Wild Squirrel with One Eye
Good morning all,
I live in South Florida, and my wife and I both have fallen quite in love with the Squirrel families who live near our home. One squirrel in particular, though, has caused me some concern, and I was hoping for your thoughts on his condition. He is a young squirrel who seems large and healthy and who we have watched grow up over the last year. We call him Tubbs.
About ten days ago, my wife and I were horrified to see Tubbs arrive in our back yard in a terrible state. He had wounds across one side of his face and one eye was missing. He was also favoring one of his forepaws, only running on three legs. Still, that day he dug for food stashes, drank water, and climbed trees while we watched him. The he disappeared. I really feared the worst for Tubbs.
This morning, Tubbs reappeared. His one eye is indeed gone, but the wounds on his face seem to have healed, and is again using all his limbs comfortably. He fed, ran around the yard with his family members, and climbed up and down trees without any difficulty. Basically, he is behaving like he always has.
Since he has healed a lot, is behaving normally, and seems to be taking care of himself, how concerned should I be about him only having one eye? Can squirrels in the wild learn to adapt to sight with one eye? Just for the record, I am not asking if he is an NR since we were never able to take him into care. My feeling currently, shared by my wife and echoed by my vet, is that if he seems to be doing well, we should not intervene. But of course I am concerned about his long-term well-being. Any thoughts will be appreciated.
Thanks so much in advance!
Jason
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