squirrel released 3.5 weeks ago still hanging too close to house..... help

[pdurrett]

We released a male 3.5 weeks ago and whenever we go outside any one of our three doors he magically appears running or charging as us for food. We were feeding a bowl of food in grass but it attracted too many other squirrels and he could no longer eat as they chased him away. How long do I keep feeding him? Right now we only put some nuts out on the ledge when he is visible and we know he is going to eat them. I don't like feeding him so close to house but it is the only way to make sure he gets to eat.
I am also afraid to feed him close, because he follows you when ever you go outside and he wants to follow you into the house . It has gotten so the squirrel is not even afraid of our dog when she is in the back yard because she doesn't chase him away he will pounce towards her or chase our dogs ball.
How long should I keep feeding him?

Will he ever go away or is he imprinted here for life?
I am afraid to cook out on deck for fear of him jumping on the grill because he really is fearless
I heard when they get older his hormones will kick in and maybe he will go in search of a mate.... is this true.
We do love him, but don't like that I am always looking around for him and afraid he is going to get in our house or approach someone who may accidentally hurt him...

[Nancy in New York]

We released a male 3.5 weeks ago and whenever we go outside any one of our three doors he magically appears running or charging as us for food. We were feeding a bowl of food in grass but it attracted too many other squirrels and he could no longer eat as they chased him away. How long do I keep feeding him? Right now we only put some nuts out on the ledge when he is visible and we know he is going to eat them. I don't like feeding him so close to house but it is the only way to make sure he gets to eat.
I am also afraid to feed him close, because he follows you when ever you go outside and he wants to follow you into the house . It has gotten so the squirrel is not even afraid of our dog when she is in the back yard because she doesn't chase him away he will pounce towards her or chase our dogs ball.
How long should I keep feeding him?

Will he ever go away or is he imprinted here for life?
I am afraid to cook out on deck for fear of him jumping on the grill because he really is fearless
I heard when they get older his hormones will kick in and maybe he will go in search of a mate.... is this true.
We do love him, but don't like that I am always looking around for him and afraid he is going to get in our house or approach someone who may accidentally hurt him...

You do have a problem. :(
This is a tough one.
Is there anyone nearby that could release him for you.
I know that you probably would hate to disrupt his routine, but
I only see problems arising if this continues.
Do you live in a neighborhood?
You could try NOT feeding him or any of the other squirrels in your
yard, though I know that would probably be almost impossible to resist.

I wished I had a good answer. :dono

[pdurrett]

yes, we live in a neighborhood. Do you mean catch him in a cage and take him somewhere to be re-released? How far away do we need to take him and where would you suggest? A park, woods ?
do you think he will run off when he wants to find a mate ?

[SammysMom]

How old is the little darling?

[pdurrett]

He will be 5 months next Tuesday.
I let him out at 16 weeks.

[SammysMom]

Did you do a soft release when you released him? I am NOT being critical, just trying to think of why he is "failing to launch".

[pdurrett]

we put him in a large parrot cage and had that in garage April 15 for a few weeks. then Took him outside in cage so he could get use to smells etc. and brought him in garage if under 49 degrees. Then he was out side in the cage for another week to 2 weeks. then we let him loose on June 7.
We did feed him thru the bars maybe that was a mistake.

[TubeDriver]

Tough love. I also have two recent releases that are also too friendly. I am feeding only away from my house (near their release cage) and never directly from my hand to them. I will clap and make fake kick/stomping motions and yell "no" if they get too close. I make sure to not stand too close to them, always 8-10 feet away (don't want them to get too comfortable with humans close by). They need to be afraid of dogs, that is very important but I am not sure what you can do about that?

I would consider reducing the amount of food you give him. Skip feeding him a day and just keep a close eye on him from afar (or inside you house). Perhaps as he forages more on his own, he will not be as dependent on you?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Personally, I would give him more time. Eventually he will leave. Either the more dominant wilds will chase him away or he will go find his own territory. The 'wild' will call him and he will go find ladies to chase. I have released many squirrels in my yard. Only 2 will readily approach me. One was released 4 years ago. She will visit me a couple times a year but never stays. The other was released several months ago. She was my first pinkie.

