Soft Release: contact/no contact

[L0andbehold]

Release Question!

My almost 11 month old grey squirrel Kiki is moving to her outdoor enclosure/ release cage in a few days. I found her when she was just days old and overwintered her (I live in New England and she would not have survived the harsh winter being released last November.) I’m doing a soft release in my backyard. My chicken coop has been renovated for her to have an indoor and outdoor area. Once she is released I’ll still provide shelter and food/water for as long as she’s around. Plenty of squirrels live at my house- I have chickens, ducks and geese so there’s always plenty of food . I’m hoping she sticks around but that’s totally up to her.

My main question is- once she’s in her outside release cage should I stop all handling/contact? I read that she needs to “wild up,” for a couple months to let her instincts come out. She does spend a good chunk of the day pining at the window, but she is also so cuddly and wants to be pet for hours. We are obviously very bonded. I’m all she’s ever known and spend time together everyday. Since she will be living in/around my backyard once she’s released, is it really necessary to stop all contact once she’s moved outside?

I just want to do right by her- if no contact is what is best then I will do that. I just don’t want her to think I’m abandoning her. Her whole world is already going to be thrown upside down by moving and I don’t want to make the transition any harder for her.

[Chirps]

Others may disagree, and I'm far from an expert, having only raised one, but if the hope is for her to stay around I wouldn't stop handling/contact. The reason for the release cage is to get her used to the sights, smells, and sounds of her soon-to-be new expanded world. Why should you not be a part of that? If she were a wild squirrel, she'd be exploring all over and still go home to her drey or tree hollow for the night with her Mom and sibs, until sooner or later they'd each go their separate ways. The best case scenario is that she learns as much as she can about the world from the safety of the release cage, and when the day comes to open the portal, she goes exploring and chooses to stay right where she is and make your place her place. There might be outside influences/circumstances beyond your and her control, like a dominant resident squirrel that decides to run her off, but why shouldn't she be able to have the best of both worlds and even come and hang with you for lovin' and cuddles after she's grown if she wants?

You might even be of some help in her "education", like if you see a hawk and can imitate the hawk alarm, or act alert and look around intently like you're trying to spot danger, she may catch a clue from you and learn to alert as well. I do that for my wilds, like if I (rarely) spot a prowling cat before one of them does, I start the bark alarm, or if one of them alarms, I respect it and will go on alert to let them know I understand the signal.


EDIT: That pic is absolutely precious!