Friendly Wild is limping

[applecrisped]

The wild girl that I feed is limping. She was sitting on a low branch hunched over a bit, when she came down the tree to see me she was not using her front right leg. It is definitely swollen.

I'm pretty confident I can catch her. Could someone take a look at the photos and video and let me know if you think it warrants a vet visit?

Video: https://youtu.be/C8Ahq3Q_4uc

[Mel1959]

If you have a safe vet it wouldn’t hurt to have an X-ray done. Most times, even if it’s a break, it’ll heal on its own. The question once it’s healed is the level of use she’ll have.

She will undoubtedly be mad at you if you trap her, but they get over it.

[applecrisped]

I do have a safe vet who has a lot of experience with wild squirrels, it's just an hour drive and usually a 3 hour round trip.

Wild girl has wandered off for now, but I'm keeping an eye out. I'm hoping I'll be able to just lure her into the travel cage with snacks if i need to.

A couple more pictures from the videos I took. I can't tell if the forearm is actually crooked or if it just looks that way because of the swelling and color pattern.

[Mel1959]

It’s really hard to say. I had a wild that was not using a front arm. We caught it and took it to the vet. The X-ray showed a break, but she thought it was from being shot with something. She didn’t set it because it had already begun to heal. The leg ended up being slightly shorter than the other, but was fully useable.

[TubeDriver]

This happens pretty often with my wilds, including ones I raised and released. About 95% of the time, they heal up without help. It often takes a 1-2 weeks. I make food and water available so they don't have to forage as much, it helps them to heal.

Trapping and bringing to a vet will get you an exact answer (bite, sprain, fracture etc) but is also risky and traumatic for the squirrel.

My advice would be to give food and water and watch carefully. You should start to see improvement in a week or two.

[applecrisped]

Normally I would not even consider taking a wild to the vet but this girl eats out of my hand and let's me pet her - she would do better than most. But I talked to my vet today and they are so booked that they wouldn't be able to take a walk in. I can't very well schedule an appointment since I dont know when or if I'll be able to catch her.

So, I'll just keep an eye on her. I've put food and water out. She's using the hurt foot to help balance her food but not holding with it - had some trouble with kale this morning, but does fine with seeds. Normally she gets on our bird feeder once or twice a day, and I get her off the feeder by putting some seed on the ground under the patio table for her. So she knows where I put food. (Everytime I go check on her she looks to see if I have anything.)
I offered broccoli this morning with the kale, which she has eaten before, but I dont think she had any. I may put some butternut squash out too. Just looking for something to give her other than nuts and seeds.
Refuses homemade blocks, even with a little peanut butter on them. My neighbors have pecan trees so she's use to those, I've given her a couple of halves since I don't know if she can shell anything.

She is hunkering down in the fork of my giant oak tree to rest/sleep. There is a vacant bird nest box on the side of the house that something chewed open the hole on, I thought rats as it seems a little small for a squirrel. I took it down, cleaned it out, put some cloth in it, and hung it up on the tree right by the fork for her. She looked at it but didn't go in.
(There's a german word - Verschlimmbesserung - for when you try to fix something and just make it worse.)
And then she went across the yard, up a little shrub, and was looking at where that nest box had been hanging. So apparently she chewed it open and was using it. I put all of the dry grass etc back in it and put it back where it was, hopefully she will look for it there again.
I dont have any other nest boxes for squirrels but I'll try to make some more sheltered spaces for her around the yard. It's not cold here yet but it is supposed to rain later this week.

Being an animal person is a pain sometimes.

[TubeDriver]

Sounds like a good course of action overall. I hope she will be back to normal in 1-3 weeks.

Normally I would not even consider taking a wild to the vet but this girl eats out of my hand and let's me pet her - she would do better than most. But I talked to my vet today and they are so booked that they wouldn't be able to take a walk in. I can't very well schedule an appointment since I dont know when or if I'll be able to catch her.

So, I'll just keep an eye on her. I've put food and water out. She's using the hurt foot to help balance her food but not holding with it - had some trouble with kale this morning, but does fine with seeds. Normally she gets on our bird feeder once or twice a day, and I get her off the feeder by putting some seed on the ground under the patio table for her. So she knows where I put food. (Everytime I go check on her she looks to see if I have anything.)
I offered broccoli this morning with the kale, which she has eaten before, but I dont think she had any. I may put some butternut squash out too. Just looking for something to give her other than nuts and seeds.
Refuses homemade blocks, even with a little peanut butter on them. My neighbors have pecan trees so she's use to those, I've given her a couple of halves since I don't know if she can shell anything.

