Broken leg. How serious is this?

[cookiebun]

This squirrel spent most of the day on top of our patio shed. Latter he came down for a drink and peanut butter snacks. He's been here 2-3 days. Does he need to be rescued or is it better to provide him food and a hiding spot?
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[redwuff]

Can this guy move and use it's legs at all. It looks bad and is extremely vulnerable to predators.:grouphug

[Toddy]

This squirrel needs to be humanely trapped and taken to a vet or rehabber ASAP! Do you have a Have-A-Heart trap that you can use, or are you able to purchase one?

[cava]

It looks infected. Are you willing to try to trap and bring inside for treatment?

[TubeDriver]

That looks like the hind leg from the opposite side, twisted underneath his body?

If so, he needs to be captured, that is really bad looking. :(

[cookiebun]

I have a trap, that's not a problem. We have a rehab hospital with good reputation. https://www.ohiowildlifecenter.org/
We have many, many squirrels that visit our patio. Any suggestions as to how we lure this particular squirrel into the trap? It's been my experience that sick / injured squirrels are extra cautious. Thanks for the quick replies.

[cookiebun]

I have a trap, that's not a problem. We have a rehab hospital with good reputation. https://www.ohiowildlifecenter.org/
We have many, many squirrels that visit our patio. Any suggestions as to how we lure this particular squirrel into the trap? It's been my experience that sick / injured squirrels are extra cautious. My big concern was causing the squirrel extra unnecessary stress but if you rehabbers think it needs rescued we will try. Thanks for the quick replies.
Edit: Redwuff, sorry I didn't reply to you directly. The squirrel got it self down off the top of the shed and ate and had a drink of water. Then it left the yard. It could be in the nearby shrubs but yesterday it was still climbing trees.

[SophieSquirrel]

Any suggestions as to how we lure this particular squirrel into the trap? It's been my experience that sick / injured squirrels are extra cautious. My big concern was causing the squirrel extra unnecessary stress but if you rehabbers think it needs rescued we will try.

Don't worry about stress, that squirrel is suffering and needs treatment. If the wildlife center will only euthanize I have a vet near Columbus.

For a trap peanut butter on the trip plate would work.

[Nancy in New York]

I have a trap, that's not a problem. We have a rehab hospital with good reputation. https://www.ohiowildlifecenter.org/
We have many, many squirrels that visit our patio. Any suggestions as to how we lure this particular squirrel into the trap? It's been my experience that sick / injured squirrels are extra cautious. My big concern was causing the squirrel extra unnecessary stress but if you rehabbers think it needs rescued we will try. Thanks for the quick replies.
Edit: Redwuff, sorry I didn't reply to you directly. The squirrel got it self down off the top of the shed and ate and had a drink of water. Then it left the yard. It could be in the nearby shrubs but yesterday it was still climbing trees.

If you trap. you need to have a plan.
Make sure you have a space inside in a quiet area, or in the garage again, in a quiet area.
Have blankets to cover the trap after.
He will also need something in the trap or container that he can hide under like
old pieces of nightgown or pajamas, andything that his nails can't get stuck in.
Hava a water bottle or a shallow bowl so you can put in some water.
Do you have a have a heart trap, and if so, would you be transferring him over to something larger.
Call ahead to wherever you're thinking of taking him, to make sure they can take him immediately.
Good luck with getting this poor baby, I believe you are his only hope. :(
Are you anywhere near Columbus?

[cookiebun]

If you trap. you need to have a plan.
Make sure you have a space inside in a quiet area, or in the garage again, in a quiet area.
Have blankets to cover the trap after.
He will also need something in the trap or container that he can hide under like
old pieces of nightgown or pajamas, andything that his nails can't get stuck in.
Hava a water bottle or a shallow bowl so you can put in some water.
Do you have a have a heart trap, and if so, would you be transferring him over to something larger.
Call ahead to wherever you're thinking of taking him, to make sure they can take him immediately.
Good luck with getting this poor baby, I believe you are his only hope. :(
Are you anywhere near Columbus?

Yes, I am in Columbus. We've taken many squirrels to OWC and most of them survived. Housing him once trapped is really not a problem. My main concern is not to scare him so much that he stops coming to our patio. Does any one have any suggestions as to how we get just this one squirrel into the trap and not the dozen others. :dono:dono

[Nancy in New York]

Yes, I am in Columbus. We've taken many squirrels to OWC and most of them survived. Housing him once trapped is really not a problem. My main concern is not to scare him so much that he stops coming to our patio. Does any one have any suggestions as to how we get just this one squirrel into the trap and not the dozen others. :dono:dono


I'm sorry I have never trapped, but hopefully someone can help
you out on this one.
Thank you for watching out for this little one. :hug
Not sure if you saw SophieSquirrel's response.



Don't worry about stress, that squirrel is suffering and needs treatment.
If the wildlife center will only euthanize I have a vet near Columbus.

For a trap peanut butter on the trip plate would work.

[Diggie's Friend]

Yes. The size of trapneeds to be oversized like that used to capture a racoon or a possum, not the size for a rat or squirrel. You will see the trigger plate, yet the weight of a squirrel often isn't enough to trip the plate. To not end up catching the wrong squirrel the bar that is normally connected to the plate needs to be disconnected by unhooking it. Once disabled tie a long string about 15 to 20 ft. and tie t nt the small bar that the connectng bar was hooked on. Then find a good spot sufficiently distant, or visually not prominent to sit in a chair and wait for the squirrel to come and eat the small bits (not in the shell) of walnut trailing into trap all the way to the back.

See long side bar in photo: https://www.amazon.com/Havahart-1079-Professional-Style-One-Door-Groundhog/dp/B00004RAMT

It may take a few times for the squirrel t trust enough to go in the trap; just be patient and let the squirrel enjoy the bits of nuts till he decides to go all the way into the back of the trap following grouping of bits of nuts before pulling the string. What I have seen in the past is that the squirrel may still take the nut outside the trap, yet the last time when the squirrel goes to get the last bits of nut at the opposite end is when I pull the string, for then thee sn't anough time for the squirrel to escape, worse get hit by the door on the way out. If in doubt as to him being far enough into the trap don't pull the string, just put in more nut bits as before and start over. I have done this many times and have not had an issue using the string hand trigger.

Should this need to be placed on a wall where the squirrel travels, use bungle cords to secure it well, as you don't want to pull it down with the squirrel in it when you pull the string. if you need to place it on the ground, put some leafy light weight branches round it to camouflage its appearance. Make sure that the branches don't interfere with the mechanism.

There is always a chance with the skin broken that it may have an infection. There was one I trapped for my mother that had a broken knee infected into the bone, so it wasn't able to be saved. Another had two breaks in one leg that was pinned and cast that recovered to be released back to the wild. If you desire not to see the squirrel euthanized if it turned out that to save the squirrel's life it would need the leg to be amputated, or other issue that would render the sqel not releasable, it's best discuss that this with the wildlife group before they take the animal in for surgery. It is a big commitment to care for a squirrel for the rest of its life, not for everyone; yet for those that have taken on this responsibility it has been well worth it. Please know that I'm in no way trying to say what you should decide to do in such a case, only should you desire to support this animal in captivity it would be needful to offer to care for the squirrel ahead of time; otherwise should the squirrel end up non releasable they have a reason to not euthanize it out of hand. Then there is what your State and this group will allow, so if that is somethjng you would want to do be sure to talk it over with them.

[dextersmom]

If hes in alot of pain which I would imagine he certainly is,he wont want to eat so making him move into the trap wont happen. I would throw a small baby blanket over him and just wrap him up and bring him to the vet asap in the baby blanket.