When to release overwintered siblings

[olorin19]

Arya and Iggy have been with me since 8/31. Their eyes were open but their tails were not yet fluffy (photo is from next day), so I aged them at 5-6 weeks, thus born something like 7/23.

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In any case, they are now coming up on 7 months old, and given their age and general behavior, I am leaning towards releasing as early as would be optimal for them.

My two previous overwintered squirrels were born a little later in the year (early August and mid September), and they were released in early May and late May respectively.

We are in the suburbs, with maples and oaks being the main trees in the neighborhood.

What I am getting at is this: What indicates that it is late enough in the spring to release them? For example, do the maple trees need to be fully leafed out?

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

[RockyPops]

Those are some sweet babies you have.

Thanks for helping them!

Just my opinion.

I would recommend trees being fully leafed out. These human raised babies don't have the benefit of a mama squirrel to teach them about predators, dangers etc. The older they are (6 to 12 mths) the more their natural instincts kick in. And leaf cover helps protect them from overhead dangers. Plus temps tend to moderate more, later in spring. Err on side of caution.

Are you doing a soft release?

[olorin19]

Those are some sweet babies you have.

Thanks for helping them!

Just my opinion.

I would recommend trees being fully leafed out. These human raised babies don't have the benefit of a mama squirrel to teach them about predators, dangers etc. The older they are (6 to 12 mths) the more their natural instincts kick in. And leaf cover helps protect them from overhead dangers. Plus temps tend to moderate more, later in spring. Err on side of caution.

Are you doing a soft release?

Yes, soft release.

I have a release cage with nest box inside as a permanent fixture in my yard. It has been used many times, both for initial soft releases of youngsters as well as later soft releases of adults who had to come back inside for antibiotics.

The only wrinkle this time is that Mookie tends to sleep in there during the colder weather. So if Mookie us still using it much by the time I want to bring the kids out, I will change plans and simply use their inside cage as their release cage. (This cage is 2' W x 6' L x 6' H, designed to fit through my back door so it can live behind my shed when not in use.)

I have two other nest boxes in my back yard that are not in cages, and since his release a few weeks ago, Mookie has mostly been using one of these instead, so there may not be an issue anyways.

I have often wondered how much is taught by mama squirrel and how much is instinct. My sun porch (where they spend 2-3 hours every day playing) has lots of glass. They both alert when hawks fly by, and make the appropriate squirrel sounds and tail movements - clearly skills they did not get taught by me! And they do not alert to other birds, except larger ones like turkey vultures and (maybe?) crows. They will also alert to dogs being walked nearby, etc.

[RockyPops]

Sounds like they are ready when you get leaves! :grin3

Glad to hear Mookie is doing good!

I have a wild that has raised 3 babies in one of my nest boxes. The interaction they have is amazing. Babies are 6 months old now. When they first left the nest at about 10 weeks, early in the morning I would see a little squirrel train heading out for the day. Mom leading and the babies following. Sometimes she would slow everyone down to wait for a straggler.

She left the nest box when they were about 16 weeks old but stayed in another box about 30 feet away and watched over them very closely. They found her in the new nest box and tried to move in with her but she was adamant that they were on their on and ran them away.

Just last night I watched her play with them just before dark. They went to their box and she hers at bedtime.

Now mom has another, older squirrel living with her. I assume it's an older baby of hers. Been pretty cold so co-habitating for comfort I guess.

[Chirps]

olorin19 that is wonderful that they have such good predator instincts. Sounds like they will do well out in the world. PLEASE keep us updated on their progress. There can never be enough pics and videos either. :grin2

[olorin19]

Sounds like they are ready when you get leaves! :grin3

I have a wild that has raised 3 babies in one of my nest boxes. The interaction they have is amazing. Babies are 6 months old now. When they first left the nest at about 10 weeks, early in the morning I would see a little squirrel train heading out for the day. Mom leading and the babies following. Sometimes she would slow everyone down to wait for a straggler.

She left the nest box when they were about 16 weeks old but stayed in another box about 30 feet away and watched over them very closely. They found her in the new nest box and tried to move in with her but she was adamant that they were on their on and ran them away.

Just last night I watched her play with them just before dark. They went to their box and she hers at bedtime.

Now mom has another, older squirrel living with her. I assume it's an older baby of hers. Been pretty cold so co-habitating for comfort I guess.

I've raised and released four singletons. The two overwintered males (Dustin and Mookie) both became fixtures in my yard. The other two were a male (Sam) who was around through the summer then eventually stopped interacting with me and a female (Amy) that made herself scarce almost immediately. (Amy was the least cuddly squirrel I have raised - we nicknamed her Fierce Amy. She was quite independent from a young age.)

So anyways, I've never had the chance to watch a mama that I released raise babies!

There is a wild mama (we call her simply Mama Squirrel) that will come up to us for food and who did raise a litter in one of our nest boxes last spring. But not long after the kids started poking their heads out, they all relocated. A young squirrel has often come back to that nest box this winter, and we often wonder if it is one of that litter.

