When to release rescued chipmunk?

[jlankheim]

Hello,

I have been caring for a chipmunk for the last week who came to me essentially comatose. He is now up and about, eating and drinking on his own but seems a little "slow." It's hard to tell if this is because he's still recovering from whatever injury originally befell him or if he's acting strangely because he's finally aware of his surroundings as is just freaked out because he's in captivity. (I am not a rehabber; just a novice who took this little guy in to give him a place to rest and recover or die in peace. He recovered!)

How do you know when they are ready to go back outside?

Also, this is not a "local" chipmunk, in that I did not find him in my yard. I responded to an ad in a local forum of someone who found him several miles away and could not bring him inside personally. Would it be better for me to release him where he was found (if I can contact the original person who found him and determine that)? I can release him in my yard. It's a great place for chipmunks, many thrive here as I provide my yard creatures with supplemental food and water, but this would be foreign territory to this little guy and he would need to reestablish himself in an area that is already somewhat crowded with chipmunk competition. I just want to give him the best possible chance.

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks,
Jennifer

[CritterMom]

Well, I would want to hold onto him until I felt comfortable that he isn't still suffering the effects of what happened to him.

Several years ago, the extermination company that the place I worked hired caught a chipmunk in one of their glue traps. As I was working on loosening her with cooking oil, the exterminator snatched the trap away from me and ripped her off of it, tearing off all but an inch of her poor tail. I was a 60 year old 5'2" woman and that was the closest I have ever come to just laying someone out.

I took her home and cleaned her up and set her up in a hospital cage, provided her with food, water and infant ibuprophen for pain, and nursed her back. Healthy, she had three speeds - asleep, hiding,and speed of light. I knew she was ready because she was a BLUR.

I released her in my back rock garden and then discovered that she moved to my FRONT garden. Her name was Blueberry because she just hoovered them up while I had her inside. She was easy to spot with her bunny tail. She was around for about 5 years. 5 years of blueberries on the front deck!

BTW, did you know that if you spritz just a teeny bit of PAM on a glue trap it becomes totally non-sticky? Jus' sayin'. :grin2

[jlankheim]

My dog's name is blueberry!

This guy is definitely not fast yet, which was one of my concerns, as the chipmunks outside are, as you put it, speed of light. And he doesn't hide. I have him in a 3' x 1' storage bin with hemp and plants and a gerbil 'hidey house' and while he tore up the plants yesterday, he has yet to go in the house and doesn't flee from me when I come into the room and observe him from the top of the bin. He just looks up at me and freezes. When I agitate him on purpose to try and get him to flee or hide, he startles and kind of ambles away but is very slow about it. Could this be because he doesn't know how to go into the little house? Doesn't have enough room to go fast? Or do you think he maybe needs a little more time inside? I just don't want to do more harm than good by keeping him in longer. Also, what are your thoughts about releasing him someplace unfamiliar to him vs trying to find where he was originally found, per my original post?

-Jennifer

[CritterMom]

I really think he needs some more time. A normal chippie would be tearing around that bin - his momentum alone would carry him right out the top. And my Blueberry story was to illustrate that I have actually done what you are asking about - picked up an injured chippie and relocate him someplace completely different, in my case, about 15 miles from where he was living. And I can't imagine her settling in any better - after 3 days of worriedly staring at my back garden and not seeing her I found out she was very happily living out front and owning the yard.