Really aggressive 12 week old squirrel

[Lake Gypsy]

Hello everyone!

So I currently have a batch of 4, from 2 litters. One of the females is very bitey and aggressive to me and the other squirrels. She avoid contact with me, is really difficult to catch (and when I do growls and vocalize like I'm killing her) when they're out for exercise, she will attack and chase the others away from whichever area she has decided is hers. She even tries to bite me when I'm giving them their blocks through the cage! She would rather bite me then take the food and then steal it from the other one.

As a baby baby she was always complaining, growling etc. The other 3 are behaving normally, as I would expect them to be. They seek contact, are confident, like to play etc.

Would this particular squirrel, in this particular instance be better served by being released a bit early? I'm in the SE and right now the acorns are coming in, so there would be food and I would supply additional food.

I just want to do what's best for her.

[Spanky]

At what age were the 2 litters combined?

[Lake Gypsy]

At what age were the 2 litters combined?

3 weeks and 5 weeks. Her bio littermate had no similar behaviors

[Diggie's Friend]

The dominant aggressive squirrel of the litter is likely an, the 'Alpha squirrel.

We had a female in the litter we had raised that was dominant toward her litter mates.

She also turned out to be the one that rejected our contact by biting.

[Spanky]

3 weeks and 5 weeks. Her bio littermate had no similar behaviors

The reason for my asking is I wondered if the combining happened after about 8 weeks, when things don't usually work out well. They were young enough that this should not have been the issue.


Would this particular squirrel, in this particular instance be better served by being released a bit early? I'm in the SE and right now the acorns are coming in, so there would be food and I would supply additional food.

It would be best if they were all released together. The other anomaly is that 80% of the time these seemingly aggressive squirrels are the ones that are the biggest wimps when they go outdoors to the release cage and their eventual release. More often than not they are the very last of the litter to leave the release cage for good. My last release group of the season always has the option of overwintering in the release cage with the portal left open; though I prefer they would not because that permits me to overwinter another group in the release cage which is much better for them than being indoors in a smaller cage all winter. Going a state or three North of us and overwintering outdoors is less viable.

I am in your neck of the woods and often will release on my property through thanksgiving, knowing there will be a food supply for them and help (me) if they need that.

[Lake Gypsy]

I swear the little bratty one knew I was thinking of kicking her out because last night she was much better! Lol

She spent a lot of time hanging out up high, with her head cocked so she wouldn't miss anything, just watching the other squirrels play with me.

She finally came down closer and kinda did the little grabby hand wave at me so I waggled my fingers at her and moved my hand closer prepared for a bite. She bit me, but in a playful manner, not in attack mode. I make a little noise when I'm playing with them, kinda like babababa high pitched so they know I'm just playing. She did the little playful side hop and made a tiny buzz at me before running back up the branch to her perch.

Several times after that during their 3 hour exercise session, she jumped on me and allowed me to touch her. She took a couple treats from me without biting
and when she did charge at me, she would stop and then smell me instead of just biting right away.

She even came to me when asked! I lightly clap my hands twice and hold my arms out to ask them to come to me. I do this with all squirrels I raise so if they get stuck trying to do something dumb like stick to the wall or something I can offer them a way out or if I need to round them up quickly.

I know that later today at play time i could open the cage and get the same ragey squirrel I've been dealing with, but I'm holding out a sliver of hope that yesterday's positive experiences helped her realize I'm not trying to kill her.

I am still considering slightly early release because I don't want to stress her out or the others, because she still is a bit agro towards them, but the others have been fighting back more. I guess they're done with her nonsense too!