URGENT Nesting Sq about to be HOMELESS

[Chordd]

Question

We are in the industrial section of Irvine, California. We have a lil critter that has befriended us, she (assuming) now takes food from our hand. For years a neighboring business property owner and manager has been trying to get us to cut down the messy trees on the property line, they finally made us a deal we couldn't refuse. Well TOMORROW (Friday 30 April, 2021) they start on the job. We believe this critter to be nesting. Is there anything we can do, anyone (with authority) we can call to stop this one tree from being downed or at least postpone it?

Thanx,
Chordd
29.04.21 15:25 Pacific

[sundoesshine]

Question

We are in the industrial section of Irvine, California. We have a lil critter that has befriended us, she (assuming) now takes food from our hand. For years a neighboring business property owner and manager has been trying to get us to cut down the messy trees on the property line, they finally made us a deal we couldn't refuse. Well TOMORROW (Friday 30 April, 2021) they start on the job. We believe this critter to be nesting. Is there anything we can do, anyone (with authority) we can call to stop this one tree from being downed or at least postpone it?

Thanx,
Chordd
29.04.21 15:25 Pacific

My guess is there wouldn't be anything you could do but possibly coordinate with the tree trimmer (someone on the crew has to have a heart) to keep the nest intact and try to relocate it as close as possible somehow? Maybe find a rehabber to consult on how best to do so?
Or maybe trim back/prune that tree to tidy it up, yet keep the nest?

[Rock Monkey]

Squirrels usually have three or four nests. Hopefully, once the tree work starts she will relocate to one of these other nests, hopefully the nests won't all be on the same property.

Point out the nest to the tree workers. If the nest contains babies when they start working on the tree, offer to take them temporarily if Mom has abandoned them, post here immediately for help and suggestions and then get some contact information for some local rehabbers.

[sundoesshine]

Squirrels usually have three or four nests.

Yes, I'd forgotten about that, hopefully she can relocate. Please let us know how things turn out!

[Chordd]

First off, Admin, please disregard most recent email from me, seems I'm now good to reply. TY

To you who have commented, many furry thanx.

For the first time possibly ever, I have yet to see her today, all kinds of things are going through my mind, the good, maybe now she has baby or babies, maybe sick or worse, we won't discuss the later. As she has half a car cover up this one tree, I'm speculating this is her main address. I'm hoping for the absolute best case scenario, that she just loves plush car covers, has no little ones, and better yet is a boy squirrel and just too lazy in this HOT weather to come down yet.

Found and attached some pix for you all to enjoy. Can anyone tell from pix whether male or female?

I'll keep you all posted.

Thanx,
Chordd
30.04.21 12:45 Pacific

[sundoesshine]

It looks like the 3rd to last pic may show a couple nipples but then on the other photos it doesn't look like she's got much going on and is pretty thin if she does have them. Hilarious about the car cover.

[Buddy]

Looks like a female! Hope she doesn't have any babies!

Super cute!

[Chordd]

Welllllll my squirrely peeps, good news.

All the trees are gone and to our absolute amazement, there was NO nest of any kind. We are totally dumbfounded. We were convinced there had to be a huge nest in this particular tree, where could half a car cover have gone to, lol? We looked in other nearby trees, only to see nothing. He, she or it is still coming around to be fed, doesn't appear to be holding any grudges in re the removal of some of her trees.

Crazy critter! She started picking at one of MY car covers, she now knows the wrath of the water spray bottle, lol. Is there something I can rub on the areas of her interest that will deter her and not ruin the car cover, I'm thinking garlic??? Seems like the spray bottle works to a certain extent. I have a van that I have parked out there and I'm always at the double doors, many a time she gets up on the pass driver front wheel looking for next meal. I didn't want her to get used to that area as a place to get food, water bottle, she has not gotten up there since.

Are we guessing this is a California Brown Squirrel? IF such a name. In our preview, pix are sideways, hopefully they load properly in final view as we don't see where to rotate them.

We don't mind being a reliable food source, however, just like the dogs, cats, ferrets and other pets, there are places we allow you and places we don't, hehe.

[sundoesshine]

Yay, crisis averted! If the trees were large, could there have been a hole in any that she made a nest in? She looks like a fox squirrel, "foxers" say the squirrel peeps I believe I hate to say it, but I bet she's got a very luxurious nest in innards of someones stored car or the like.

