the ferocious BeanBesn

[corina]

my squirrel BeanBean has never been an angel exactly. but his behavior has changed lately.

in his big outdoor cage, he murdered a lizard and ate its face! which i know is not an unheard of thing, but it's a first for him.

he isn't being aggressive toward me. he's always been fearless and possibly aggressive toward others which is the reason i have kept him. i don't want to release an animal that might attack someone.

he's super agitated and just running in a pattern around the house, not eating as much, doesn't want to play, staring out the window a lot.

does he just want a girlfriend?
is this likely to pass?
he seems very angsty and like he's looking for something that he knows is outside. i feel for him.

[Spanky]

How old is he?

Sounds to me like he is not long an adolescent, unhappy not being able to run in the treetops and ready to be free.

Does he have any physical issues that would prevent release?

With a proper soft release protocol, the chance of his attacking a person is extremely low. I am assuming a youngish squirrel... not one several years old.

If he is healthy and is not released, the likelihood of his eventually attacking a person (other than his main care-taker... and maybe even them) is extremely high if he has the chance. JMO.

[corina]

thank you for your response.

this possibility has of course crossed my mind. and because/although i love the critter to pieces i am willing to release him.

he has no injuries. he got that infection that makes the tail fur brittle, and it was looking hella bad for a while, but we addressed the underlying nutritional issues. it has been in the process of growing back nice and thick for a while now. still has a little ways to go.

when i found him, it was in a parking lot. he was approaching everyone and begging for food and care. pretty dehydrated and skinny. i 'bottle fed' him for well over a month.
i have always had a concern that he lost his fear of people while begging as an infant, and it never returned - despite that his exposure to humans other than me has been extremely limited. the few times he has been around others, he has only shown interest that i worried would turn into aggression.

with that background, do you still think that soft release will be a good idea?

the other side of this pickle is that i am going to be moving soon. AND into a place that would be a MUCH better release location. i would not feel good about releasing him where i currently live. neither would i want to release him and move shortly after and not be able to give him support as needed.

can he wait another month for a much more optimal set up? i would feel really good about releasing him under better conditions.

[Spanky]

can he wait another month for a much more optimal set up? i would feel really good about releasing him under better conditions.

How old is he?

Another month probably will not be an issues but how old is he?

It is very common for baby squirrels who have lost their mom to seek out help from anyone and anything. We refer to this as "Warm tree syndrome". Thank you for realizing he was in need of help, desperately. Too many people believe the squirrel is diseased and either ignore them or do terrible things to them.

People that think their cat or dog is a great hunter, many times it was simply the baby squirrel approaching them not knowing the danger at their young age. That and desperation.

[corina]

i believe he is between 6 and 7 months old.
but if he was a little runty or if he was stunted by lack of nourishment when i found him, he may have been older than he appeared. i think he is closer to 7 months. definitely, a saucy young adult.

and i believe he has a case of the nugget nuts. his behavior changed very suddenly; it's hard to believe there isn't an catalyst such as a female in estrus somewhere nearby. and i saw a couple young squirrels running along the powerline outside my house.

they didn't used to come around here, until i planted a garden. i thought i would be living here a while and that i would be releasing him here potentially, so i planted the whole yard with things i thought he might like. now they pass through here from time to time.