Re: Release if blind in one eye?
Originally Posted by
Snicker Bar
Cedar is the baby that came with the “lazy eye” and facial swelling. Not sure what happened , but some sort of head trauma (?) and had a puncture on her head. For the longest she would only eat soft things. She’s gradually gotten better with that. And her eye now stays open most of the time; still droops occasionally.
But, we examined her more closely, and she is blind in that eye. No menace at all. I can nearly touch her eye and no reaction ( her opposite blinks as should).
She is also exceptionally friendly in spite of minimal handling. Trust me I have not coddled her other than she had more one on one since The Quad excommunicated her.
I kept Dandies , my one eye girl, because she and her totally neuro sister were inseparable. And, it seems when I asked then, some discouraged release of a vision impaired baby.
We live /release in the woods. We have 70 acres and all the predators that come with it.
What are thoughts about her?
She can stay, if the odds would be significantly against her ,
In my opinion...
In the wild, a squirrel's ability to chew is their survival as well as their sight.
Why the soft foods? Could she not chew, bad teeth, weak jaw?
Can your girl crack a hard shelled nut in a reasonable time? That's an important factor for a releasable.
Besides being seasonal, without the ability to chew, I doubt they could get enough nutrition from vegetation alone.
I'm personally not totally against releasing a one eyed squirrel, that very much would depend on the individual squirrel.
All animals can see you with one eye, that's not in question. Binocular vision is a differentiator between predator and prey,
unfortunately most prey animals have a small binocular area. This is why birds of prey, hawks, owls, etc. try to attack prey
animals from behind their head as it's their blind spot. A squirrel with both unimpaired eyes can be looking at/or toward two
different areas at the same time. Example, Incoming predator and escape route. A one eyed squirrel would lose that advantage
and would have to adjust their sight of vision to depend solely on that one eye. Are they challenged yes, could they survive?
I'm sure many have... Squirrel's are very resilient.
There may be some exceptions with a squirrel being "exceptionally friendly," but the majority once in the wild embrace it and
leave their caretakers wondering WTH happened to their sweet baby! A squirrel's natural instincts are hard wired and in their
own natural environment, nature flips the switch.
Step-N-Stone
State Licensed
Wildlife Master Rehabilitator