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Thread: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

  1. #1
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    Default A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    Hi there all! I wasn't sure where to post this so please forgive me if this is the wrong place.. I'm rather new here.
    I'm in Brooklyn, NY where my bedroom window faces out onto a tree lined block. A beautiful female grey mama squirrel we call "Lil Mama" has adopted us over the last few months! The 1st time she came around in May she was heavily preggers and was always trying to get in my window. She succeeded 1 day.. she chewed a hole in our screen. I walked in and found her sitting on my night table like it was no big deal..LOL.. I felt she deserved a miniature cloak & crown as she sat there..oh so dignified!
    I gently coaxed her back outside. She was overly friendly to the point of scaring ME since day 1. She disappeared for a few weeks to have her babies in July and then returned.
    Since then we've developed a great relationship & trust each other fully. She climbs right up onto my lap & will search for snacks in my kaftan & blanket, lets me pet her, give her head/under ear scratches & even lets my husband pet her too..though he rarely interacted with her until last week. He went from "don't let it in the damn house!" to just adoring her & fighting over who gets to feed her next hehe!! She's just the gentlest little darling you can imagine. Incredibly patient. She has never scratched, bit, lunged, growled, chattered etc..she's displayed absolutely NO aggressive or "back off" behavior toward either of us ever. That being said we still absolutely respect her being wild. We seem to have the best of both worlds with her! The other morning I found her sitting on my night table... again.. watching my husband from behind, unbeknownst to him, as he was eating a sandwhich..again.. like it was no big deal!! Strangely she has also NEVER pooed or peed inside.. That I'm finding truly bizarre given their..um...nature..lol.
    We have a cat that tolerates " Lil Mama" as well. We lost her companion cat this year so I believe the company is welcome but I still watch them carefully & stay in between them.

    I'm a lil worried that come winter she may try to actually move right in with us...
    We live on the 2nd floor & she climbs up the fire escape. I had the thought that maybe she had been rehabbed or raised by humans and that is why she has very little fear..at least of us ..but then of course we are a source of food..This does seem a bit unusual for a wild though... Right?!
    Sadly my downstairs neighbor's wife is terrified of squirrels. They would NEVER hurt an animal & have turtles, birds & dogs themselves. But 1 day Lil Mama heard the man coming out & panicked..she actually pancaked out flat on the chair & screamed because she was so scared of getting yelled at!! It broke my heart!! She is really an angel!
    They just see them all as tree rats unfortunately. He's very loud & if they go down near his door he yells..They learned fast to avoid the 1st floor! They just think I'm nuts..hehe. We do have a great relationship with them so I'm not worried about her getting hurt.
    I do feed a couple of others now & then including 1 other female we call "Scurious" since April. She was brought by here as a youth by her mama who's since disappeared. They won me over by rattling the window bars like lunatics & hanging their squirrel butts into my face (my bed is directly under the window..) I finally relented & gave them a snack.

    But our Lil Mama is such a special lil one..
    She actually hangs out on our fire escape like a puppy...she lays down to rest on the chair & just relaxes.
    I've tried to give her healthier treats but she won't take anything but the nuts (almonds,walnuts,pecans & occasionally a few roasted peanuts or pistachios.) Sometimes she'll eat a little piece of avocado. She gets fresh water daily as well & she loves that too. I figure as she's outside & wild she knows how to balance her own diet. I just absolutely want to do what is best for her. I just ordered a cuttlefish bone today to see if she'll nibble on it. I know MBD is almost always occurant in domestics/indoor squirrels but I'm a worrier & want to do what is best for her since she seems to have sought me out for a lil help. I'd be devastated if anything I did for her interfered negatively. I don't encourage the other squirrels to be too trusting of humans or to lose their wild instincts/innate fears. I put their snacks in a bowl on the side..But Lil Mama was already highly social & seemed to crave human contact!
    I imagine she has babies somewhere but they must still be too young to come out.. They must be close to 6-8 weeks by now though. Her teats are still very visible though..so she appears to still be nursing.

    **So inevitably my question is has anyone else had an overly friendly squirrel suddenly appear and adopt them!? And if so how did you deal with it? I worry a bit about mites/fleas but I've never once seen any on her nor does she scratch. I'm sure she must have them since she lives outdoors though..but I'm guilty of letting her run around on the bed anyways..
    She's very bright eyed & bushy tailed & appears very healthy & is incredibly intelligent. I just hope my feeding her doesn't cause any imbalances for her.
    As it gets colder out I'm wondering how this relationship is going to progress..LOL!
    This site has been a wonderful resource from which I've already learned much!
    I love seeing so many passionate animal lovers helping each other & their animal friends. ❤
    Thank you for allowing me to tell my squirrely story!! Here is a pic of Lil Mama posing for the camera!
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  3. #2
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    Default Re: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    Wow! That's pretty amazing that she is so tame.

    Thank you and hubby for loving and caring for her.

    Keep us posted on the relationship.