I actually like it when they hang around. I love it when they allow me to have a relationship of sorts with them when they are free. Yes, I know that's not 'by the books' but it works for me. :tilt

I actually have a little 'situation' here tonight with the one I released months ago. She LOVES me like anything but she is very independent. She will leave for weeks at a time. She just returned today after being gone for almost 3 weeks. I was a bit worried about her and was thrilled to see her. Around 6PM I saw her on the back porch. I opened the door and she walked right in and went to the nut bag in the kitchen. After filling up on nuts, she went to the squirrel room, drank water and went to bed in the cat tree condo. I thought that was SO cute but soon realized that it was dark and I couldn't put her out after dark. She is sound asleep. The problem is that I leave for work at 545 AM and it will still be dark so I can't put her out. Oops... big problem. I guess I'll be calling my mom to come over and open the door for her. :tilt

They usually don't approach other people but if he does, it's a BIG problem. As long as he doesn't approach people, I believe this will resolve itself. Most leave and soon you won't be able to pick them out from the wilds. Sad but true. :(

[Ilovelucy_squirrel]

I feel your pain. We have 5 lingers. I don't mind so much because if they stay in our trees I know they are safe. We have thought some would never leave but they eventually do. They start going days and and then weeks and then they are gone. How ever we have few who think our casa is su casa and know how to get into our house through a ac window unit. We are working on that. That being said only feed them at certain times a day. Then cut that down. Eventually they will wild out. They are young adults now, be there but not too much. All our squirrels have gone wild. I marvel at the people who have there squirrel stick around for years. They are opportunistic, so go figure they are living off the system. Our job is to break that cycle. There is one who wintered with us. Part of me hopes he will stay, but every day he is wilder which is hard but good. It is always scary when they don't return. But we our very first rescue came back 3 years later. Only for a day and we know he found a new opportunistic family and had heard that through the grapevine. Still she made it at least 3 years which is long for squirrels I. The wild. Our job was successful. My mindset is to give them their best shot!

Last year after our release one lost most of his tail. We worried but he is fine and wild and found a new territory. We have not seen him in a while and I hope he is ok. What a journey this is and I am still learning!

[Nancy in New York]

yes, we live in a neighborhood. Do you mean catch him in a cage and take him somewhere to be re-released? How far away do we need to take him and where would you suggest? A park, woods ?
do you think he will run off when he wants to find a mate ?

Oh no I didn't mean take him somewhere and drop him off. I meant someone that isn't in
a neighborhood, who doesn't have dogs, that could do a release for you
My only concern is that he may jump on some
other adult or worse a child.
We've seen that happen on the board. :eek

[Nancy in New York]

I actually have a little 'situation' here tonight with the one I released months ago. She LOVES me like anything but she is very independent. She will leave for weeks at a time. She just returned today after being gone for almost 3 weeks. I was a bit worried about her and was thrilled to see her. Around 6PM I saw her on the back porch. I opened the door and she walked right in and went to the nut bag in the kitchen. After filling up on nuts, she went to the squirrel room, drank water and went to bed in the cat tree condo. I thought that was SO cute but soon realized that it was dark and I couldn't put her out after dark. She is sound asleep. The problem is that I leave for work at 545 AM and it will still be dark so I can't put her out. Oops... big problem. I guess I'll be calling my mom to come over and open the door for her. :tilt



I'm sorry to thread jack, but HRT4SQRLS, I LOVE this story.:serene

[pdurrett]

I'm sorry to thread jack, but HRT4SQRLS, I LOVE this story.:serene

no problem.... someone else suggested feeding only once per day.. I can do that but he seems to always approach us every time we are out side (, like he sits and watches drive and back doors) and we toss a nut to get him away from us. My daughter and I, bc we are the ones who fed him.. Should I just feed a big bowl even though others come and run him off? I am afraid he wont get enough to eat and that is why he is hunting us down.

if I shoo him he just keeps coming at me for food when I don't have it.

[Nancy in New York]

no problem.... someone else suggested feeding only once per day.. I can do that but he seems to always approach us every time we are out side (, like he sits and watches drive and back doors) and we toss a nut to get him away from us. My daughter and I, bc we are the ones who fed him.. Should I just feed a big bowl even though others come and run him off? I am afraid he wont get enough to eat and that is why he is hunting us down.

if I shoo him he just keeps coming at me for food when I don't have it.

