rheymoon
06-16-2024, 12:21 PM
Hi! I didn't know about this forum until a few days ago and I am grateful to have found it. I'm from Indiana and live in an area with lots of red (and I think gray?) squirrels. I know very little about squirrels other than small red ones have been in our house twice this summer already (and swiftly ejected). I didn't plan on ever learning about squirrels until a few days ago and now I would like to learn more.
At the beginning of summer, a small squirrel was trying to climb a downspout by our garage. Obviously it was getting nowhere and it scrabbled at the metal for a good 10 minutes. I took a little video because I thought it was cute, but then after awhile I got worried. I put on gloves, pulled it gently out of the gutter, and put it in the woods by our house. I posted the little video to Facebook - because again, cute - and was almost immediately scolded for not calling a rehabber since it was a baby. Honestly, I didn't know that you couldn't just leave them, whoops. I figured "wild animal, it'll figure things out."
So the next time, a similar (same?) squirrel ended up in our TV room somehow. I think it was via the chimney, but the chimney people came out and said there was no way, so who knows. This time I put it in a cat carrier and called a bunch of rehabbers in the state. Of the two that answered, one wasn't taking animals and the other was 2 hours away. I was preparing to drive it down there, but then it escaped and ran off. Ok, no problem.
So then last week on Wednesday morning, I was fixing the grill and heard a scratching noise by a downspout (not the same one). This particular downspout was attached to that black corrugated piping that takes the water further from the house, but the piping went down into the ground. So there was something trapped in there. I pried the piping off and found a little red squirrel. He was very stressed-out looking and not moving well so I got gloves and put him in the carrier with a bowl of water. I contacted a bunch of rehabbers, but only 2 replied and neither were taking animals. The first one couldn't talk and the second one said after looking at pictures that it was an adult and could be released. It looked pretty sick, though, so I felt weird letting it go. I contacted an acquaintance who does raccoon rescue in another state, and she gave me recommendations (Miracle Nipple, oral rehydration solution, some food guidance). I still was kind of thinking it would cool off, rally, and leave but I did order and make everything. He ate some peaches but spent all of his time hunched over so far that the top of his head was on the floor of the carrier and he wasn't moving the left side of his body very well, although he didn't seem to be in pain and was able to move all his extremities.
My friend advised that I get a weight, so I did, and the next morning (Thursday) he was down a couple grams. He hadn't had any water so I made the rehydration solution and gave him that via a pipette until the miracle nipple came. I do not believe he aspirated at any time he was with me, but I could be wrong. He would respond when I lifted him to feed him but other than that he wouldn't really move.
I asked my local rehabber again and she said he was just in shock and that it would stress him out more to transport him to the rehab (is this true?). She said just leave the carrier outside with the door open and he would leave. I have a large catio that my cats don't use, so I put him in there with the carrier open and some food and water, in the shade. After about 90 minutes I checked on him and almost had a heart attack. He was on his side next to the carrier, covered with fuzz and birdseed (there are feeders out there and messy birds) and I thought he was dead. I picked him back up and brought him inside and got him to drink a little bit of the rehydration solution, 0.5mL at most every 20 minutes until he was basically back to what he'd been before I put him outisde.
After like 24 hours of every 2-3 hours of hydration (about 1-1.5mL at a time; he was 124 g to start), he had pooped twice and had a couple of pees. He was perking up and was able to walk around the room although he kept running into things like he couldn't see them. He walked in circles at first (counterclockwise) but then straightened up. His left eye didn't open quite as well as his right. I could not really tell if he could see. He drank very well and enthusiastically on day 2 and by Thursday evening, he had eaten a bit of green bean, a couple pieces of cucumber, and a small piece of cashew (I know now that cashews aren't that good for squirrels but my raccoon rehabber friend did not). He even climbed on the enclosure a little although he kept going counterclockwise and ending up upside down. I was really happy with how he looked when I went to bed, and I didn't get up to hydrate him because he'd taken 4.5mL right beforehand so I figured that he'd be ok until morning. I noticed a tiny bit of blood on his left toe, but I thought he'd just snagged it on fabric (it took me a minute to get some fleece).
When I came in with his food on Friday morning, he was dead. He was curled on his side and his eyes were open a tiny crack. He was in a different spot than he started out in and the fleece in his first spot had bloodstains on it. He had blood around his nose and mouth, but not around his anus. I didn't see any petechiae or anything.
I know now that the exotic vet near me takes wildlife surrenders but I didn't find that out until late on Friday and they don't accept them after hours. I will do that in the future, but my questions are this:
- What do I do if rehabbers don't return calls/don't accept animals? I can't bring myself to release a sick or injured animal back into my yard. I'm glad he died in a warm bed with food in his belly, but I also don't want to cause harm.
