Took up squirrel watching after meeting special Eastern gray

[Junior711]

I'm retired and live on a wooded property in rural Maine. In late June 2020 my friend encountered a young Eastern gray squirrel with serious balance problems bravely foraging for sunflower seeds underneath a bird feeder. She named him Junior and introduced me to him. We decided the poor little guy could use some help competing for his seeds with other squirrels and birds so we took to augmenting the food supply on the ground and chasing away potential bullies while Junior was around. This went on all summer, with Junior showing up 4 days out of 5 for a hearty breakfast or lunch. He became comfortable with humans delivering food and he learned to respond to my voice calling his name. Now it’s October and we haven’t seen Junior in 10 days. Sadly we fear the worst but continue to look for him in his favorite trees.

I value the experience and insight of the Squirrel Board's members and will introduce Junior to the group in another post. I'll be very grateful if anyone can help me understand Junior’s condition. Thanks 🐿

[Mel1959]

Junior could have fallen in the past which resulted in head trauma and balance issues. There are multiple success stories by treating with prednisone or gabapentin when this happens.

There are also instances of squirrels falling victim to raccoon roundworm. The roundworm larvae invade the squirrels system and eventually migrate to the brain. This causes neuro issues and eventually death.

Junior being compromised certainly puts him at a disadvantage where predators are concerned.

Also, squirrels can cover a wide range of territory. I hope this is the case and your little friend returns soon. It’s always sad when you have a special yard friend or released baby that disappears.

[Junior711]

Junior could have fallen in the past which resulted in head trauma and balance issues. There are multiple success stories by treating with prednisone or gabapentin when this happens.

There are also instances of squirrels falling victim to raccoon roundworm. The roundworm larvae invade the squirrels system and eventually migrate to the brain. This causes neuro issues and eventually death.

Junior being compromised certainly puts him at a disadvantage where predators are concerned.

Also, squirrels can cover a wide range of territory. I hope this is the case and your little friend returns soon. It’s always sad when you have a special yard friend or released baby that disappears.

Thanks so much for your interest in Junior! We have speculated about the cause of his condition and have seen videos of one or two squirrels with similar problems, but none quite like him. I’ll add that he’s very nimble in trees, it’s the ground that’s his kryptonite.

Is there a way I can post a link here to a YouTube video of Junior? At the very least we’d like to know if he’s a boy or a girl.

Thanks again!!

[CritterMom]

Hi, Mainer! I am a bit south of you. I, too, have a group of neurologically challenged squirrels (as well as a bench of perfectly healthy ones) that I support. I have been doing this for about 10 years and there is one thing I have no answer for: where the heck they go in the early fall. All of a sudden I go from having to refill their food multiple times a day to going through less than 25% of what I normally feed. A core group, most of them female, continue to hang around and chow down at my squirrel cafe, but so many are gone! It lasts about a month and then they begin to return, and by the time the snow flies I am back to my normal huge numbers. Do they head to places that have multiple nut trees? I have tons of oaks and hence acorns, but nothing more exotic. But I do NOT KNOW. You may see your boy/girl back, though.

Go to your youtube page and copy the address (go to the top of the page and select the address, then hit "Ctrl C" and then to the post you are making here, click in your message where you want it to appear, and hit "Ctrl V" and it will appear.

[Junior711]

Hi, Mainer! I am a bit south of you. I, too, have a group of neurologically challenged squirrels (as well as a bench of perfectly healthy ones) that I support. I have been doing this for about 10 years and there is one thing I have no answer for: where the heck they go in the early fall. All of a sudden I go from having to refill their food multiple times a day to going through less than 25% of what I normally feed. A core group, most of them female, continue to hang around and chow down at my squirrel cafe, but so many are gone! It lasts about a month and then they begin to return, and by the time the snow flies I am back to my normal huge numbers. Do they head to places that have multiple nut trees? I have tons of oaks and hence acorns, but nothing more exotic. But I do NOT KNOW. You may see your boy/girl back, though.

Go to your youtube page and copy the address (go to the top of the page and select the address, then hit "Ctrl C" and then to the post you are making here, click in your message where you want it to appear, and hit "Ctrl V" and it will appear.

Thanks so much, CritterMom! Our summer squirrel population is way down right now too, just a couple of stragglers still scratching out sunflower seeds. You’ve given me hope that Junior has gone off with his siblings in search of heartier tree mast and better winter provisions than the bird feeders offer rather than he fell victim to a swooping hawk, which we have plenty of around here. And any hope that we'll see our little buddy again is a beautiful thing 😎