Release and freezing winters.

[Amylynn88]

Jayne (grey squirrel) is 11 weeks old. She is currently sleeping in her release cage at night and let out during the day. I feed her formula before I open the cage for the day and before I close it in the evening. I'm very concerned about her survival during this minnesota frigid winter. Her brother passed away last week in an accident, so she is solo.

Assuming I provide food and 'frozen water, do I let her stay in the release cage outside? Do I put a heater in her nest (nest is made inside release cage)? Or do I just bring her into heated garage all winter? I hate to do that though, she seems to really enjoy her freedom and has been lining her nest with dried leaves.

What do you think?

[Spanky]

Can you clarify what you mean about the release cage... if this is an 11 week old that is outdoors and is free to roam during the day... well, 11 weeks is way too young for this, especially a singleton. They need to be 14 weeks minimum and then spend several weeks locked in the release cage before a portal is opened to allow them to explore.

I'll allow the Northern States folks to weigh in, but I believe she needs to be overwintered and released in the Spring given her age, she's a singleton and the MN climate.

[Mel1959]

I agree with Spanky. This little one will have very little chance of surviving a brutal MN winter at her young age. Now that her brothers gone she will have no one to snuggle with for warmth and won’t have a stash of food for survival.

I’d stop allowing any type of free roaming outside of the cage. Most folks that live in colder climates overwinter their squirrels in a cage in the house or some other suitable building. If she were to be left in an outside enclosure you would need to provide a source of heat in her nest box, IMO.

Many squirrels will shack up with other squirrels during the winter to share body heat, but her being young and a newbie there’s no way of knowing if she would be accepted to do that.

It would be a shame to have invested all your effort in raising her and for her to not have the opportunity to live a long squirrely life.

[island rehabber]

I am normally the one who says "don't overwinter, nature prepares them for this and they will be fine!" I have released here in the NYC metro area as late as December 15; our Norway maples (whom everyone despises as invasive but I LOVE them because their leaves stay on forever as cover for my squirrels) are still leafy at that point and the temps barely go below 40*.

However, two things here make me change my opinion on this particular little girl. "11 weeks" and "Minnesota". Being a solo pretty much topped it off. Best scenario here would be to overwinter in a large release cage WITH HEAT SOURCE. Yes, she will be mad at you and antsy as hell at first, but when the days get shorter and colder she will pretty much snooze all day anyway.

As Spanky said, 11 weeks old is too young for a squirrel to be free-roaming outside; her mother would have not let her do that. That's why you have a problem now; she has tasted freedom already. But for her safety, I would overwinter with a heated nest box if she were mine. :)

[Amylynn88]

Please don't lecture, I tried to give her to wild life rescue but they would not accept her. Also, everywhere else I have read stated grey squirrels are ready to leave their nest at 10 weeks, and frankly, she's been doing just fine with me still offering food.

Jayne had always returned at nightfall and doesn't ever venture far. I close her cage at night. Her nest, within the release cage, has leafs she has collected. Jayne has worked very hard to collect things for her nest, It breaks my heart taking this away from her.

I have her in the garage now, it's heated. But she is not happy here.

I CAN have a heater placed inside her nest all winter, 24/7. I also have an autofill dispenser of rodent feed pellets..

If Jayne is kept in the garage, will she get aggressive when she goes into heat? Will she be able to become wild after so much time with humans? It's only been two weeks without her brother. I'm also concerned with her never seeing the day cycles or going outside.

[redwuff]

Please don't lecture, I tried to give her to wild life rescue but they would not accept her. Also, everywhere else I have read stated grey squirrels are ready to leave their nest at 10 weeks, and frankly, she's been doing just fine with me still offering food.

Jayne had always returned at nightfall and doesn't ever venture far. I close her cage at night. Her nest, within the release cage, has leafs she has collected. Jayne has worked very hard to collect things for her nest, It breaks my heart taking this away from her.

I have her in the garage now, it's heated. But she is not happy here.

