Head down stance

[Mel1959]

Has anyone else seen the head down, “I’m not feeling well”, posture in an outside squirrel when there was nothing wrong with them? I have noticed May in this posture a couple of times as she lays on her nest box porch in the sun. She is moving around fine, takes and eats blocks and formula every evening, will eat a nut (although I haven’t seen her shell one) and basically seems fine. I suspect she could be pregnant again, since she has become VERY protective of her tree and box, but I don’t know for sure. She stays very close to home, too. I’m not sure what to make of it.

[SammysMom]

I dont think I've seen it outdoors, but maybe she ate something that made her feel sick?

[island rehabber]

It's usually a sign of not feeling well, but given the time of year in FL she could also be preggers. C'mon May....tell your mamma what's going on! (If only they could...)

[Mel1959]

It's usually a sign of not feeling well, but given the time of year in FL she could also be preggers. C'mon May....tell your mamma what's going on! (If only they could...)

I was wondering if being pregnant could make her feel “off”, like it does us hoomans?

[Spanky]

I saw this one time outdoors, but that girl had more obvious signs (head / face swelling) that something was wrong. In the end the vet diagnosed it as nasal cavity carcinoma.

She would sit in the head down stance literally for hours in the fork of a large oak tree. She only came at off hours (to avoid other squirrels). Her thread is here:
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?55016-Head-Injury-Likely-one-of-the-releases&highlight=

I hope this is NOT (and doubt that it is) the same situation; hopefully you just have a preggo, first time mother!

[Diggie's Friend]

One possibility would be due to an endoparisitical (nematodes) infection gotten from the soil, like (callodium hepaticum) that impacts the liver, or from roundworms that initially infest the bladder.

Another cause might be from ingesting a toxic mushroom, or having gotten a hit of alfatoxin from bad nut that is commonly available at this time of year.

You might offer the squirrel one drop from an ml syringe of milk thistle seed extract on a small piece of pecan or E. Walnut

https://www.amazon.com/Oregons-Wild-Harvest-Thistle-Supplement/dp/B00J9MKEUG/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_4_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1548271883&sr=1-4-fkmr0&keywords=wild+harvest+Milk+thistle+seed+elixer


I recommend this source also, as it is anti bacterial, anti viral Pycnogenol liquid (2 drops from an ml syringe)

https://villagevitaminstore.ca/products/org-liquid-Pycnogenol https://villagevitaminstore.ca/products/org-liquid-pycnogenol