winter

[hilary_08]

so a while ago (i suppose around april) my family and i came across a baby squirrel (my username used to be hhhilary but i forgot the password). it was blizzarding the day after we found him so we fed him puppy formula and we raised him. when the weather cleared up we set him outside and now he lives in a tree next to our house. we live in michigan so winters can be harsh, and we are wondering how squirrels deal with the winter. do most of them survive? so we're kind of worried (we're quite fond of him). so any information that you can think of could be helpful.

[thundersquirrel]

hi hilary!

i'm so glad that it all worked out for your little friend!

when you released him, was it out of a release cage, or with a nest box, or just straight outside?

if he has no shelter, you could try to give him a nest box. i'm not sure how you could convince your one squirrel to get in there, but maybe you can.

if the nest box doesn't work, you could offer pieces of fleece to him, though i'm not sure he'd take it from your hand.

if he's a very wild squirrel, he'll be fine on his own. if a squirrel is independent enough to be afraid of humans who raised him, then he'll certainly have enough instinct to either build a nest or find a friend to room with (which is something that many squirrels do in the winter, actually).

how have YOU been doing? :D

[Mars]

May I suggest support feeding during the worse of the winter months. :D I put out seed, dried fruit and nuts. I also cut up sweet potato for my outdoor guys. :)

[thundersquirrel]

hilary was having some trouble figuring out how to post, but i'm sure she'll get it soon! :D