Junior can't sit up while handling seeds

[Junior711]

I'm introducing my good buddy Junior in these videos. I met him in late June this summer and we got to know each other pretty well over the next 3 months. He's attracted to our side yard by bird feeders stocked with sunflower seeds and he happily stays for an hour or more when I scatter extra seeds on the ground in his favorite places, the ones where he can scamper up a nearby tree if he feels threatened. He doesn't move well on the ground and he's uncoordinated when foraging there but he's very agile and fast climbing up and clambering down trees.

After showing up 4 out of 5 days all summer long for a breakfast or lunch of sunflower seeds and the occasional mushroom, Junior's gone missing for nearly 2 weeks. You'll easily see from the videos how vulnerable he is to avian predators with his white underbelly exposed so often and so long while he's handling seeds. I fear a hawk may have grabbed him away forever but haven't given up hope that he's off somewhere with his siblings foraging and caching for the winter.

I welcome any comments about Junior at all ~ thanks in advance for your interest. We believe he's a youngster, born nearby in the spring of 2020. We don't know his sex. We don't understand his condition. We've grown very fond of this brave, plucky little guy and wish him safe speed and hearty meals wherever he's hanging out right now.

https://youtu.be/kJvYx4F3dLc
https://youtu.be/WNmM0DAZS28

[CritterMom]

Aw. I believe Junior is a young female. Given how long she has been around, my bet is fall trauma rather than raccoon roundworm. The roundworm kills them fairly quickly, where they can live with the head trauma for a while if they can evade predators. If she returns, they often very slowly get better - not usually all the way but they certainly can improve. I actually had one show up really profoundly neuro - worse than Junior and over about a year, got better and better until I could barely tell her from the other squirrels. Even if they don't improve, they learn to compensate. Mine often take their food over to a tree trunk so they can lean against it. A common issue is something called "stargazing" where they get a piece of food in their paws, sitting on their haunches, then sit up straighter and straighter and taller and taller with their faces pointed up to the sky (hence the name) until they topple over backward. Those guys sit under the overhang on my cafe so that when they start to stargaze they hit their heads on the overhang and it prompts them to sit back down!

[Junior711]

Aw. I believe Junior is a young female. Given how long she has been around, my bet is fall trauma rather than raccoon roundworm. The roundworm kills them fairly quickly, where they can live with the head trauma for a while if they can evade predators. If she returns, they often very slowly get better - not usually all the way but they certainly can improve. I actually had one show up really profoundly neuro - worse than Junior and over about a year, got better and better until I could barely tell her from the other squirrels. Even if they don't improve, they learn to compensate. Mine often take their food over to a tree trunk so they can lean against it. A common issue is something called "stargazing" where they get a piece of food in their paws, sitting on their haunches, then sit up straighter and straighter and taller and taller with their faces pointed up to the sky (hence the name) until they topple over backward. Those guys sit under the overhang on my cafe so that when they start to stargaze they hit their heads on the overhang and it prompts them to sit back down!

Wow, CritterMom, your extensive experience gives me genuine hope that we could see Junior again. Her body mass, coat and energy level all improved as the summer wore on with its easy pickings. That’s a big reason why her disappearance was so disheartening, because she was showing signs of getting a bit better.

I wondered for awhile if Junior might be a girl. Do you mind if I ask how you can tell? Would a female in Junior's condition go off foraging for acorns and pine cones with a group of males given the abundance of readily available sunflower seeds in our side yard? My thinking is that sunflower seeds might not be ideal winter sustenance and my understanding is that Eastern grays, and tree squirrels in general, are somewhat solitary foragers.

Junior's tail is very scrawny and a bit crooked. Have you seen that before? Could that happen from a fall? I know how important their tail is for tree squirrels. Could Junior's tail condition improve?

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and making me feel better about Junior's prospects if she’s still out and about 🐿😎

[Mel1959]

Feeding wilds foods with better nutritional value than sunflower seeds can make a big difference in their overall health. If Junior returns, or if you just want to supplement your yard squirrels with something nutritious, I’d recommend ordering some Wildbite blocks from Henrys Pets online. They are chock full of vitamins and nutrients which will help your wilds stay healthy. You can also supplement their diet with chunks of fresh avocado (no skin or pit) and fresh coconut chunks. The fat in both will help them through the long winter.

