New Rehab Baby is a different species...

[Brooklyn]

Hi everyone, I'm in a bit of a quandary here. My latest rehab baby was brought to me last week. She seemed oddly small for characteristics of a 3-week-old. Something just seemed off. Eyes opened today -- what I am guessing to be now 4-weeks-old. I fed her tonight and realized the many differences between this baby and all my rehabs since living in Los Angeles. All my release babies have been Eastern Fox Squirrels, for over a decade now. When I lived in New York, I had plenty of experience with Eastern Greys. This little girl is very different from either, and is incredibly small, so I went on a search and she looks to be a Western Grey Squirrel. At first I thought, how fun! Then reality struck and I realized it may not be safe to release her on my property, as I always have with my rehabs.

Where I am, the fox squirrels have adapted to orange trees (believe it or not) as their dominant diet. I supplemental feed a high quality block and some veggies and fruit for all my release babies until they are at least 9 mos, so with new babies constantly coming to me every season twice yearly, there seems to always be supplemental feeding for all here. My concerns are: 1) This species requires a slightly different diet and, 2) They are a smaller species by 8 inches and up to 2+ pounds smaller, and 3) I am afraid my established colonies will hurt her or chase her off before she is ready since she is different. She will also have no other of her kind to breed and socialize with.

What do you suggest I do? Is there any rehabber here on the board, living in Los Angeles, who knows how to properly release and has the proper environment with other Western Greys, who could take her from me as we get close to release? I have many weeks to go but I'm terrified I won't have this issue resolved in time.

Your suggestions and experience are be much appreciated.
Thank you!

Brooklyn

[HRT4SQRLS]

Can you post a pic? In California it could also be a ground squirrel. Western grays are native to California so I’m surprised you don’t see more. Is there a possibility of release where the baby was found at the appropriate time of course?

I’m not at all familiar with western greys but I would be surprised if they are smaller than eastern greys. I always assumed they were a bit larger. That’s what makes me wonder if it’s a ground squirrel.

[Brooklyn]

Hi, thank you for your reply. I would say the Western Grey's are a little smaller than the Eastern Grey's I worked with on the East Coast If I remember correctly -- we don't have them here and it has been several decades since I've seen one). Here, where I live in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, I have only seen and rehabilitated Fox Squirrels, which are considerably larger. The people who found her and brought her to me were vacationers. She was found in a more mountainous area while they were hiking... ugh. To release her there it would have to be more of an abandonment situation. I've never done that. I was taught to release slowly, moving to an outdoor cage, then gradually releasing at their own pace, then continuing to supplemental feed for a while.

I might try emailing a few rehabbers in the area. See what they think. I certainly don't want to push a problem onto anyone else and can rehabilitate all the way up to release, but I don't feel right releasing here here on my property with the fox squirrels.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I understand. No, we don’t fast release either. We do a proper slow release. I wasn’t sure if this was in someone’s yard or what but a desolate mountainous area certainly is not conducive to proper release. I’m not familiar with the west coast at all. I know that in the upper NW the eastern grey and Fox squirrels are considered invasive species and are not respected. I have seen a few Western greys on this board but not many.

Do you ever work with Coast and Canyon in Malibu? We have heard they are good. Maybe they would have ideas.

[Brooklyn]

Coast Canyon is great! Of course, with the whole covid crisis, many facilities are not answering their phones, but I have enough time to try to get someone to call me back and advise. In fact, the people who found this baby said they had called more than 30 numbers before finally getting a return call, which was from me. Bad timing. Oh and I forgot to post a photo for you. She jut opened her eyes yesterday...

[Nancy in New York]

Like HRT4SQRLS said,
I too wonder if this could be a baby ground squirrel.
Those almond shaped eyes, and the white ring.
It's adorable whatever it is.

[CritterMom]

That is absolutely a California Ground Squirrel! Google some pics - they have an almost spangled look to their fur, but they look REALLY similar to tree squirrels.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Could you post a pic of the body? That is a cute little peanut.

By the way, I had a typo in post #4. I said, “ a desolate, mountainous area certainly is conducive to proper release”... that was supposed to say is NOT conducive to a proper release. I wanted to correct that. I didn’t want you to think we would dump one out in the mountains.