Back when I released here, island rehabber told me to STOP feeding the outside squirrels,
they will make it tough for my boy.
Well sadly, I didn't listen to her thinking my squirrels had plenty to eat, and one more wouldn't bother them.
Fluffer ended up coming home with a broken leg, the first week of release.
About a month later, he came home beaten up, with a ripped ear.
The squirrels I stupidly continued to feed, were literally beating him up. I have learned a hard lesson at Fluffer's expense.
Personally, I would try to stop feeling everyone other than your little one, and if possible,
not anywhere near you. I'm not sure how that can be done now that he's released.

I NOW tell people if they are going to release on their property, DO NOT FEED THE OTHER SQUIRRELS.
We learned the hard way. :(
Your little one could be hanging around, knowing you have the food and you are safety from the other squirrels.

Post #487 in this thread tells part of the story.
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?24031-Magenta-s-Babies-and-Company/page25


https://photos.smugmug.com/Fluffer-injuries/i-tGWLHXW/0/141ff763/S/Capture-S.jpghttps://photos.smugmug.com/Fluffer-injuries/i-c5b8Xs3/0/b6387f09/O/Capture2.jpg

[Gray Squirrel]

There have been three squirrels that where release at my house. The last two I have allowed to come in to the house right from the start. At this time the one released first and some of the wild squirrels also come in to the house. Just now a wild squirrel can right up to me for a nut. I think I give this squirrel too many nuts. With the first squirrel that someone dropped off at my house I thought it would be good for her to have other squirrels around but I did notice that one wild squirrel gave her trouble. I decided not to feed the wild squirrels but when I saw this squirrel looking for nuts on the porch while I had gone to where I thought the realest squirrel would be when not on the deck and I felt sorry for her and gave her nuts again. I liked this wild squirrel because she would come and look at me from the garbage bin or a nearby tree then I would look back at her and after a while she would come to the deck for a nut. She was the first wild squirrel to take a nut from my hand. She may have been jealous of the first squirrel realest. Later once when she started chasing the released squirrel I got between them. The realest squirrel was in a mulberry tree that touched the deck and the other on the railing I looked from one to the other and after a while the one went down the mulberry tree and the other turned around and walked away along the railing and went down another way. This wild squirrel was the first squirrel to disappear that I notice and because when you read about how short the life expectancy of a squirrel in the wild is I think she lost her life and this was very painful for me.
The next squirrel was a boy and he chased the other squirrel including the lager mails even though he was young. I think I have never been close to an animal than this squirrel But one day he got chased of the deck and I never saw him again. I do not think it was a squirrel did him in. I have never been close to an animal than I was to this squirrel, and for while after losing him I felt that life was worth living. This may have been as painful for me as anything else has been in my life. At first I thought that probably a bird of prey got him now I think it was probably a fox. The third squirrel disappears for a few days or at least I was not there when she came. She got her tail bitten and has a lump on it but I hope it will completely heal. I think that getting her tail bit is the reason is why I do not always see her and she is trying to avoid some of the other squirrel. She tends to show up when there are not so many other squirrels on the deck and now I try to be there when she comes to try to keep her safe. I have small opening in the house for squirrel to come in. I have wondered if I should not have feed so many wild squirrels, but I like all the squirrels that come to my deck. I wish they would get along better. There was a dog here when the first squirrel was left here but now the house is mine and there are no dogs or cats or any other type of preditors in the house. Outside is a different story. One day I had the front door opened and this last squirrel came running in with a dog right on her tail and she went to the house she use to live in behind the curtain. I chased the dog out and told this squirrel that I hoped she had learned something about dogs. This dog is not the most dangerous dog for squirrels. There are two whippets that do not live next store to me but someone visits next store to me and brings them. I have heard that the whippets catch and kill squirrels. I wish the whippets did not come around here. I think those who want to take care of squirrels should not have predators around or be taking care of predators and I think one of the problems with rehabbers is they often take care of both and even if the squirrels and predator are kept separate there is a conflict of interests when one rehabber takes care of both..
It seems that there was a lot I did not know when the first squirrel was left at my house and there is still a lot I do not know. I wonder how many nut are good for the squirrels.