I CAN have a heater placed inside her nest all winter, 24/7. I also have an autofill dispenser of rodent feed pellets..

If Jayne is kept in the garage, will she get aggressive when she goes into heat? Will she be able to become wild after so much time with humans? It's only been two weeks without her brother. I'm also concerned with her never seeing the day cycles or going outside.

No lectures have been given. Just 30+ years of experience answering the question you asked.

[Spanky]

Please don't lecture, I tried to give her to wild life rescue but they would not accept her. Also, everywhere else I have read stated grey squirrels are ready to leave their nest at 10 weeks, and frankly, she's been doing just fine with me still offering food.

I am confident what was be described is that 11 week old squirrels begin to venture form their mom's nest... under the very watchful, and protective oversight of their mother. They are very cute when they start to explore outside the nest, but at this age they are merely going up or down a few 3 feet or so from the nest then quickly scurry back. Fall babies will often overwinter together with mom in the same nests, relying on mom's winter stash... I' d expect this is even more common in the North than the South where I am.

Squirrels around 11 weeks are the ones that "ferocious dogs" and "superior hunter" cats bring home... because the baby squirrels will literal walk right up to them if they have been separated from their mom. They have not learned what a predator is at this age and do not recognize the danger. As rehabbers, we see these cat / dog caught juveniles all the time. We do not often see healthy adults that have been caught by dogs or cats.


If Jayne is kept in the garage, will she get aggressive when she goes into heat? Will she be able to become wild after so much time with humans? It's only been two weeks without her brother. I'm also concerned with her never seeing the day cycles or going outside.

She'll not become sexually active before the Spring, so no worries there. I don't think she needs to be in a garage if you can provide her a large enough release cage outdoors, with some heat in her drey (like they use for rabbits). The cage should be 2' X 6' X 6 minimally, something like a 4' X 8' X 8' would be super terrific but maybe too much unless maybe you end up fostering other babies. A handy person can build these with 2X2 and hardware cloth. Best to place luan panel (or whatever is cheapest) one one or two sides as a wind break. If you want to explore this, there are threads on TSB about building release cages.

If you can provide a release cage like this, Jayne and the weather can be reassessed in a month or so... I grew up in Michigan, but never released squirrels there. I am really not sure how whether I would be willing to release in late fall and I don't have experience to lean on. Sounds like Jayne has a little head start. If you do open the portal, and the space is safe, she may well overwinter in the cage coming and going, relying on that food, water and safe ext. Oh water... I would imagine you'd need one of those water bottles that are heated and do not freeze? I overwinter outdoors here but the water in the bottle freezes only a few days through the winter.

[island rehabber]

:attention

[Amylynn88]

Okay, good info, thank you.

I will look into these cages and a heated water bottle.
I'm still leaning back and forth on keeping her in the heated garage, and will probably keep her there. But I'm grateful for the options and consideration of my situation.

Jayne has been observed to be very cautious with dogs and cats thus far, and will sit ontop of her cage ready to dive into it when she sees or hears our pets. I'm not saying she is totally mature or anything, but she does show good budding instinct that I don't want to disrupt.

[island rehabber]

Petey's TemporarMommy, you have a new thread in this forum and all your posts are there.

[olorin19]

Does your garage have windows or any sort of opening?

Perhaps you could build a large wire cage outside that is attached to the garage via an opening. Then she would be able to get sunshine, etc. and come and go between the garage and the outdoors as she chooses.

[olorin19]

Something else to consider: When releasing a young squirrel, even if they would prefer to stay close to home, things may not always work out that way due to older and more aggressive squirrels. And while your yard may not initially have many of these, if you are leaving food out for your new release, then you will attract other squirrels into the mix quite quickly - unless there are simply no squirrels in the area.

Whenever I release a squirrel, I stop leaving sunflower seeds out for the wilds a few weeks in advance. I then feed my new release directly, i.e. toss them nuts or leave them inside their open cage. And if I start to see wilds poking around in their cage, then I stop leaving food there and only feed directly.