5 month old attacked my husband

[Woody's Mom]

In July we found our boy Woody in our barn. He was extremely small & dehydrated. Based on what we learned we estimated he was between 5-6 weeks old. So, we both have been feeding him, taking care of him, playing with him etc. Until a few days ago he has been very sweet to both of us. We squirrel proofed our screen room (we live in Florida). He has a really nice house, plenty of toys, tree limbs to climb on. He eats a healthy diet of rodent blocks, healthy veggies and fruit. Only gets a nut once in awhile. He is still drinking formula in the evening. So, the other day my husband had some scrambled eggs in a plastic grocery bag, as he walked through the screen room Woody attacked his arm, scratching and biting him. Is it possible he has food aggression? Or was he hungry? Or is he no longer ok with my husband? Woody is very active. I was able to weigh him the other night after he had his formula & he weighed 1 lb .07 ozs. He doesn't appear to be underweight. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Chirps]

Hi! You said the other day . . . Has your husband been out there with Woody since then? How did Woody behave the next time he saw your husband? If it was a random one-off attack I'm wondering if he smelled the eggs. Maybe the odd smell (if that IS an odd smell to him) triggered the attack. People with more experience will weigh in.

[island rehabber]

This is, unfortunately, a common misbehavior as squirrels pass the 3-month old mark and on to adulthood. They begin to tolerate only one person in the house; they indulge in random biting of everyone else. Or they might consider a room or the whole house to be their nest and think that every other living thing is going to steal their stash.

Does he bury or hide his nuts in that area? If a squirrel has even one or two nuts buried, let's say, in couch cushions, he will attack anyone who comes near that couch. Or plant. Or whatever. It's possible your husband walked in at a moment when your squirrel was hiding some treasure and he lashed out. The solution to that would be to remove all stashes in the room.

[Woody's Mom]

Since this happened my husband has been out there & Woody hasn't "attacked". As far as the eggs go, Woody loves scrambles eggs. We have enclosed an area inside the screen room so that he has his own area. But he will still be able to come out. He doesn't keep a stash of food or nuts. We check daily. We had hoped he would be in that 1%. At this point I don't believe he is releaseable, not that we want to release him. He has no fear of dogs and he is totally dependent on us. Plus he is still sweet towards me. Thanks for the responses.

[Woody's Mom]

This is Woody's new area.

[Charley Chuckles]

It very well could have been Woody smelled the scrambled egg and said GIMMY GIMMY IM NOT WAITING since he's been good now.
Does make you a little uneasy though 😬

[Diggie's Friend]

That's one super habitat cage; kudos for supplying that to your dear fuzzy friend!! Instead of spending more time on the ground roaming, this kind of enclosure encourages and well supports weight bearing exercise by providing basis of of arboreal (tree climbing) habitat.

With the aggression issue waning, I just thought to shared that by discontinuing hand feeding and supplying food only in the primary nesting enclosure, not only cuts these connection of the rest of the home as the squirrel’s territory that they may otherwise seek to defend; which is why these changes reduce aggression of squirrels to other members of the family in the home. This was seen with a friend's squirrel that now accepts other family members with limited contact having supported the change of where to feed and ceased feeding by hand. And though not all squirrels will act this way when hand fed, and allowed to use the rest of the home as their territory to store nuts, as shared some will.

Another change that was made by the friend that lowered the aggression of their squirrel, not just to other members of the family, but as they noticed gentled it down to them also. Known as the, 'calming mineral' , adding a supplement Magnesium citrate to the diet to support a closer ratio of (Ca:Mg) Calcium to Magnesium, of at least (3:1), also improves bone density, calcium absorption, and increases the retention in the bones significantly. Magnesium citrate has been found to be one of only a couple of forms of magnesium that inhibit the the formation of microcrystals, aka: 'calculi' forming into crystals, 'stones" in the joints, the urine, and also the blood vessels of the heart and other organs.