- Did I do something to cause this little guy's death? He seemed to be improving with every hour and I was really looking forward to being able to let him go. He was still acting concussed, yes, but he was drinking and then eating. Why would he die suddenly? I am feeling terribly guilty and I didn't know what else I could have done. And I got VERY attached to little Trevor and am grieving his loss.
Thank you in advance for any advice.
At the beginning of summer, a small squirrel was trying to climb a downspout by our garage. Obviously it was getting nowhere and it scrabbled at the metal for a good 10 minutes. I took a little video because I thought it was cute, but then after awhile I got worried. I put on gloves, pulled it gently out of the gutter, and put it in the woods by our house. I posted the little video to Facebook - because again, cute - and was almost immediately scolded for not calling a rehabber since it was a baby. Honestly, I didn't know that you couldn't just leave them, whoops. I figured "wild animal, it'll figure things out."
So the next time, a similar (same?) squirrel ended up in our TV room somehow. I think it was via the chimney, but the chimney people came out and said there was no way, so who knows. This time I put it in a cat carrier and called a bunch of rehabbers in the state. Of the two that answered, one wasn't taking animals and the other was 2 hours away. I was preparing to drive it down there, but then it escaped and ran off. Ok, no problem.
So then last week on Wednesday morning, I was fixing the grill and heard a scratching noise by a downspout (not the same one). This particular downspout was attached to that black corrugated piping that takes the water further from the house, but the piping went down into the ground. So there was something trapped in there. I pried the piping off and found a little red squirrel. He was very stressed-out looking and not moving well so I got gloves and put him in the carrier with a bowl of water. I contacted a bunch of rehabbers, but only 2 replied and neither were taking animals. The first one couldn't talk and the second one said after looking at pictures that it was an adult and could be released. It looked pretty sick, though, so I felt weird letting it go. I contacted an acquaintance who does raccoon rescue in another state, and she gave me recommendations (Miracle Nipple, oral rehydration solution, some food guidance). I still was kind of thinking it would cool off, rally, and leave but I did order and make everything. He ate some peaches but spent all of his time hunched over so far that the top of his head was on the floor of the carrier and he wasn't moving the left side of his body very well, although he didn't seem to be in pain and was able to move all his extremities.
My friend advised that I get a weight, so I did, and the next morning (Thursday) he was down a couple grams. He hadn't had any water so I made the rehydration solution and gave him that via a pipette until the miracle nipple came. I do not believe he aspirated at any time he was with me, but I could be wrong. He would respond when I lifted him to feed him but other than that he wouldn't really move.
I asked my local rehabber again and she said he was just in shock and that it would stress him out more to transport him to the rehab (is this true?). She said just leave the carrier outside with the door open and he would leave. I have a large catio that my cats don't use, so I put him in there with the carrier open and some food and water, in the shade. After about 90 minutes I checked on him and almost had a heart attack. He was on his side next to the carrier, covered with fuzz and birdseed (there are feeders out there and messy birds) and I thought he was dead. I picked him back up and brought him inside and got him to drink a little bit of the rehydration solution, 0.5mL at most every 20 minutes until he was basically back to what he'd been before I put him outisde.
After like 24 hours of every 2-3 hours of hydration (about 1-1.5mL at a time; he was 124 g to start), he had pooped twice and had a couple of pees. He was perking up and was able to walk around the room although he kept running into things like he couldn't see them. He walked in circles at first (counterclockwise) but then straightened up. His left eye didn't open quite as well as his right. I could not really tell if he could see. He drank very well and enthusiastically on day 2 and by Thursday evening, he had eaten a bit of green bean, a couple pieces of cucumber, and a small piece of cashew (I know now that cashews aren't that good for squirrels but my raccoon rehabber friend did not). He even climbed on the enclosure a little although he kept going counterclockwise and ending up upside down. I was really happy with how he looked when I went to bed, and I didn't get up to hydrate him because he'd taken 4.5mL right beforehand so I figured that he'd be ok until morning. I noticed a tiny bit of blood on his left toe, but I thought he'd just snagged it on fabric (it took me a minute to get some fleece).
When I came in with his food on Friday morning, he was dead. He was curled on his side and his eyes were open a tiny crack. He was in a different spot than he started out in and the fleece in his first spot had bloodstains on it. He had blood around his nose and mouth, but not around his anus. I didn't see any petechiae or anything.
I know now that the exotic vet near me takes wildlife surrenders but I didn't find that out until late on Friday and they don't accept them after hours. I will do that in the future, but my questions are this:
- What do I do if rehabbers don't return calls/don't accept animals? I can't bring myself to release a sick or injured animal back into my yard. I'm glad he died in a warm bed with food in his belly, but I also don't want to cause harm.
- Did I do something to cause this little guy's death? He seemed to be improving with every hour and I was really looking forward to being able to let him go. He was still acting concussed, yes, but he was drinking and then eating. Why would he die suddenly? I am feeling terribly guilty and I didn't know what else I could have done. And I got VERY attached to little Trevor and am grieving his loss.
Thank you in advance for any advice.