She is hunkering down in the fork of my giant oak tree to rest/sleep. There is a vacant bird nest box on the side of the house that something chewed open the hole on, I thought rats as it seems a little small for a squirrel. I took it down, cleaned it out, put some cloth in it, and hung it up on the tree right by the fork for her. She looked at it but didn't go in.
(There's a german word - Verschlimmbesserung - for when you try to fix something and just make it worse.)
And then she went across the yard, up a little shrub, and was looking at where that nest box had been hanging. So apparently she chewed it open and was using it. I put all of the dry grass etc back in it and put it back where it was, hopefully she will look for it there again.
I dont have any other nest boxes for squirrels but I'll try to make some more sheltered spaces for her around the yard. It's not cold here yet but it is supposed to rain later this week.

Being an animal person is a pain sometimes.

[applecrisped]

More pictures from today... looks worse IMO.





Looks like the swelling is down a little, which makes the bump on the inside above the wrist noticeable. I've not been able to really feel the arm (and I'm not going to press my luck) but I've run my finger along the outside and under side and can at least tell that her paw is warm.

With the way she carries it and now the bump, it's reminding a lot of Sweetie's leg.
I've gotten a little attached to her over the past few months... she took to me quickly, it was only three or four times offering her food before she took it from my hand. So seeing her hurt and not knowing how or if to help is just frustrating. Say a little prayer for her, if you do that; it's the only other thing I can do for her right now.

[akamomo]

This isn’t much for the main advice but you were debating some alternate foods she’ll tolerate - how about some avocado to mix it up for her?

[applecrisped]

Some encouraging news this morning; I saw her put her paw down a couple of times, palm first, on the branch she was sitting on. No weight on it though. Up until now I've only seen her keeping it held up, with the tops of her toes sometimes touching the ground. She also seems to be using it a little holding food. Not putting it down to walk or climb yet though. I didn't get a very close look: its 35 outside and I was not dressed for it, but hopefully it just gets better from here. 🙏
I haven't seen her in the fork of the tree, so she's found a better place to sleep. I did build a box for her and set it out by one of the places I leave food.

I don't think I've ever offered her avocado, I will give it a try.

[TubeDriver]

That sounds like she is starting to heal!

With avocado, remember that the skin and pit are toxic and will cause illness/death.

Some encouraging news this morning; I saw her put her paw down a couple of times, palm first, on the branch she was sitting on. No weight on it though. Up until now I've only seen her keeping it held up, with the tops of her toes sometimes touching the ground. She also seems to be using it a little holding food. Not putting it down to walk or climb yet though. I didn't get a very close look: its 35 outside and I was not dressed for it, but hopefully it just gets better from here. 🙏
I haven't seen her in the fork of the tree, so she's found a better place to sleep. I did build a box for her and set it out by one of the places I leave food.

I don't think I've ever offered her avocado, I will give it a try.

[applecrisped]

No change today. She's moving the same as she did last Tuesday when I first saw the limp.
This is the only improvement, and what I mentioned yesterday:


When she was in the tree it looked like she actually put her foot down, but it may've just been like this picture. (Don't mind all the seed, I spilled too much and scattered it around after. We have a lot of squirrels and birds.)

The bump is a bit more... defined in person than it is on camera.

That's the part that worries me. I just went through treating Sweetie's broken leg a couple months ago, so I am perhaps overly worried because of how bad hers was.

Anyway, I've been calling her Mama - she might be Sweetie's mom, and I got to see her summer babies when they left the nest. Say another little prayer for her.

[sundoesshine]

She IS soo sweet, I can't believe she is so tame with you, so jealous. In the last pic it almost looks as if it might be one of her pads that is swollen, perhaps a thorn etc stuck in it or infected? Maybe you could douse or spray it with whatever the board suggests?

[applecrisped]

She IS soo sweet, I can't believe she is so tame with you, so jealous. In the last pic it almost looks as if it might be one of her pads that is swollen, perhaps a thorn etc stuck in it or infected? Maybe you could douse or spray it with whatever the board suggests?

One of the pads did look swollen, but it was hard to get a good look. And her whole leg was swollen initially, so I assumed it was just general swelling.
I got a half decent picture of it today though, and from this angle the pads look okay? There's that bump above the paw on the inside.


((The first time she took food from me she started for the food, then went around my hand so she could smell my coat sleeve - where one of the babies I raised had recently peed. She said hello to them when they moved to the release cage too, so I wonder if smelling them on me and vice versa helped with the trust. In any case it really is a lovely experience to have a wild approach of their own accord (and tolerate being pet!)))

I feel bad for her, but she is getting around just fine, though she's still holding that paw up. She did rest it on my fingers briefly while eating from my hand but did not put weight on it. It's been a week and three days now. (Just making notes here so we can track her progress.)

Also, she found the bird nest box again. At least I think this is her.

[applecrisped]

One more update: she is doing great. We're about five weeks post-injury now.
There is still a visible bump on the inside of her wrist - a callus I'm guessing - but she's moving and holding food normally.
She is digging too; there was dried mud stuck on her nails last week.
The bump today:



Holding her food a couple weeks ago:


I just wanted to let you all know that she's doing well, and say thanks again for the feedback and encouragement.

[TubeDriver]

Glad to her she is back to her old self!