on other branches; those are safer? I remember giving Butchie and Joey pine cones from this same pine years ago, and they loved them (I would give them each one when I wanted 5 minutes of peace, lol). I was excited about Hollie discovering a treat but will just give her the branch; where she will be living there are mostly pine trees, so I wanted to give her something she will get to experience there.

[Space_It]

Ok now im kinda nervous..... My Bug LOVES the browner version of pine cones that r from the tree not the ground. I dont pick any from the ground. I tried giving her a green young one but she started to eatit then decided to drop it n proceeded to rub her face everywhere like she didnt like it. Then she wouldnt touch it after that?!! R they not to eatthe browner ones n only the young ones??

[Shewhosweptforest]

My squirrels eat both...they've never been sick...my guess is some sap got on his face and he didn't like it:great then was trying to rub it off :great

[Space_It]

K that makes me feel a little better. I figured id try the young greener ones since she tends to overly enjoy her greens n she def was getting into then dropped in n face rubbed everywhere.... But i know she really likes the browner version that she pulls apart n eats what she wants... Ill try a younger one again see if she will want it. Thank u