All Squirrel Attacks are NOT created equal

[SquirrlieGirlie]

I am a squirrel mama for a few months now and I love my pretty little Mia to death. SHe is usually friendly and has never bitten me badly. She is bitey and playful or will groom my hand or face or hair as she sees fit and can be extremely sweet and cuddly - as long as it is strictly on her own terms lol
The other day she bit my bf who was trying to feed her but didn’t seem particularly malicious about it just pretty matter of fact and on to other business. But as non aggressive as she has always been I want to just mention that during a bad mood and subsequent attack isn’t the only time you can sustain a squirrel related injury. Yesterday I had Mia out running around the squirrel-proofed ares of the house with me. She is quite used to being out and being handled and played with. I can only attribute what happened next to her being feisty and young and in very high spirits because of it being exercise time. But I was sitting on my bean bag chair and Mia and Hallie ( my chihuahua) were chasing each other back and forth across the room as they like to do. The game started getting too rambunctious knocking stuff over and I looked up to say something to them and that’s when Mia landed on my face. She had launched herself at me trying to jump OVER Hallie and I am guessing she had meant to use my head as a spring board to launch her to her next place of perch.
When I looked up it was just in time to see it coming lol she srsly sank her claw what felt like halfway into my eyeball. O.O
Yes I am srs. No I am still not over it.
My bf looked and said that there is a rip in my eyeball under my eyelid and does it hurt ? You BET it does!
I can still see out of it ok but i will be looking like a pirate for a few days with an eyepatch and a squirrel on my shoulder instead of a parrot. Has anyone else ever received this type of an injury? How did you treat it? Is there a safe way to file the nails some? I shudder to think of the mortal gashing wounds she cld inflict shld she ever decide to angerly attack one of us. She nearly took out my eyeball just Messing around. It isn’t easy taking a squirrel to your home or heart but it’s a gift from the universe I wldnt ever return.
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[Rock Monkey]

Her biting your boyfriend isn't unusual. Rehabbed squirrels are most comfortable with their primary caregiver. Everyone else is sort of on short tolerance. They are particularly sensitive to smells. He might have been wearing a different scent of shampoo or cologne or laundry detergent. Or it might have simply been that he wasn't you.

If she starts chattering her teeth or twitching her tail, he needs to back off, stop moving, relax. If you are there you should soothe her verbally, or he can try if he is alone. They usually don't bite out of the blue without giving some body language warning. It might be staring and agitated movement or coiling to spring, to leap.

I think they become more territorial and aggressive at this time of year when getting food and the best place to sleep are so critical to survival until everything greens up again in the Spring.

When a squirrel is in high speed mode, they have very little time to calculate and consider their next move. When this is the case, I watch closely with my eyes, but endeavor to minimize my movement because I don't want to be a moving target which makes it more likely that she will land where she did not intend. Consider buying some safety glasses from the hardware store.

I got a claw in the eye once. It wasn't intentional, but she was in high speed mode on my head which was making me anxious which in turn made her more anxious. So, part of the challenge is to remain calm when they are worked up.

After three days I would say that it was mostly unnoticeable, the wound to the eye.

I verbally reprimand her when she lands on my head at the end of the leap and subsequently she has usually chosen other targets, other parts of my body as the intended landing zone.

On another occasion I whiplashed myself. She leaped off my shoulder to land on top of the refrigerator. That was expected. However, she immediately turned around and leaped back. I turned my head so quickly in response to avoid her potentially landing on my face that I whiplashed myself. That still pops on occasion, I think.

They announce their territorial claims with pee and poop. I have found that cleaning these up in her presence can cause her a great deal of irritation. In her eyes, I think she construes this as territorial aggression on my part, wiping away her claim. So, I try to do that clean up when she isn't around.

[Spanky]

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[SquirrlieGirlie]

Yes. I get it that squirrels are wild ass animals not pets. But at the same time I now have a half wild ass animal living with me and my family. We had a small apt before and she has been hand raised and bottlefed in close proximity to me and my bf ( who is NOT and was not a primary carer but whom she seems to really like to use for a jungle gym) and from the start with my small dog looking on protectively to make sure no one comes to close to “her” momma OR “her” squirrel. I was afraid to try to keep them seperated because of all the time that I had to spend with Mia at first because I did not want Hallie to feel excluded or to foster any feelings of jealousy or resentment. Plus as I said our place was really too small for it to be practical to really try to separate them. So I made her feel like it was OUR new baby. And included her in all things squirrel related. The result is that I have a dog that wld try to rip out your throat if you were hurting her little squirrel friend. The two of them chase each other around the house and Mia likes to use Hallies back as a stepping stone between two points. Happily it is a safe happy home environment for Mia but because of that and all the large aggressive dogs in our new neighborhood and her fearlessness in running up to our own dog I don’t think releasing her wld really be safe for her.
I have learned a tremendous amount from having Mia to raise and love and yes- respect. I do know she is a fish out of water and I am somewhat to blame but I also know she wld be dead now if I hadn’t intervened and saved her life. And I DO love her - how cld I NOT? I adopted her and fed her with a bottle around the clock and tended to all her little needs just like one of my very own babies. I DO love her but I also DO respect her wild nature. And since this is now where we are with our journey together I am simply trying to get some input as to how I can best protect my self from injury that I cld possibly prevent while still giving my little squirrel all the freedom possible within the confines of suburban civilization.
And I gave her only the best fox valley formula her whole life. She never looked like those babies in the pics. -.-

[SquirrlieGirlie]

UPDATE
I forgot to mention that my eye is totally fine now. :)
I literally slept for like 36 hours and didn’t use it for anything and when I woke up it was 100% again. Luckily .

[Buddy]

Glad your eye is okay. The photo that you are looking at her is adorable! :Love_Icon

[Mel1959]

Do not assume that because Mia tolerates your dog....who she knows....that she will tolerate other dogs. This is a fallacy. I have released plenty of squirrels, some that have occupied the same space as my dog and cats, and every single one has responded appropriately to my neighbors dog and cat when released. I have wild squirrels that will run right past my dog who lays on the ground where I feed them to claim a nut. They know he won’t bother them, but as soon as the neighbors dog comes outside in an adjacent fenced yard, everyone begins to alarm.

I think you need to prepare Mia for release in the Spring. The process of a soft release will enable you two to distance yourselves from each other which will benefit her for a successful release. The fact that she is already showing aggression towards your bf is not a good sign. I don’t think you want to deal with the unexpected act of aggression towards him or you for Mia’s whole life, which could be 10+ years. She hasn’t even gone through her first estrus cycle. When they are in estrus they can be more aggressive, even to their person (caregiver). I’ve been there and experienced that.

Please read about what is involved in a soft release. Enjoy her while you overwinter her and then prepare her to be free in the Spring and live the life nature intended. :w00t

[Rock Monkey]

Yes, during the soft release process they become more wild and more wary.

The older they get, the more their hard wired instincts will be in conflict with an indoor life style. It is likely that everyone involved will become sort of miserable, mutual prisoners of the other.

A great many here on the forum totally understand the profound bond that gets formed.