Brazil nuts can kill

[redwuff]

Hi TSB,

UdoWhat received some information from a large rehab center that she thought was vital to pass on to the Squirrel Board.

This center overwinters between 60 to 120 squirrels. This winter they lost approx a dozen and a half squirrels. Symptoms were: rear end paralysis, labored breathing, lethargy, and death. Big kudos to this center for tireless and expensive effort to find out what happened.

Cardiac and pulmonary edema along with GI shutdown caused the death and it was determined that it was selenium toxicity that produced these symptoms. It turns out that Brazil nuts have large amounts of selenium. The center orders 800 to 900 pounds of mixed nut each winter and the director of the center believes that some squirrels cached the brazil nuts and ate too many or were given too many of that type of nut.

Again, we thought it important to pass this along.

Yours in squirrels,

Trysh

[Nancy in New York]

Thank you SO much for posting this.
I will make this a sticky.

[lennysmom]

Yes, THANK YOU redwuff! I don't feed these to my fuzzers, but I know some who have asked me about them.

[Carol Lynn]

Thanks so much for that information, RedWuff!! I, too, buy mixed nuts and give my gang some Brazil nuts. I will put a stop to that immediately!!

Thanks again for the important heads up!!

[pappy1264]

Wow, thank you for posting this!!! I do feed them, but not a lot.

[island rehabber]

Thank you Trysh -- I don't feed Brazil nuts to my squirrels and even though I keep them for myself, I make sure never to eat more than 2 per day. I remember reading about selenium poisoning somewhere, as it is dangerous for humans as well. Thank you for posting this!

[SammysMom]

Thank-you! I also buy mixed nuts and give some of the brazil nuts. I do eat many of them though... I guess we will stop that practice. Good grief, am I going to have to buy almonds, pecans, hazelnuts and walnuts each by the 50# bag?!!! I'm gonna have a hard time hiding 200# like I do 50#. He will notice my car riding lower...LOL

[pappy1264]

Well, I order from nuts.com and I just called to ask if it would be possible to get the mixed w/o brazil nuts, but they will not do that. Was told they are in a big 'barrel' and they will not seperate. So I asked if I could order them individually (10 walnuts, 10 pecans, or whatever) to make up a 25 lb box but get the same price. Nope. Oh well. I tried. May start ordering them individually and making up my own boxes. Have to think on this. Do not want to cause any issues for any squirrels.

[stosh2010]

First was the-----Brazil Zika virus
Now no more----- Brazil Nuts....

What is next ????????????????

NO---Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro
<< click on pic

[Mel1959]

Thank you for this information. I have fed these to my dwarf, Joey, because he hides the pecans and walnuts and only seems to eat the pine nuts and Brazil nuts, both seem to be on the do not feed list now. I am curious though, a vegan health food restaurant/store in my area sells Brazil nut milk....for a very hefty price...as a substitute for cows milk. Does anyone know if the selenium affects humans in the same way? The Brazil nut milk is supposed to be high in potassium. Could that be a contributing factor as well?

[stepnstone]

Thank you for this information. I have fed these to my dwarf, Joey, because he hides the pecans and walnuts and only seems to eat the pine nuts and Brazil nuts, both seem to be on the do not feed list now. I am curious though, a vegan health food restaurant/store in my area sells Brazil nut milk....for a very hefty price...as a substitute for cows milk. Does anyone know if the selenium affects humans in the same way? The Brazil nut milk is supposed to be high in potassium. Could that be a contributing factor as well?

http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2013...u-nuts-if.html

[redwuff]

Thanks Step'

that is a good article to think about.

[GTSally]

Thanks for the info. I have been giving my wilds mixed nuts and of course it seems like you get more Brazil nuts than any others

[JLM27]

Brazil nuts have so much oil you can light them and use them as an oil lamp.

[LOA]

Thanks so much for that information, RedWuff!! I, too, buy mixed nuts and give my gang some Brazil nuts. I will put a stop to that immediately!!

Thanks again for the important heads up!!

I have bought Annie mixed nuts without thinking. Thank God for this site!!!

[karriemed]

http://www.nutsite.com/

This site has mixed nuts with the option to leave out Brazil nuts.

[olorin19]

I had a lovely girl squirrel named Irene back in 2011. (Her entire nest with her inside was knocked out of a tree by Hurricane Irene, falling 25-30 feet and landing in a driveway. She was about 5-6 weeks old.) Having previously raised and released another baby squirrel without incident, I happily took on Irene. She was a very sweet and gentle squirrel. As we all know, squirrels do not like to poop in the nest. Of course, the definition of "nest" seems to vary by squirrel. In Irene's case, dad was apparently not included. So, whenever I would get Irene out of her cage to head outside, she would leave a turd trail starting almost as soon as she left her cage.

As far as I could tell, Irene was a healthy squirrel. She was certainly a delightful girl.

When she was 11-12 weeks old, my stash of horse chestnuts (from the library lawn nearby) ran out, so I went out and bought a bag of mixed nuts in the shell as a replacement. I cracked some, including a brazil nut. Irene seemed fine when she went to bed. The next morning, she was lying in full extension on the floor of her cage, in obvious pain, and breathing with difficulty. i was not able to find any vets, rehabbers, etc. willing and able to see her. She died in my lap within an hour. It still hurts, even all these years later.

I googled around in the following months, and the only possible explanation I ever found was that the brazil nut killed Irene.

[Mel1959]

Very sorry that happened to Irene and you.

[olorin19]

Very sorry that happened to Irene and you.

Thanks Mel

My first squirrel Sam (2004) went so easily that until Irene I had no clue how many things could go wrong, even with the best of intentions and lots of effort. Having now nursed Dustin through two recoveries from abscesses and taken care of my special needs Ziggy for a year, I am far more aware of how little I really know and how important it is to seek advice whenever in doubt.

As Amy is still young enough that she stays on me when outside, I am enjoying the occasional "squirrel trifecta" lately: Amy on my shoulder and Ziggy in the grass at my feet, then Dustin making an appearance for some evenings treats.

I am sure many of us have experienced both great joy and great sorrow with our furry friends.

Or as Kahlil Gibran expressed it:

"Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."

[Clutch&StuartsMommy]

Did the post mention a protocol if a squirrel was given a Brazilian nut and became slightly ill? I noticed some posted they have fed the Brazilian nuts to their little'ens. I think this would be great info to know/share. 😊