Aurora Squirrel
05-18-2019, 03:36 AM
Hi,
A few days ago, after returning from a long trip, we were delighted to see two adorable baby squirrels popping their heads out of the boreal owl box we put up in a tree two years ago, (and which to date has not impressed any boreal owls.) Our initial fear was that the owl box might become an impromptu bed and breakfast for owls … now my concern is that the young squirrels may have lost their mother in an accident. I haven't seen them running around, my husband said he did a couple of days ago, and just told me that what he thinks was their mother died in the aforementioned accident. We looked up Alaska's DFG (Department of Fish and Game) site on red squirrels. It says they mate in February or March, gestation is 36-40 days, and they wean at about five weeks. We don't know whether they are weaned or not, I'd estimate that they are about half the size of an adult -- pretty small squirrels up here in the first place. They were zipping up and down the trees getting to their box. Should we put out some type of squirrel food at the base of the tree to help their nutrition? We are really hoping they are weaned, but the time seems tight. Even if they are weaned, they usually hang with their mom until autumn anyway, but they won't be able to learn life-skills from her, so any suggestions/insights are greatly appreciated.
A few days ago, after returning from a long trip, we were delighted to see two adorable baby squirrels popping their heads out of the boreal owl box we put up in a tree two years ago, (and which to date has not impressed any boreal owls.) Our initial fear was that the owl box might become an impromptu bed and breakfast for owls … now my concern is that the young squirrels may have lost their mother in an accident. I haven't seen them running around, my husband said he did a couple of days ago, and just told me that what he thinks was their mother died in the aforementioned accident. We looked up Alaska's DFG (Department of Fish and Game) site on red squirrels. It says they mate in February or March, gestation is 36-40 days, and they wean at about five weeks. We don't know whether they are weaned or not, I'd estimate that they are about half the size of an adult -- pretty small squirrels up here in the first place. They were zipping up and down the trees getting to their box. Should we put out some type of squirrel food at the base of the tree to help their nutrition? We are really hoping they are weaned, but the time seems tight. Even if they are weaned, they usually hang with their mom until autumn anyway, but they won't be able to learn life-skills from her, so any suggestions/insights are greatly appreciated.