[Mialouise]

Junior's condition can definitely improve! One of my yard squirrels has had a similar journey. He first appeared two winters ago as a normal, healthy adult squirrel with beautiful fuzzy tufts behind his ears, so I named him "Mr. Fuzzy Ears". Fast forward to the following Spring, when he showed up one day with sudden and severe balance issues. He couldn't hold his body upright and repeatedly fell over when eating. It broke my heart. I assumed he had a fall or suffered some kind of head trauma.

He continued to come for snacks every day, and I eventually started calling him "Mr Wobbly". He gradually improved over time (still "stargazes" when eating but coordination is much better), and when he showed up one day this summer I noticed nipples- imagine my surprise to discover that Mr. Wobbly was actually a Mrs.! The fact that this little champion carries on so well despite her disability and even raised a litter of babies really blows me away. Mrs. Wobbly loves avocado, almonds and the occasional Henry's block and has been a daily visitor for almost two years!

[Bravo]

[Bravo]

How to post Youtube videos... go to YouTube>share, Copy or note the video's code, eg.

https://youtu.be/WNmM9DFZC28 

In a new post, include only the video code in the following syntax:

[youtube]WNmM0DAZS28[/youtube] 

Video should be embedded. Could be others know this, mostly a refresher for me.

[Junior711]

Feeding wilds foods with better nutritional value than sunflower seeds can make a big difference in their overall health. If Junior returns, or if you just want to supplement your yard squirrels with something nutritious, I’d recommend ordering some Wildbite blocks from Henrys Pets online. They are chock full of vitamins and nutrients which will help your wilds stay healthy. You can also supplement their diet with chunks of fresh avocado (no skin or pit) and fresh coconut chunks. The fat in both will help them through the long winter.

Thanks for the nutritional advice, Mel1959. Indeed, sunflower seeds seem like summertime fare, and not a complete diet at that. Junior did nibble on a mushroom from time to time. I also tried peanuts, a bit of apple and a few small grapes with her. She had trouble opening the peanuts and quickly lost interest. She never touched the apple bits or grapes either but the chipmunks and turkeys gobbled them up. It’s worrisome that Junior is challenged when it comes to opening a shell or a nut. We've never witnessed Junior cache anything.

We enjoy such a large and diverse population of small and medium size wild creatures here it’s hard to target individual dietary needs because the competition for the food we offer is hectic amongst all the species. I’ll certainly keep the avocado and Wildbite blocks in mind if Junior and her siblings show back up.

[Junior711]

Junior's condition can definitely improve! One of my yard squirrels has had a similar journey. He first appeared two winters ago as a normal, healthy adult squirrel with beautiful fuzzy tufts behind his ears, so I named him "Mr. Fuzzy Ears". Fast forward to the following Spring, when he showed up one day with sudden and severe balance issues. He couldn't hold his body upright and repeatedly fell over when eating. It broke my heart. I assumed he had a fall or suffered some kind of head trauma.

He continued to come for snacks every day, and I eventually started calling him "Mr Wobbly". He gradually improved over time (still "stargazes" when eating but coordination is much better), and when he showed up one day this summer I noticed nipples- imagine my surprise to discover that Mr. Wobbly was actually a Mrs.! The fact that this little champion carries on so well despite her disability and even raised a litter of babies really blows me away. Mrs. Wobbly loves avocado, almonds and the occasional Henry's block and has been a daily visitor for almost two years!

Thanks for sharing Mrs. Wobbly's story, Mialouise The possibility of a recovery from head trauma, even a partial one, offers hope that Junior could survive this winter and several more if things go well for her.

We are so fond of Junior and miss her so much ~ I’m grateful to the Squirrel Board and all of its members for the opportunity to share her story with folks who care 🐿😎

[CritterMom]

It was hard to tell the sex on the videos, and girl squirrels have pretty prominent genitalia, but location, location. A boy squirrel's penis is visible higher on the stomach and can be seen when they are sitting up or standing on their hind legs. Even if covered with longer fur you can see that there is something there. Non-pregnant girl squirrels have smooth tummies with nothing poking through the fur. Their equipment is down near the anus so not obvious is you can't see between the legs. That is what I saw on Junior.

A lot of their fur growth is dependent on the season. If they develop their summer coat and something happens to cause them to lose a lot of the long hair on the tail, it will remain looking kind of scrawny until the winter fur begins. Watching it grow in is fascinating - it starts at the base of the tail where it meets the butt and extends slowly to cover the body in one direction and the rest of the tail in another. The winter coat is particularly amusing - you will have periods where all the squirrels look like they are wearing big furry pants!