Need ideas!

[Critter_Queen]

Ok, so I just spent the last 20 minutes outside cleaning out my duck enclosure and the whole time I keep hearing what I'm CERTAIN is a baby squirrel EEEPing again and again and again without ceasing! :( I drop what I'm doing and start listening and letting my brain tell my feet where to go based on the sound. (helps to have VERY big ears. :D And my neighbors already know I'm nuts, to what the hell, right? :thumbsup Picture me wandering through the alley and peoples' yards and suddenly turning and looking a different direction while shuffling my feet [lest I step on an EEPing squirrel] while looking into the sky and on rooftops)

I end up two houses away and I'm certain that I see the nest the sound is coming from. Problem? It's 30 feet off the ground, 25 feet out from the roof, and is out on a branch so small even my 100 pound butt would break it. (BTW, no one currently lives in the house that the tree belongs to)

What do I do? Hubby doesn't get home until 5:00 and even then, we don't have a ladder that could reach the nest. :(

I have to take my bird to the vet at 3:00 (2.5 hours from now) and after that I won't be free again to deal with it until after 7:00 tonight!

I need suggestions on how to get to that nest.

[Buddy'sMom]

Any tree trimmer crews in the area? (I KNOW you don't have time to ride around looking, but if there are any you could call and locate any crew that might be nearby, maybe they could stop at that address before they go home for the day?) We have now spoken with many in our area and they all seem pretty concerned about baby squirrels.

:grouphug

[Critter_Queen]

Yeah, I thought of that Gamma...but before I call out the fire truck I was hoping to get some other ideas...the fire department IS right near my house and I DO know a couple of the volunteers...but again, I'd need to wait until after 7:00 for that...but if that's my only option, I'm prepared to ask. :)

[Critter_Queen]

Any tree trimmer crews in the area? (I KNOW you don't have time to ride around looking, but if there are any you could call and locate any crew that might be nearby, maybe they could stop at that address before they go home for the day?) We have now spoken with many in our area and they all seem pretty concerned about baby squirrels.

:grouphug

Good idea BM! Only I don't think there would be any in the area...I live in a small town pretty much in the middle of nowhere on the way to nothing, so... :) Worse case senario, though, I'll call a tree service and pay for the help! So at least I can use that for a backup! :thumbsup

[Apple Corps]

CQ - how about a quick call to a local tree trimmer - you could also introduce your squirrel rescue efforts to them.

AC

[Critter_Queen]

CQ - how about a quick call to a local tree trimmer - you could also introduce your squirrel rescue efforts to them.

AC

Thanks, AC, planning to use that as a backup plan. I got a PM just a second ago suggesting the phone company...I'm going to check with them (I'm SUPER close to the phone company in town - and so is the nest! :thumbsup ) in a little bit when I'm done washing syringes and feeding squirrels...

I'll check back with you all in a bit...

PLEASE keep the ideas coming...(and stories wouldn't hurt cuz I'm going to feel like an idiot asking for help getting to a squirrel nest! LOL!)

[Mars]

How about public service or lines men?

[island rehabber]

Fire Dept? Firefighters are always so agreeable to things like this, at least around here. :)

[Critter_Queen]

I just went outside and can't hear the little EEPing squirrel any longer. I went over and looked around on the ground and at the branches to see if I could see anything and nada...

So now what? Do I wait and see if I hear it again? Do I ask the fire department folks to help me anyway?

Also, I'm not a good judge of distance, but on a second look, I'm thinking this nest is about 40' off the ground...

Heading off to take a shower. I'll check to see if I hear the EEPing again when I'm done. Then I'm off to the vet for my bird to get her beak trimmed (again!) fun fun!

I'll try to check back here before I head to the vet's office. I don't want to call into the fire department and have everyone come running, so I'm going to wait until I know two of the volunteers are home from work and then hit them up personally. :)

Thanks for all your suggestions!!!

[MsOakley]

Maybe the little whipper snappers were just hungry and momma was off finding some chow for herself. Could be she came home and that's why they stopped crying. Of course I have nothing to base this idea on...just being optomistic. Good luck!

[susanw]

I hope that's all it was too, little ones crying for mom to come back and feed them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[Buddy'sMom]

I don't know how to ask this, because it might be a really dumb question from a rehabber-perspective with more experience in these things, but .... are you sure it was a baby squirrel crying and not an adolescent/almost-adult? If it is obvious to you that it was a baby, just stop reading now :D . The reason I asked is last night I heard crying in the maple tree. LOTS of crying. As near as I can tell, there were 5 from a spring litter whose mom left them to move into our nestbox (whole nother thread coming, I think) -- and the 5 followed her ... and each huddled pathetically on its own branch around the tree, crying plaintively. Occasionally trying to get to mom, who ran everyone off. Anyway, could it have been an older EEPing? Just asking. :grouphug

[island rehabber]

Or... on an equally optimistic note, it could just be "Screaming Pinky Syndrome" :D, you know, when the little devils just eep on top of their lungs for no real reason other than "your toenail is in my EYE!!" I think we have a thread about that here somewhere.....

