urbansquirrelfriend
04-23-2020, 03:23 PM
Hi all,
314545314545
Curious about a squirrel that has been hanging out on my deck for a few hours now.
It's not unusual for baby squirrels to get left on our deck by their moms in the spring (I think the moms trust us because we give them nuts so frequently!) but this guy is a bit smaller than the ones we usually see, despite being furred with a puffed tail.
He's just hanging out by the door, and has explored a little and isn't moving around a lot. He has eaten some blueberries, oats, and apple slices that we've given him, and drank a bit of the water we put out. He will growl when we open the door to toss him food, but won't move out of the way.
What's most concerning is he will seem to want to just fall asleep in the middle of the open deck without taking cover, and also that his front left paw seems to be injured. He can use it to scrub his face or hold a nut, but it doesn't seem like he can put any real pressure on it - he doesn't put it fully down when he walks or jumps.
Right now we're just waiting for mom to come back. Another adult female squirrel stopped by earlier, but he growled at her the whole time and so I don't think that was her.
My question is, what happens if he's still out there when night comes? He's obviously close to adulthood, but seems like he might still be nursing/nesting with his mother. I'm worried he wont be able to climb back to his nest (I'm assuming he lives in our neighbors gutter, which is where most of the squirrels that stop by seem to come from - the squirrels access it via fire escape.)
If he's still out at night, should we take him inside for the night or try to get him to a rehabber? And if we take him inside, what should we feed him?
Thanks for any/all advice!
314545314545
Curious about a squirrel that has been hanging out on my deck for a few hours now.
It's not unusual for baby squirrels to get left on our deck by their moms in the spring (I think the moms trust us because we give them nuts so frequently!) but this guy is a bit smaller than the ones we usually see, despite being furred with a puffed tail.
He's just hanging out by the door, and has explored a little and isn't moving around a lot. He has eaten some blueberries, oats, and apple slices that we've given him, and drank a bit of the water we put out. He will growl when we open the door to toss him food, but won't move out of the way.
What's most concerning is he will seem to want to just fall asleep in the middle of the open deck without taking cover, and also that his front left paw seems to be injured. He can use it to scrub his face or hold a nut, but it doesn't seem like he can put any real pressure on it - he doesn't put it fully down when he walks or jumps.
Right now we're just waiting for mom to come back. Another adult female squirrel stopped by earlier, but he growled at her the whole time and so I don't think that was her.
My question is, what happens if he's still out there when night comes? He's obviously close to adulthood, but seems like he might still be nursing/nesting with his mother. I'm worried he wont be able to climb back to his nest (I'm assuming he lives in our neighbors gutter, which is where most of the squirrels that stop by seem to come from - the squirrels access it via fire escape.)
If he's still out at night, should we take him inside for the night or try to get him to a rehabber? And if we take him inside, what should we feed him?
Thanks for any/all advice!