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  5. #3
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    Default Re: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    It truly is.. I feel blessed to have her company..but now I worry like crazy about her..hehe. It's a rather unique situation hence my worrying about her diet as she comes by a few times a day and I feel a great sense of responsibility toward her now though she is technically "wild". She is very comfortable coming inside and I don't know how she will feel come winter! Thank you very much for the response! ❤

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    Default Re: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    That she allows you to pet her sure sounds like she may have been human raised. Food will get them into your lap, and through your window screens, but it won't get you to the petting point.

    I have a friend who raised and released a baby on her property who started coming back home often to the point where my friend set his cage back up so she could just come in and head to his old bed. At first it was mostly during inclement weather - super cold, rain, heavy snow, then it became way more frequent the following summer when it got hot and air conditioning was right there available... Finally, it got to the point that on sunny days with no wind and 70 degrees with low humidity he *might* go out for a while but other than that, forget it!

    You may want to think about giving her a spot to set up her nest!

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  8. #5
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    Default Re: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    Thank you for the response! She's truly a little angel... She loves ear scratches & pets...even when she's eating! She is far more gentle than our cat who was taken in as a stray as well. Ha! The fact that she doesn't pee or poo inside is truly remarkable too...That is something I will consider if she starts making more of an effort to stay inside..a little retreat...thank you for the advice! She loves hanging out on the fire escape for now. Should I be worried about over feeding her with nuts? She comes by a few times a day! I'm waiting for a cuttlebone I ordered for her...we shall see if she takes to it. All the veggies I offer are ignored or sniffed and then tossed away. Avocado is the only thing she has eaten a bit of. I appreciate the advice very much...this site is wonderful!

  9. #6
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    Default Re: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    You have a remarkable buddy there. I’d like to make a few suggestions. Considering she comes by so often and you feed her nuts every time I worry that she isn’t searching out other foods and may be consuming too many nuts. There’s a couple of options that may help her nutritionally. You might consider ordering some Henrys blocks from a Henrys Pets online. The Picky Eater and Hazelnut blocks are well liked. Most squirrels...even wilds....will eat them. Two a day will provide some significant nutrients to her diet.

    The other option is to make what we call boo balls. It is ground up hard extruded rodent block, like Envigo Harlan Teklad, ground up nuts, fruit/veggie baby food and coconut or avocado oil to hold it all together. It should be just wet enough to roll into a ball. There’s lots of variations to the recipe listed in the Squirrel Nutrition section on this forum. This is more labor intensive than purchasing Henrys blocks, but slightly cheaper.

    If you can get her to eat one of these options then you’ll know she’s getting some healthy alternatives to nuts.

    The other suggestion is to mount a nest box out side on your fire escape, or somewhere close to your window. A nest box will provide her shelter and someplace warm to sleep when it gets cold outside. You can put some fleece inside or hamster bedding for her. There are some pictures of nest boxes on this forum, too. I have nest box plans I could send to you if you’re interested. If so, send me your email in a private message and I’ll send them off. Private messages are accessed from the top of the page under “notifications“.

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  11. #7
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    Default Re: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    Make her a nice place of her own in your house. If she moves in she will be a great pet, especially as she likes both you and your husband (not always true with squirrels.
    We live in a heaven created by our virtues --- Muktananda

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  13. #8
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    Default Re: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it! I will order some of the Henry's "Picky Eater Blocks" you've recommended and see if she will eat them! She is VERY picky but I want to make sure she is getting all the proper nutrition as she does rely on me for what seems like quite a large amount of food as of late even if she is technically wild. As far as a nest box I'm not sure if I would be allowed to put one out on the fire escape unless it was very small.. Also I'm not sure she would feel safe sleeping out there since my downstairs neighbor just about gives her a heart attack when he comes outside as he's so loud.. She pancaked out flat once and actually let out a scream! It was awful to see her so frightened! However I would welcome her inside if she decides she wants to come in and warm up. I'll look at some of the set ups for "beds" so I'm ready if she decides she's moving in for good. Lol!

    Absolutely! She is so passive and is indeed a great lil companion. I had a lil devil coming by in April that I called "Skuttlebutt" as his tail was bent..poor lil sod used to cry in my window and growl at all the other squirrels incessantly.. He also impatiently chomped at my finger while I was putting the bowl of nuts down for him! I don't want to know how hard they can bite if they mean it!!
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  15. #9
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    Default Re: A very friendly wild has "adopted"us.. Questions.

    Well.. Today I was in the kitchen puttering & came back into the bedroom to find her inside once again... (Exhibit A of the crime scene in photo no. 1. ) Lol.. She feels it is her rightful doggy door.. She rips the tape off where I've patched up her previous crime scenes & comes right inside. When we're sleeping I have to keep the glass down..or I know I would find her in bed with us! Well I'm going to get her the Henry's blocks this week & perhaps rearrange my side table area to try making her a little squirrel retreat as suggested. Thanks again guys! - A. & Lil Mama
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