Both Dustin and Mookie have occasionally let other squirrels sleep in their nest box with them - typically only in cold weather.

In my observation, if an unwelcome other squirrel gets inside the nest box first, there is not much one of my squirrels can (or will) do about it. This is one reason why I have backup nest boxes.

I build them out of 1" x 12" pine, with many coats of vegetable oil applied and a doormat on top as roofing material. They hold up to the weather for years. I have one that has been outside for five years now. It has had more vegetable oil a couple times on the outside, plus a new roof. (This was due to somebody chewing through the doormat at the corner and exposing the wood a bit.)

[RockyPops]

"Both Dustin and Mookie have occasionally let other squirrels sleep in their nest box with them - typically only in cold weather.

In my observation, if an unwelcome other squirrel gets inside the nest box first, there is not much one of my squirrels can (or will) do about it. This is one reason why I have backup nest boxes."


You think the ones sharing the nest box are indeed Dustin and Mookie and not other squirrels?

And I have noticed as well, first come, first serve at the nest boxes. But on occasion I have seen a more dominant squirrel evict an intruder that was trying to take over a nest box.

So tonight, just before dark, I watched the three babies playing with both the squirrels that stay in the second nest box. So I assume this is mom and an older sibling that live together at least for the cold months. And right on cue just like someone called them in, they all head for their own box for bedtime. Amazing little creatures!

[Scooterzmom]

I don't know where you live but here, Montreal Canada, with our long winters, people who garden know not to start planting until at least Mother's Day - usually the week after because you might get rost overnight. So I usually go by that to guide myself for the releases. It only helps that having some natural food around happens to coincide with that time too :D

[olorin19]

I don't know where you live but here, Montreal Canada, with our long winters, people who garden know not to start planting until at least Mother's Day - usually the week after because you might get frost overnight. So I usually go by that to guide myself for the releases. It only helps that having some natural food around happens to coincide with that time too :D

Thanks!

I am a fair bit further south, and my previous releases have been around the time when we might start planting in these parts.

[olorin19]

"Both Dustin and Mookie have occasionally let other squirrels sleep in their nest box with them - typically only in cold weather.

In my observation, if an unwelcome other squirrel gets inside the nest box first, there is not much one of my squirrels can (or will) do about it. This is one reason why I have backup nest boxes."


You think the ones sharing the nest box are indeed Dustin and Mookie and not other squirrels?

And I have noticed as well, first come, first serve at the nest boxes. But on occasion I have seen a more dominant squirrel evict an intruder that was trying to take over a nest box.

So tonight, just before dark, I watched the three babies playing with both the squirrels that stay in the second nest box. So I assume this is mom and an older sibling that live together at least for the cold months. And right on cue just like someone called them in, they all head for their own box for bedtime. Amazing little creatures!

Dustin and Mookie did not overlap in my yard, i.e. not there at the same time.

What I have seen separately with both Dustin and Mookie are situations where one of them was happily sharing a nest box with another squirrel.

Dustin and Mookie were both singletons, so these other squirrels were presumably not relatives. (Dustin was found by a neighbor on a construction site miles from here, so not local. Mookie was left in a bucket of leaves on our front porch. We never found out who left Mookie, so we do not know how local or not he might be. In any case, neither was raised with other squirrels, and both have typically moved about as single squirrels rather than as part of a pair with a buddy.)

What I have seen many, many times is Dustin or Mookie poking their head out of a nest box. I will go over to feed them, and they will typically hop onto me for the nut then back on top of the nest box to eat, although sometimes they remain on my arm or shoulder instead. So imagine me standing there next to the nest box (which is about 6' off the ground) as one of my guys eats 3 or 4 nuts in a row. Unbeknownst to me, there is actually another squirrel inside the nest box. Eventually, this squirrel decides I am not leaving, and they launch themselves out of the 3' x 3" opening of the nest box to escape. I have had squirrels fly right by my head more than a few times, although never any direct contact.

Other times, I have seen Mookie or Dustin on top of the nest box, waiting for me but also perturbed that someone else is inside. Both squirrels are making angry squirrel noises, etc. In these cases, my presence alone generally evicts the intruder.

And other times, I have walked over just to see if Mookie or Dustin was home and hungry, either first thing in the morning or when I get home from work. I'll usually stand there and call to them first to let them know I am there. If they do not come, I will then give a gentle tap-tap on the nest box with my knuckles. Neither Dustin or Mookie gets scared by this, they just know I am there. What has happened many times when I have approached or tapped is that another squirrel has come flying out of the nest box first and fled to safety. Then, Dustin or Mookie calmly emerges, gets fed, hangs out with Dad, etc. In these cases, clearly Dustin or Mookie was fine with the other squirrel being there, as there were no angry squirrel noises, etc.