Hello from Hazels mom
Just wanted to introduce myself! My name is Sommer and I currently have a single little squirrel girl. I've been raising squirrels since I was 12. So I have many many years on me but not so many squirrels as most of them came from people who know me so it's been sporadic over the past 30 years. In my early twenties I did volunteer for a couple years at our local wildlife center and my favorite really are squirrels. When I was young we lived out in the woods. My mom taught me how to raise squirrels. And we were lucky enough to be able to do soft release due to where we lived. Since then they have all gone to the wildlife center when they're ready to be in the big cage with the teenagers. Last year I raised a single little girl. But she was a fall baby and since she was a singleton I did not want to overwinter her with me without other squirrels so again she went to the wildlife center as a teenager. Quick side note, she went her first 5 days without pooping. I was working very closely with a very experienced rehabber and neither one of us had seen anything like it. We tried everything. She was perfectly fine and thriving. And at the end of the fifth day she pooped a nice normal poop and that was that. Not trying to dilude anyone into thinking this is normal but if someone's in the spot I was and completely freaking out just wanted to share the new record lol. The little girl, Hazel, that I have now, my mom found while my dad was blowing out the barn and bug spraying it. After failed attempts to reunite her it was time for her to be taken care of. At 70 my mom decided she wasn't up for it anymore and called me. The baby seemed a little puny as is. I don't think she was away from her mom long but possibly her mom was a new mom and not spending enough time on the nest? She was 2 weeks old and weighed 44 g when I got her a week ago. Now she is up to 60. She's doing very well getting very strong and now that I live on 8 acres far from danger I plan on soft releasing her here. I know having a sibling is helpful but growing up we did it many times successfully before. One of our squirrels Noel brought her babies back regularly for 5 years and then we never saw her again. She was very friendly with us and before long had many of the wild squirrels in the woods tagging along to come hang out with us on the deck lol it was a wonderful experience and Id love to do that here with it older kids now that I have a very similar setup. I know how to raise her and prepare her for it but it's been a very long time since I was able to go all the way with raising a baby so I am sweating that part because I overthink. I'm like what if I were to actually see a hawk get a squirrel I raised? Would it damage me for life? Luckily I have a livestock guardian dog. Now I do not mix my wild babies with my pets. So she will not meet him. But he keeps predators at about a two-acre parameter around our house. He is extremely gentle. He lays under the bird feeder and lets the birds pull his hair out to build nests and ignores the squirrels. Partly his gentle nature and partly because at 170 lb he's not going to bother with anything that's not a predator. Although I'm not introducing them I am not worried about him hurting her. He guards my chickens and as long as she stays close to the house the only predators she would ever have to worry about would be the flying kind. I feel like that's even a slight advantage for her. Anyway long introduction I know, but just to introduce myself, catch everybody up to speed on who I am and say thank you for all of the wealth of information and experiences I've been able to find on here to increase my knowledge. Having done this for so long I definitely know how to do it right but doing it so sporadically I don't have near the amount of experiences some of you guys do to compare things to. So if something happens that I haven't experienced I go straight here. Freaking out of course. The first litter I've ever done was of three and one didn't make it. It broke my heart. Haven't had to go through that since with any of them and I don't ever want to. I'm sure you guys will be hearing from me during this journey! XO
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Charley Chuckles gone from my arms FOREVER in my heart 
8/14/04-3/7/13
Originally Posted by Sommer