Thanks for the confirmation about Coast and Canyon. Everything I have heard about them is good.

[Nancy in New York]

By the way, I had a typo in post #4.

Typo corrected.

[CritterMom]

My mom lives in Tucson, and there are a bunch of these guys living the good life at the Reid Park Zoo there - not captive, but they are opportunistic little things so they have burrows in everyone ELSE'S habitats, mooching their food. The first time I saw one I thought it was an eastern gray even while knowing they simply could not exist in the heat of Tucson. They are about the same size and color - their tails are a little shorter but still fairly bushy (though not as dextrous since they aren't needed as rudders while leaping through the trees). The spangled coloration looks like they are wearing silver sequins. Many years ago we had a member who rehabbed one and continued to see her on the outskirts of his property for years after her release.

[Brooklyn]

WOW, you guys think she's a ground squirrel. I can't figure out how she would have gotten to the hiking trails. To my knowledge, there are no ground squirrels there. We do have them, but more so in the dryer areas like Calabasas and up in Malibu. The photo on the ground was taken by the people who found her. If she is a ground squirrel, please advise if I should be doing anything differently. I've been a rehabber for 34 years but this is a species (BOTH THE WESTERN GREY AND THE GROUND SQUIRREL) that I have never worked with. What a sweetheart though. Thank you again for all the replies.

[Brooklyn]

Uh-oh... I'm pretty sure you guys are right. Now I KNOW I can't release her here. I found this photo and it looks exactly like what she will grow up to be.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I was just getting ready to post that very picture.
Your baby looks speckled on the back so yes, she is a California Ground Squirrel. I can’t help you at all with them. I’ve never even seen one and have no idea what to do with them.

[Brooklyn]

Well thank you for helping to solve this mystery. Now my mission is to find a rehabber who has the proper release location for this little one in the coming weeks. I'm grateful for the experience.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I learned something also. Nancy pointed out that your baby has almond shaped eyes. Every picture I saw of adult ground squirrels had those almond shaped eyes. I didn’t know that. I know our eastern greys have big, dark round eyes.

[island rehabber]

Is it possible she is a baby Rock Squirrel? I see them in San Diego and they look like our Eastern Greys except with those wonderful speckly "sequin" spots all over....

[CritterMom]

Is it possible she is a baby Rock Squirrel? I see them in San Diego and they look like our Eastern Greys except with those wonderful speckly "sequin" spots all over....

The California Ground Squirrels are actually really closely related to the Rock squirrels - in fact the rock squirrels are what I see in Tucson. Side by side they are nearly indistinguishable. I guessed CA simply because of where this little was found. Diet, etc., would be the same. They are really neat little critters.

[CritterMom]

Smuggle her onto the grounds of the LA Zoo!

I have never seen these guys in the wild in Tucson, but the zoo and the Tucson-Sonoran Desert Museum which has a native species zoo are crawling with them! Little opportunists.

California just LOVES to kill these little guys - if you google them you will find 2 or 3 useful links and a million different ways to kill them, plus the state does widespread poisoning. Be careful about a location - anywhere near humans will be an issue. Can't have little holes in the lawns...

[SammysMom]

This is a good rehabber in Thousand Oaks.
http://squirrelmender.com/

[JSquirrel]

Like you said there's only a couple of links about ground squirrels and all the rest are exterminators, diy killing, trapping. And tons of videos on YouTube showing people shooting them or blowing them up. I get they are rodents and can be pests and aren't the greatest pets but they also aren't just mindless creatures. I watched them for months out of my RV window since we been sheltering in place before I found a baby next to his dead mom and sibling in a gas station next to the highway. I have no idea how they were hit. If there was one baby I would of thought she was hit while crossing carrying the baby or was carrying it and dropped it and as she ran back she was struck. Bcuz they seemed too young to be foraging with her and I don't know if she would be carrying two?!? His eyes were barely open. Im not sure but the family I been watching was quite comical. The mom was very attentive and a great mother. She always had an eye on her burrow. She chased roadrunners and other adult squirrels away. She was tiny but fearless. She took food right out of a wild rabbits mouth. One day she kept alerting with her little peep&so I looked around&there was an 🦉 owl in the bush above her babies so I chased it away&she ran right to the spot where it was sitting checking it out.