Should I tag my squirrel before release?

[alec]

Dear squirrel lovers,

I am planning to release my 4th squirrel of the year and i am wondering if there is a possibility of keeping track of him while he is rehabbing in the wild. The previous three were doing great until I lost track of them completely during last fall. This had me worried that perhaps they didn't make it for some reason or another. Does anyone know of a safe method to do this? One that would insure the animal's safety and one that wouldn't make the animal an easy target for a predator.
Your help is appreciated!
Alex

[stepnstone]

Dear squirrel lovers, to

I am planning to release my 4th squirrel of the year and i am wondering if there is a possibility of keeping track of him while he is rehabbing in the wild. The previous three were doing great until I lost track of them completely during last fall. This had me worried that perhaps they didn't make it for some reason or another. Does anyone know of a safe method to do this? One that would insure the animal's safety and one that wouldn't make the animal an easy target for a predator.
Your help is appreciated!
Alex

Personally I would be against any thought of tagging a squirrel and wouldn't be convinced it could ever be safe.
A tagging could result in it being ripped off or caught on something the same with a banding if it were loose.
A snug banding would become restrictive as a squirrel puts on seasonal weight and a squirrel would likely even
try to chew it off injuring itself in the process. Considering a squirrel's aerobatic movements, embedding a chip
or tracker very likely would not stay in place and could jeopardize the safety of it's health. Any coloration that
stands out would put it at risk and minimize it's natural ability to blend in to it's natural environment.

When we return an animal to nature we simply return them to what is already theirs.
We give them their freedom by relinquishing control...

[Tinkerbelle]

I agree, but for different reasons. I figured if my rehabbed squirrel came to me in bad shape and needing help I would either know it was her, or it wouldn't matter if it was her because I would help any squirrel anyway. On the other hand, if something attacked and killed my rehabbed squirrel I would prefer to not know for sure that it was her. Call me chicken-xxxx

It was so sad that one of the giant Pacific NW wildfires last year erupted right where I had released all of Tinkerbelle's siblings just 2 months prior. I really can't believe that they would have survived, but if I ever see a ground squirrel when I visit that area I will unashamedly pretend it is one of them, or their offspring.

[sundoesshine]

A similar question, I was wondering if there is any standard way to safely mark our squirrel even if just temporary, since he looks exactly like others. For example some ink on the fur of an ear or something? It would make it easier to know when he's around for feeding on these cold days etc.

[MotherOfBadgers]

A similar question, I was wondering if there is any standard way to safely mark our squirrel even if just temporary, since he looks exactly like others. For example some ink on the fur of an ear or something? It would make it easier to know when he's around for feeding on these cold days etc.

If you want something temporary then you can do what many rehabbers who have multiple squirrels do: clip very short a particular section of the tail fur. Itll grow back but it'll serve as a completely non restrictive distinctive marker for a while. Don't shave half the tail. Just clip a small small area so there's a "hole" in the full fluff so to speak.