Good evening, TSB. I feed the wild squirrels in my backyard every day, and have done so for the past four years. So the squirrels know me, and are very used to me and comfortable around me. They will walk right up to me to get snacks, and a few of them even let me hand feed them.
Lately there has been a young male squirrel showing up every afternoon who has a malocclusion. I don't know how old he is, but I know he's not an adult yet, he's young. His front bottom two teeth are growing up out of the right side of his mouth to the point where he's having difficulty eating, and he eats really slowly, maybe because he has a hard time chewing. I cannot tell if he has any injuries on his face due to his teeth. But I know the longer his teeth get, he's eventually not going to be able to eat at all, he's going to sustain injuries, and he'll starve to death.
I want to try to catch him and get him to my excellent exotic vet. But he's very skittish and doesn't let me get anywhere near him like the other squirrels do. If I get too close, he gets scared and just bolts up the tree. I put peanuts, pieces of fruit, and sometimes mixed nuts in the shell at the base of one of the trees in my backyard. And for the ones who come right up to me, I toss nuts to. This little guy always stays very close to the tree when he comes down to get food so he can run up the tree quickly if something spooks him. When I am out there in the backyard, the squirrels come running from every direction because seeing me means it's snack time for them. Sometimes there are between 10 and 12 squirrels in my backyard all at one time. The ones who have been around for awhile come right up to me, but the newer ones, including a bunch of new babies, tend to just stay at the base of the tree, and some of them will grab a nut and run up the tree to eat it. So between the fact that this little guy won't let me near him and that there are always multiple squirrels around, I have no idea how I'm going to catch him.
I have successfully rescued and raised 10 squirrels since 2013. All but two of them were releasable back into the wild, so I do have a little experience with rescuing, raising, and releasing squirrels. So I do know what I would be getting into by catching this little guy. Because of his teeth, I know he wouldn't be releasable back into the wild. And I would be 100% committed to his care for the rest of his life. I currently have a neuro squirrel who lives in my house with me because he is not releasable back into the wild, due to his neurological issues and he's on daily medication for neurological pain and seizures. Also, because of his neurological issues he cannot chew on sticks, branches, or other hard things that would file his teeth down. So I have to take him to my vet every so often to have his teeth trimmed. He also has a slight malocclusion of his bottom two front teeth also.
So I really want to catch this poor little guy and take care of him. But I have no idea how to do that because he stays really close to that tree, bolts up it if I get too close to him, and there are always multiple squirrels around the base of that tree. Any advice, ideas, or suggestions on how I could catch him? I haven't seen him in two days now, and he usually comes every day. So I hope nothing has happened to him, and I hope I can catch him soon before it's too late, and his teeth end up being the reason he won't survive out there.