Should you be interested in adding Magnesium citrate to the diet for this purpose, send me a PM and I will be glad to fill you in on a source that is easy to measure to better support both your squirrel's metabolic and bone health and a bit more relaxed demeanor.

[Rock Monkey]

I have been wondering if squirrels get more territorial at this time of year, to make sure that no other squirrel comes along and takes their tree hollow or pilfers their stashes, both of which are critical to living through the winter.

[Rock Monkey]

At this point I don't believe he is releaseable, not that we want to release him. He has no fear of dogs and he is totally dependent on us. Plus he is still sweet towards me. Thanks for the responses.

All squirrels are genetically wired with a skill set for surviving in the wild. For instance, a squirrel that has never watched another squirrel build a drey knows how to build one. They know which animals are predators.

As human recede from their life they become more wild.

The slow release process is designed to allow the squirrel to gradually become independent and to become more wary of humans.

Generally, the older the squirrel becomes, the more they want to be outside and free, leaping from limb to limb. They become less and less cuddly and more wary and aggressive. If nothing else, hormones drive them to be outside.

If you slow release him in the spring, I think you will be surprised how readily he becomes wild and independent.

Unfortunately, given their hard wired natures, they rarely make good pets. Usually human and squirrel become rather miserable, mutual prisoners of the other.

[Diggie's Friend]

Oh yah, they sure enough do. Our two girls though separated by a barrier they would see, smell, but not touch one another, sitting at the border holding and eating a nut, watching each other, watch each other chortling away their warnings through the wire, and running up and down on each their own side, "Roorr Roorr!" at each other, with nuts in their mouths. They made it very clear not to cross over their border, which of course they couldn't do, nor touch one the other through the double wire divider that separated them and their territory. From their view point, they each were defending their food supply, which for them by instinct is about their survival.

We also placed woven all natural cotton ropes that we threaded the top of through a hole in the top of each cage, secured by a knot, and on the bottom the same with the length of rope for each a bit longer than it was to the floor. I would make the ropes dance at the same time, that would excite them to grab flop and kick and bite the ropes which we called, "Fightie-bitey!". In the fall was when they would most often play dueling virtual, "fighty-biting" with one another; a safe engagement for sure with neither touching the other, yet no doubt in their minds biting the other, even so vicariously! So much fun to watch them play fight, they really enjoyed it, as they also did playing with their surrogate plush squirrel buddies, save that wasn't about survival, just being a squirrel! We really miss those times when we and they played together. Funny that these two lovely images look so much like each of our two girls side by side, with each one not resembling the other. Miss you each so much!!

[Rock Monkey]

To circle back to the original issue, as a guy I am wired to meet aggression with aggression, especially since there is part of me thinking "Hey, I have put in many hours to care for you and put up with damage to this that and the other and you have the nerve to get territorial to me in my own house!" In hindsight, I have never found aggression on my part, allowing my anger to rise, has ever helped with a behavior problem. It has almost always made it worse.

If he starts chattering his teeth or barking, stop moving and verbally try to soothe and reassure the squirrel. Deescalate. Those behaviors indicate that the squirrel is upset about something, instincts have taken over. Minutes later when the situation has been defused they seem to totally have forgotten their aggression and be back to their old selves.

[Tinkerbelle]

Woody's mom (and dad) - I understand, and from the other posts here, you are definitely not alone. Tinkerbelle had enjoyed a daily back scratch from my husband until one day she decided she didn't, and turned on him out of the blue. Frankly I think it hurt his feelings more than his hand, although he was bleeding profusely!

Hearing the advice of other squirrel foster parents is great. I also suggest really watching his body language to learn any signals he may be giving about what he's thinking. Tinkerbelle is a ground squirrel. Her first warning signal is to lay her ears back and squint. Tree squirrels may have other signals, but by trying to tune into his language you will learn to predict his mood better.

Most of all, don't take it personally!! Woody is just being a squirrel.