Hi guys (and gals).
So I've posted on here one other time about my little guys Shoe. He's a grey and a single and hes been with me since about 5 weeks old. He is now a whopping going-on-21 week old. It was the last weekend in October when he came into my care so I decided it was necessary to overwinter him, as it would be well into December by the time he was 12 weeks old. Since then he's grown up to be a full-blown squirrel or a "real squirrel" now, as my boyfriend and i like to say. We've upgraded his cage to an almost 5 ft tall, 3 ft wide and 2ft deep cage we built that sitting in front of our bedroom window on top of our long dresser and take him out to play in the bedroom multiple times a day.
So my question is with him needing to be overwintered, wgat should I take to be my sign from nature that its time? Here in Memphis, TN the changes with the day. Some years we dont get out first "snow" (its more ice and sleet than snow) until March. But then there are years like this last one and we've already had generous snows twice, thanks to the bomb-cyclone that much if America experienxed thing January. Right now the weather is still going back and forth from cold to warm to rainy and back every few days and I had been planning to begin putting him in an outdoor cage for some of the day each day until we get his release cage properly finished starting early March, assuming the weather becomes a bit more consistent. Part of my concern is that if I start putting him outside during rhe day and we have a bad spell for a week, weatherwize, I dont want to back track by needing to hole him back up inside until it passes. He's also a singleton so the release process is already going to be slow so I would hate to unmake any progress made by him and us in distancing ourselves. I had already planned on an April or early May release, so the weather has been established and plants are definitely in bloom and green all over. Should I stick to my original timeline of him being released around the end if April since id have already been prepared for that? Or should I just watch for nature to start showing new green from leaves starting? I have no doubts in my mind that he'll do well for himself out there. Hes fiesty as anything, he's perceptively cautious, but also infinitely curious and stubborn.
It already hard for us to fathom the idea of him not being our baby anymore, but I've had to reinforce the fact that there is now way I'm going to spend everyday for the next 18-20 years dealing with the ass hole to my boyfriend, but I gotta say, getting the chance to snuggle for a half hour or more with a squirrel that loves and trusts you is one of the most priceless thing ive ever experienced. So I really want his release to be the least amount stressful possible for him and do it the best way for him. Any answers to my questions are apprecitate, along with any general advice for a spring soft release for a single grey. Ill try to post a couple of current pictures shortly, because hes so incredibly handsome and I know you all will be dying to see him.
Thanks from Kari, Kenny, and Shoe Horn