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

I had the same situation in my own back yard 4 years ago. Eeeping from a tree, baby clinging to the side of a pine. Baby went back in the nest for a rest, then started eeeping again. I put up a catch net while trying making phone calls in case it jumped.

Next day, I called several tree services, and finally found somebody who would come on the Labor Day holiday weekend. The guy climbed the tree (he had the gaffs on his feet), pulled 2 babies from the nest, and put them in a bookbag over his shoulder. The were hand-delivered from the nest. He was going to charge $60, but I gave him $100 so he would remember me in the event of another emergency.

I'd be happy to pitch in on a tree service if it comes to that, CQ.

[Critter_Queen]

I had decided that I was going to find someone to get me or them up to the nest and pull one baby for me to look at, so in case they looked healthy we could just put the little bugger back in the nest and leave them be.

However, I can't seem to find help. Well, I haven't exhausted all my options yet, but ran into a roadblock right away.

On my way out of town to take my bird the vet appointment (an appointment I waited well over 30 minutes beyond my appointment for and had to leave without getting service. :pissed) I pulled into the gas station at the edge of town to drop off the DVD I rented last night and what, before my wondering eyes should appear? But a giant TREE SERVICE truck, complete with bucket gear! :thumbsup So I ask the guy as he's coming out of the store if he has a minute to listen to my plight and see if he could help me. After I explained who I was and what I needed he said he'd follow me there and see if he could help. Unfortunately, his tree service truck was SO big and we've had SO much rain the last three days...he said he couldn't do it without the homeowner's permission. :( I understood and thanked him for taking time to see if he could help.

The phone company doesn't have anything that could get me up that high. The fire department is the same issue as the tree service guy...and I can't reach the frickin' homeowner! :shakehead See, there's a rental house between me and the tree and if I could get permission from THAT homeowner (the landlord to the rental house) I could hire the local electrician who has a small bucket truck to drive onto his property and reach the tree that way. (the tree belongs to a house that is owned by a young gal who we haven't seen in over a year...the lawn hasn't been mowed all summer...so I'm not going to be able to reach her)

K, gotta go for a minute...

[4skwerlz]

You need one of those fearless tree-service guys who can shimmy up there in a harness and those "clingy leg thingys" (whatever they're called). No heavy trucks required! Maybe you can find an arborist who's a fuzzer-lover as well.... Sounds like you're doing pretty well so far with luring these macho guys over there......:D

[Critter_Queen]

Well I'D shimmy up the tree if that's all it took! LOL! :D I'm kind of a tomboy anyway! :thumbsup But the nest is WAY out on the tips of the branch and the main support branch that the nest is on is only about 2.5-3" in diameter...I only weigh about 100 pounds and I'm not even daring enough to try THAT!

I think I'll just have to wait and talk to the rental property owner and see about getting the electrician out tomorrow after work. I hate to wait that long, but I don't have much of a choice now...it's dark here. :(

BUT, hubby is up for the game and won't let me forget about them...:) So we'll just have to wait and see.

Man, I was just SURE that tree service truck was a sign from God! LOL! :D

[4skwerlz]

But the nest is WAY out on the tips of the branch and the main support branch that the nest is on is only about 2.5-3" in diameter...I only weigh about 100 pounds and I'm not even daring enough to try THAT!

Way out there, huh? Sounds like an inexperienced mom maybe. The alpha moms around here always build right in the crotch of the tree, where it's strongest. The youngin's always seem to build their first "trial" nests way out at the end of a branch, where every wind sways it. Hmmm.

[Critter_Queen]

The youngin's always seem to build their first "trial" nests way out at the end of a branch, where every wind sways it.

That is EXACTLY where this nest is...right where every little breeze will sway it...and the branch doesn't have many leaves either, you can see the nest with no trouble at all. It IS in the crook of the branch, but it's the LAST crook and split of branch before the tip! LOL! :shakehead The nest can't be but 6" from the outter-most tip of that branch.

[Critter_Queen]

So it sounds like even if you would find someone able to climb the tree with those "spike" things, they still wouldn't be able to reach the nest. It would have to be with a bucket, right? :thinking

Yep. And having a bucket wouldn't be a problem if the landlord would have called me back before dark. But there isn't a soul in this neck of the woods (besides me, of course) that would be willing to risk life and limb after dark just to save some baby squirrels.

But, we'll see what tomorrow brings. Here's hoping Mom was just late getting home for lunch...:Love_Icon

[4skwerlz]

That is EXACTLY where this nest is...right where every little breeze will sway it...and the branch doesn't have many leaves either, you can see the nest with no trouble at all. It IS in the crook of the branch, but it's the LAST crook and split of branch before the tip! LOL! :shakehead The nest can't be but 6" from the outter-most tip of that branch.


