Question about the enclosure

[Jgee]

I'm building an enclosure for outdoors to do a soft release over the next weeks or months. My question is whether normal chicken wire is appropriate or whether I need a higher gage.

[Spanky]

My question is whether normal chicken wire is appropriate or whether I need a higher gage.

No, chicken wire is not good at all. Squirrels can get their noses through chicken wire and chew chew chew. Not only do they cut their mouths up quite severely, that chewing can cause permanent tooth damage chewing on those wires... happens in cages that has bar spacing larger than 1/2".

Hardware cloth with the 1/2" openings is ideal. Make sure the side of the boards you attach the hardware cloth is in the inside of the cage.. they will chew through exposed board very quickly and the hardware cloth prevents that.

There are also some stories here on TSB of raccoons getting hold of squirrels through the chicken wire opening. Speaking of which, f the cage floor is not also covered in hardware cloth (ideal), you can use chicken wire on the ground around the parameter about a foot or so to keep critters like raccoons from digging under the walls and into the cage... the wire will need to be buried a little or otherwise anchored.