[Chordd]

Trees were big, however no, there was absolutely nothing in any of them. I'm guessing perhaps in a pipe, in an AC cowling or the likes on the roof as it's been seen numerous times going up there. I have one car that I haven't uncovered and started in about 5 or 6 months, highly unlikely anything there, could only be engine compartment and there's not enough room for that much material to be stuffed there, lol. Plus, it would tend to be a fatal error for it to trespass that car, grin.

Have a nice day all. L8r

[Rock Monkey]

Welllllll my squirrely peeps, good news.

Crazy critter! She started picking at one of MY car covers, she now knows the wrath of the water spray bottle, lol. Is there something I can rub on the areas of her interest that will deter her and not ruin the car cover, I'm thinking garlic???

It's great to hear that she is safe.

If you don't want her shredding the car cover, I strongly suggest giving her some substitute material. I suggest plain white napkins or paper towels. With the paper towel you should probably tear them in half so she doesn't trip on the material as she climbs. Keep giving these materials out until she stops taking them. This may also give some notion as to where her home is.

Yes, she might be making a home in a car. Urban and suburban squirrels get creative with what the environment provides. You shouldn't get mad at them for this, they are just doing their best to survive. Squirrels prefer small spaces.

[Rock Monkey]

Plus, it would tend to be a fatal error for it to trespass that car, grin.

If she is nesting in the van there are always Have a Heart traps. I hope you intend her no harm. That would just be hypocritical.

A squirrel is just being a squirrel. We have choices about our actions.

[Chordd]

Well, ladies, gents, boys n girls, it's been a while. Since my last post, we have lost two due to them playing on or near transformers. The one that was friendly to begin with, I only assume is still here as there is one who remains very trusting. The nesting issue was not as it seemed, we now feel they may be living on the roof to the building.

I have a new question, after reading, your sugestions will be appreciated, in regards to leave it here or create a new thread.

Sometimes when this one sees me, it runs over, in a very happy mood, dancing, jumping, doing summersaults, etc., knowing that a good meal is about to fall from the sky. I am so affraid one day it will want to climb up and there's only one way to accomplish that, by digging claws into skin. Wether minor or more serious skin punctures, and here's the question, could this wind up being as serious an injury as if it were a bite?

Please reply only if you know for sure, no guesses please, I can do that myself, grin.

Happy Holidays to all

Chordd
17.11.21 11:45 Pacific

[Spanky]

Bites can always be serious... my vet tells me a story about a guy he knows that lost a finger to a squirrel bite. It was a deep puncture wound that got infected and he ignored it until it was too late.

Having said that, I have been bitten by squirrels dozens of times. Some were pretty nasty and caused some discomfort for weeks. I had one get on my back and bite me a couple times and I bleed through my shirt.I looked like I had been shot a couple times.

The more problematic bites were the ones on my hands and fingers, just because you use your hands so much.

Treat any bites with the proper first aid you'd use for any wound. Being current on tetanus is always a good idea regardless of what type of deep puncture wound is suffered.

Scratches can be painful as well... I can tell you that three legged squirrels are the most painful to have climb up your leg... they must have to dig in extra hard to compensate for not having all four paws to cling on (Klingon?). I never let squirrel out for out of cage time unless I have long pants on.... and my calves are still a bit scratched up.

There is practically no risk of contracting disease from a squirrel bite or scratch.

I am not guessing about any of this....

[Chordd]

Spanky, thanx for that prompt and great response.

I guess I'm more concerned with these being WILD squirrels, and more concerned with skin scratches or punctures, we have a pretty good repour going between us, as long as I don't try to pick up any food I put down to move it elsewhere, I'm pretty well safe, lol.

Merci

[Spanky]

Many of my battle wounds were from wild squirrels... there is practically no risk of contracting disease from a squirrel, wild or otherwise.

[Mel1959]

I second what Spanky said. I have never developed an infection from a squirrel bite or scratch…wild or otherwise. That’s not the case from one of my cats that stuck a claw into my finger along the edge of my fingernail. That did turn into an infection, but was remedied with topical antibiotics and some hot water salt soaks.