'Course it all depends on availability. When I lived in the foothills in Virginia, every fuzzer had a great tree to himself. Here in the suburbs, the really prime trees (giant live oaks) are shared among a few friendly (family?) fuzzers, with the alpha female claiming the best, highest center crotch, other adults having more outward but still stable crotches, and the babies stuck with the waving tips. Also a baby will often try a different tree and choose to build in the tips, even when the crotch is available (i.e., no other squirrels nesting in the tree) due to inexperience???? An adult fuzzer that can "claim" a tree to itself will typically claim the crotch. I find the whole subject fascinating (obviously). Spent WAY too many hours 'n' hours watching these wild guys through binoculars. :D

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

My guy didn't use a truck, and went 60 feet up with those spike things on his shoes and a belt to counterbalance.

[Bravo]

Come on, mom... hurry home. :thumbsup

[Critter_Queen]

Just heard from the landlord, I have permission to drive a truck onto the rental property land! :thumbsup So, tomorrow I'll call the local electrician and see if he'll meet me over there at 4:45 tomorrow afternoon. :) Wish me luck!

Oh, and just so you all know, the reason I think the mom is missing and it's not just squirrels randomly screaming, this EEPing went on for about 10 minutes before I decided to investigate, then for another 10 minutes while I searched out where the sound was coming from, then for at least another 10 minutes while I stood there trying to figure out a way to get up there and looking on the ground for fallen babies...and then ANOTHER 10 minutes while I finished my duck chores...this WHOLE time they were EEPing NON-STOP. It was ripping my heart out! If it had just been a short burst, I wouldn't have thought much about it...but it was constant...to the point where it would attract predators, and ain't no momma squirrel gonna let THAT kinda screaming go on! (that and I've lived here 10 years and this is the first time I've ever heard that sound in "my own" trees!)

[Bravo]

Good luck, CQ.

[LynninIN]

Good luck CQ.

[Critter_Queen]

I called the local electrician at noon and left a message telling him who I was and what I was hoping he could help me with. Told him to call my cell or meet me at X address at 4:45-5:00 (cst) this evening. I haven't heard back from him, so let's hope he's there waiting for me when I get home in half an hour. If not, I'll call him again and see if I can get him then.

I've listened and been over there a few times since yesterday and haven't heard them again. Hoping that's a good sign, but have a gut feeling it's a bad one. Hope my guts are wrong. :(

I just need to see one of the babies and I'll feel better knowing what I'm dealing with...if anything.

I'll post tonight if my 'puter lets me online...

[thundersquirrel]

better safe than sorry! your neighbors might think you're nuts but that sort of thing can drive a squirrel lover to the edge!

i hope everything works out, and that whatever creatures you find up there are safe.

[susanw]

Can you throw a rope up to the tree limb or a larger limb close by? Got any little kids in your neighborhood that you can tie the other end of the rope around him and hoist him up? Just a thought!:dono

[Critter_Queen]

Not a baby to be found!!! :D :thumbsup The electrician was super nice and went up to the nest for free!! :)

He got up there and once he was pretty sure there wasn't anything in it I had him tear it down to make absolutely sure it was empty, and it was. :thumbsup He said that he could feel the inner chamber when he first started poking around in there and said that it was holding water, but no babies. Well, if it was holding water that would be a good reason to make squirrels scream and have Momma move 'em! :) And, we have been having a ton of rain the last week or so...

So, good news all the way around!!! :D

[LynninIN]

Squirrel mothers are such good mommies.

[Critter_Queen]

Aren't they, though? I mean, I've SEEN what baby squirrels do to rubber nipples when they're teething! LOL! :D :rotfl

[Buddy'sMom]

At least you can sleep well, CQ, knowing that there aren't babies out there waiting for you to rescue them!! What an effort!! :thumbsup


Squirrel mothers are such good mommies.
And apparently they are also good engineers and construction workers! "Holding water"?? Leaves and twigs and grass ... HOLDING WATER??!!! Think about it! :bowdown :bowdown {Although, now that I think of it, I guess a REALLY good one would have engineered a drain hole into the design :D }

[Mars]

At least you can sleep well, CQ, knowing that there aren't babies out there waiting for you to rescue them!! What an effort!! :thumbsup


And apparently they are also good engineers and construction workers! "Holding water"?? Leaves and twigs and grass ... HOLDING WATER??!!! Think about it! :bowdown :bowdown {Although, now that I think of it, I guess a REALLY good one would have engineered a drain hole into the design :D }


And a roof that didn't leak. :D

[Apple Corps]

It sounds like great news - what an effort :D

More and more I am so impressed at the dedication mother fuzzers show to their babies. They bring them down - introduce them to us - watch over things - and remain in the area - we could leasrn a lot from them :shakehead

[Buddy'sMom]

And a roof that didn't leak. :D
Yeah. :jump

[Kathy56]

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup