thelema93
09-25-2020, 05:56 PM
Hi there all! I wasn't sure where to post this so please forgive me if this is the wrong place.. I'm rather new here.
I'm in Brooklyn, NY where my bedroom window faces out onto a tree lined block. A beautiful female grey mama squirrel we call "Lil Mama" has adopted us over the last few months! The 1st time she came around in May she was heavily preggers and was always trying to get in my window. She succeeded 1 day.. she chewed a hole in our screen. I walked in and found her sitting on my night table like it was no big deal..LOL.. I felt she deserved a miniature cloak & crown as she sat there..oh so dignified!
I gently coaxed her back outside. She was overly friendly to the point of scaring ME since day 1. She disappeared for a few weeks to have her babies in July and then returned.
Since then we've developed a great relationship & trust each other fully. She climbs right up onto my lap & will search for snacks in my kaftan & blanket, lets me pet her, give her head/under ear scratches & even lets my husband pet her too..though he rarely interacted with her until last week. He went from "don't let it in the damn house!" to just adoring her & fighting over who gets to feed her next hehe!! She's just the gentlest little darling you can imagine. Incredibly patient. She has never scratched, bit, lunged, growled, chattered etc..she's displayed absolutely NO aggressive or "back off" behavior toward either of us ever. That being said we still absolutely respect her being wild. We seem to have the best of both worlds with her! The other morning I found her sitting on my night table... again.. watching my husband from behind, unbeknownst to him, as he was eating a sandwhich..again.. like it was no big deal!! Strangely she has also NEVER pooed or peed inside.. That I'm finding truly bizarre given their..um...nature..lol.
We have a cat that tolerates " Lil Mama" as well. We lost her companion cat this year so I believe the company is welcome but I still watch them carefully & stay in between them.
I'm a lil worried that come winter she may try to actually move right in with us...
We live on the 2nd floor & she climbs up the fire escape. I had the thought that maybe she had been rehabbed or raised by humans and that is why she has very little fear..at least of us ..but then of course we are a source of food..This does seem a bit unusual for a wild though... Right?!
Sadly my downstairs neighbor's wife is terrified of squirrels. They would NEVER hurt an animal & have turtles, birds & dogs themselves. But 1 day Lil Mama heard the man coming out & panicked..she actually pancaked out flat on the chair & screamed because she was so scared of getting yelled at!! It broke my heart!! She is really an angel!
They just see them all as tree rats unfortunately. He's very loud & if they go down near his door he yells..They learned fast to avoid the 1st floor! They just think I'm nuts..hehe. We do have a great relationship with them so I'm not worried about her getting hurt.
I do feed a couple of others now & then including 1 other female we call "Scurious" since April. She was brought by here as a youth by her mama who's since disappeared. They won me over by rattling the window bars like lunatics & hanging their squirrel butts into my face (my bed is directly under the window..) I finally relented & gave them a snack.
But our Lil Mama is such a special lil one..
She actually hangs out on our fire escape like a puppy...she lays down to rest on the chair & just relaxes.
I've tried to give her healthier treats but she won't take anything but the nuts (almonds,walnuts,pecans & occasionally a few roasted peanuts or pistachios.) Sometimes she'll eat a little piece of avocado. She gets fresh water daily as well & she loves that too. I figure as she's outside & wild she knows how to balance her own diet. I just absolutely want to do what is best for her. I just ordered a cuttlefish bone today to see if she'll nibble on it. I know MBD is almost always occurant in domestics/indoor squirrels but I'm a worrier & want to do what is best for her since she seems to have sought me out for a lil help. I'd be devastated if anything I did for her interfered negatively. I don't encourage the other squirrels to be too trusting of humans or to lose their wild instincts/innate fears. I put their snacks in a bowl on the side..But Lil Mama was already highly social & seemed to crave human contact!
I imagine she has babies somewhere but they must still be too young to come out.. They must be close to 6-8 weeks by now though. Her teats are still very visible though..so she appears to still be nursing.
**So inevitably my question is has anyone else had an overly friendly squirrel suddenly appear and adopt them!? And if so how did you deal with it? I worry a bit about mites/fleas but I've never once seen any on her nor does she scratch. I'm sure she must have them since she lives outdoors though..but I'm guilty of letting her run around on the bed anyways..
She's very bright eyed & bushy tailed & appears very healthy & is incredibly intelligent. I just hope my feeding her doesn't cause any imbalances for her.
As it gets colder out I'm wondering how this relationship is going to progress..LOL!
This site has been a wonderful resource from which I've already learned much!
I love seeing so many passionate animal lovers helping each other & their animal friends. ❤
Thank you for allowing me to tell my squirrely story!! Here is a pic of Lil Mama posing for the camera!
I'm in Brooklyn, NY where my bedroom window faces out onto a tree lined block. A beautiful female grey mama squirrel we call "Lil Mama" has adopted us over the last few months! The 1st time she came around in May she was heavily preggers and was always trying to get in my window. She succeeded 1 day.. she chewed a hole in our screen. I walked in and found her sitting on my night table like it was no big deal..LOL.. I felt she deserved a miniature cloak & crown as she sat there..oh so dignified!
I gently coaxed her back outside. She was overly friendly to the point of scaring ME since day 1. She disappeared for a few weeks to have her babies in July and then returned.
Since then we've developed a great relationship & trust each other fully. She climbs right up onto my lap & will search for snacks in my kaftan & blanket, lets me pet her, give her head/under ear scratches & even lets my husband pet her too..though he rarely interacted with her until last week. He went from "don't let it in the damn house!" to just adoring her & fighting over who gets to feed her next hehe!! She's just the gentlest little darling you can imagine. Incredibly patient. She has never scratched, bit, lunged, growled, chattered etc..she's displayed absolutely NO aggressive or "back off" behavior toward either of us ever. That being said we still absolutely respect her being wild. We seem to have the best of both worlds with her! The other morning I found her sitting on my night table... again.. watching my husband from behind, unbeknownst to him, as he was eating a sandwhich..again.. like it was no big deal!! Strangely she has also NEVER pooed or peed inside.. That I'm finding truly bizarre given their..um...nature..lol.
We have a cat that tolerates " Lil Mama" as well. We lost her companion cat this year so I believe the company is welcome but I still watch them carefully & stay in between them.
I'm a lil worried that come winter she may try to actually move right in with us...
We live on the 2nd floor & she climbs up the fire escape. I had the thought that maybe she had been rehabbed or raised by humans and that is why she has very little fear..at least of us ..but then of course we are a source of food..This does seem a bit unusual for a wild though... Right?!
Sadly my downstairs neighbor's wife is terrified of squirrels. They would NEVER hurt an animal & have turtles, birds & dogs themselves. But 1 day Lil Mama heard the man coming out & panicked..she actually pancaked out flat on the chair & screamed because she was so scared of getting yelled at!! It broke my heart!! She is really an angel!
They just see them all as tree rats unfortunately. He's very loud & if they go down near his door he yells..They learned fast to avoid the 1st floor! They just think I'm nuts..hehe. We do have a great relationship with them so I'm not worried about her getting hurt.
I do feed a couple of others now & then including 1 other female we call "Scurious" since April. She was brought by here as a youth by her mama who's since disappeared. They won me over by rattling the window bars like lunatics & hanging their squirrel butts into my face (my bed is directly under the window..) I finally relented & gave them a snack.
But our Lil Mama is such a special lil one..
She actually hangs out on our fire escape like a puppy...she lays down to rest on the chair & just relaxes.
I've tried to give her healthier treats but she won't take anything but the nuts (almonds,walnuts,pecans & occasionally a few roasted peanuts or pistachios.) Sometimes she'll eat a little piece of avocado. She gets fresh water daily as well & she loves that too. I figure as she's outside & wild she knows how to balance her own diet. I just absolutely want to do what is best for her. I just ordered a cuttlefish bone today to see if she'll nibble on it. I know MBD is almost always occurant in domestics/indoor squirrels but I'm a worrier & want to do what is best for her since she seems to have sought me out for a lil help. I'd be devastated if anything I did for her interfered negatively. I don't encourage the other squirrels to be too trusting of humans or to lose their wild instincts/innate fears. I put their snacks in a bowl on the side..But Lil Mama was already highly social & seemed to crave human contact!
I imagine she has babies somewhere but they must still be too young to come out.. They must be close to 6-8 weeks by now though. Her teats are still very visible though..so she appears to still be nursing.
**So inevitably my question is has anyone else had an overly friendly squirrel suddenly appear and adopt them!? And if so how did you deal with it? I worry a bit about mites/fleas but I've never once seen any on her nor does she scratch. I'm sure she must have them since she lives outdoors though..but I'm guilty of letting her run around on the bed anyways..
She's very bright eyed & bushy tailed & appears very healthy & is incredibly intelligent. I just hope my feeding her doesn't cause any imbalances for her.
As it gets colder out I'm wondering how this relationship is going to progress..LOL!
This site has been a wonderful resource from which I've already learned much!
I love seeing so many passionate animal lovers helping each other & their animal friends. ❤
Thank you for allowing me to tell my squirrely story!! Here is a pic of Lil Mama posing for the camera!