RELEASED SQUIRREL BITING PEOPLE
Hi, I need Help!
I’ve been handling a male squirrel for a year. He is a sciurius variegatoides (tree squirreI). I found him when he was 3 weeks. He and a sibling fell from their nest close to my house (I live adjacent to a National Park). He was the only one alive. I waited for his mother but had to finally take him in. I took him to the vet and started investigating how to take care of him since I didn't have a clue. I decided that I would try to transition him to the wild and follow instructions of the process. He lived for 6 months indoors roaming freely inside my house with plenty stimulus, excercise and preparation (suggested in a variety of sources that I investigated like crazy) to prepare for the wild. Then I accepted to handle a female squirrel of the same type, same age (that had a similar life story) to introduce them to each other (since they both hadnt seen another squirrel), and then releasing them together (it was suggested to me that I should release him alone). But he female was underdeveloped fisically and had trimmed nails so I had to wait two months to get her ready. During this time the male was most of the time not friendly with the female but did not hurt her.
I finally transfered them to a friend's farm to live in a huge cage outdoors with shelter, food and water to transition them to live outdoors. In the cage lived another female 4 year old squirrel of the same type that had a lifestyle of living outdoors during the day and returning to sleep in the cage where she had shelter, food and water. When I placed them both in the cage I left them there for 2 months visiting them every week, without any of them going outdoors at all. I walted them to get used to the elements fo nature, the third squirrel, and other animals that roam freeely in the farm protected by the cage. At first the squirrels I took where unfriendly with each other and to the third, but the third was always passive and ran from them. After a couple weeks the male was being unfriendly to both females and they were submissive; and the female that I took was unfriendly to the third female squirrel and she kept running away from both of them.
This went on for 2 months when I had arranged to release them, but coincidentaly a week before releasing them the male started bitting me when I visited them. He first did it when I went to check on one of the females. A couple day after he did it when I was giving them nuts inside the cage (he had shown possessives over food during those 2 months), and when I gave him his nut but he bit me. The third time he bit a farmer when he went to feed them. The third time I went wearing gloves to protect me from any further bites, but I took advantage of the gloves, and when he was on top of me I grabed him to pet him in spite of his aggresive character. He stayed paralized at first and then tried to anxiously wiggle his way out, but I imposed myself petting on him in spite of his discomfort and he turned around and bit my hand through the glove and didnt let go until I could pushed him away softly from my hand. He then he jumped back on top of me and I had to run for my life while getting him off me.
The day after that was going to be the first day I would let them out. So I released them and they roamed freely outdoors during that day. They were all exploring everywhere; the male even built a nest on a tree. That afternoon when when me and one of the farmers started calling them into the cage he jumped on top of me and bit me again. I had to shake him off of me but he chased us both away. That night he decided to sleep outdoors. During that week he bit my farmers again; and he is a danger to people that visit the farm to buy plants.
I went and brought him back in a cage to my house this week and I don't know what to do because he is angry at me. My wife and my maid are the only ones that can give him food that don't seem to threaten him. I feel so sad that he cant be in the farm roaming freely. It was also curious that his unfriendlyness towards the female squirrel that I cared for eased away when they starting going outdoors and the female squirrel is loving the farm life, and she comes back at sunset to sleep in the cage, eat and drink and she is getting along well with the third female squirrel.
I've been reading that squirrels can get neutered but I dont have a clue what to do in this case! I want the best for him not to be hinder him in any way in his future living conditions. Please Help! Here are some pics of them.
Thanks in advance,
Squirrel nut
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