Baby squirrel falls

[sundoesshine]

Hi All,
I've been watching a site called Trakdv that has 3 baby squirrels that are now 9.5 wks. Baby Patty began leaving the box several days ago. Her 1st trip out, she was hanging from the box eating buds and fell but caught herself on branches. I think her muscles just aren't mature enough. She supposedly "fell" again but I don't know circumstances of that one. Yesterday she fell onto the NB from above hitting her head Hard and bouncing off. She crawled back up to the NB and slept rest of day. Trakdv has footage of fall.

Today, she went out and showed up at Trakdv's door walking and hopping off kilter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoK1wdVtDHg
He caught her but she soon seemed better physically yet agitated in the enclosure so he freed her. She didn't go to her NB all day but came back walking sideways so he caught her again and drove her to a rehabber tonight, 1 hr away. The rehabber said she ate and took some meds and believes she'll make a full recovery and could be released back with him, but he'd have to take some classes first.

So my 1st question is, are are there rehabbers in that area that can be trusted, the one he has might have a name starting with an I-.
2nd, if the rehabber suggests vet care, are there trustworthy vets in Dallas Fort Worth area. A viewer said there's one, but I want to make sure it's a "safe" one if they suggest going there.
3rd Do you think she is falling because she's too young and venturing out at 9 to 9.5 weeks? Her siblings aren't really interested in going out and are still content play fighting in the NB.
4th is, do you think this head injury can heal.
5th Mom goes out all day comes in at sundown. Do you think she is aware Patty is missing tonight, do you think she is concerned or sad?
I appreciate any input from all you experts out there! (Oh, Btw, we just found out from the rehabber that "Speedy", was really "Patty" the girl baby.)
Tina

[Mel1959]

I have had a couple of similar experiences with young squirrels. The first was a baby of one of my released squirrels. He was about 8-9 weeks old and began venturing out of the nest box while his sister stayed put. I found him at one point on the ground and caught him and returned him to the box, with his mom watching. Instead of her scolding him and him going into the box he proceeded to climb around on the tree again. Two days later I found him dead on the ground under the limb that held the nest box. :boohoo

My other experience was with a much older squirrel that I had raised and had released. He was probably 20+ weeks old. He climbed our oak tree and ventured out onto a limb and immediately fell off. Luckily his fall was broken by some plants underneath in a garden area. I scooped him up and he became a NR. There was always something about him that was “different” and I wasn’t going to leave his life to chance. He’s happy as a clam in captivity so I think it was the right choice.

Typically injuries that cause a head tilt or wonkiness to their walk require treatment with prednisone or dexamethasone. If treated early on and appropriately the outcome can be very good and many times the squirrel can be released.

I do not know the specifics of rehabbers in the Fort Worth area. There is a recommended facility in Austin. We have a member who is rarely on the board any longer that is in Fort Worth. I can send you his contact info if you’d like to reach out to him. I know of a few vets that treat squirrels in Texas. One is in Dallas and the other is in Grapevine.

I’m a little uncertain what you intend to do with any of this info. If the squirrel is already at a facility it would seem your hands are tied. If you just want to know if the person that took it to the facility should take the classes in order to get it released to him/her, I’d say “yes” if knowledge of the outcome of the squirrel is what is wanted. With that might come the responsibility of intervening once again if the squirrel cannot navigate life in the trees. Sometimes squirrels can have issues that just don’t make them good candidates for life in the wild and that’s when Mother Nature steps in……or a human does.

[sundoesshine]

I’m a little uncertain what you intend to do with any of this info.

Yeah, I was literally writing the note before he'd left for a rehabber so some of the points were rather mute in the end, but I was still curious if it was a good rehabber as I know tsb knows many. I was panicking that she'd be euthanized or not returned but it sounds like she is in good hands thankfully. I know Trakdv will do what's best for her, no problem there. After hearing your stories, I now realize it's best she's being limited at this time.

I was curious if anyone has seen what moms do when with babies go missing as I've heard they can't count. I was wondering if I could console the subscribers who think the mom squirrel is out of her mind worrying, but who knows, maybe she is? Anyhoo, I do thank you for all the feedback. We'll keep our fingers crossed for little Patty the Great!

[CritterMom]

They spend some time looking for the baby but instinct forces them to give up on that and tend to her other babies pretty quickly - 24 hours +/- (??)