Junior's first day with us, sniffing a stuffed squirrel.
May I talk about our squirrel, Junior, – for just for a minute?
I first saw him almost a month ago drinking water from a dip in our garage floor. He was so scrawny at first I though he was a mouse. I sat beside him for awhile watching, and then he slowly walked away.
Later that day Del came into my office holding him in his hands. It turns out that as Del was rolling a wheelbarrow down the garden path, Junior came running straight at him making a funny noise.
Del knelt down and Junior ran into his hands. It was a wise move on his part, which makes him a very special squirrel. Of course Del made the joke, that he knew two nuts when he saw them. True enough!
We have so loved having him in our care. But, he will be leaving soon because we can see that his strength has returned and he is acting just like a squirrel should act.
I have never had a squirrel to care for before, so perhaps they are all alike, but, like human children, I bet they are not.
Ten days later, Junior sleeping in the sunflower seed dish.
When we lived in Sandpoint, Idaho I had a squirrel buddy we named Billy-Bob, who would come to the sliding glass door everyday, put his paws on the door until I opened it, and saunter in looking for his daily peanut handout.
Billy-Bob training me to open the door.
When he was done, he would wait for me to open the door so he could leave.
I have tried to feed peanuts to our squirrels here in Ohio, but they shun them. So it wasn’t surprising to me that Junior didn’t like them either. However, he does like cashews!
These squirrels are picky about the nuts they like!
A week later and Junior is happy in his new cage ...
For the past 10 days or so, Junior has been living in a big cage that Del built for him out of old lumber and screening. Cleaning it is a two man operation. Del lifts it up and pulls out the “old stuff,” and adds the new food and water, while I hold Junior.
He was recovering from what we believe was mange, so I have been putting some antibiotic ointment on him and rubbing his fir with “sweet oil” which is really just olive oil.
At first this was an easy task. However, in last week he is anxious to be up and away from me holding him.
However, in the beginning he would make a noise like purring while this was happening.
There is only one thing that brings out that noise now.
I have a favorite food, watermelon. I just love it. So, when I got some of course I tried to see if Junior would like it too.
Like it? Seriously, he literally grabbed it out of my hand and gobbled it down “purring” the whole time. Now, how would a squirrel develop a taste for watermelon?
He still loves it. If he hears me coming and I ask him if he wants watermelon he gets excited. Today he was half asleep when I was having my watermelon snack, but how could I deprive him of his treat, so I just gently put it in front of him.
Immediately he snapped awake. His paw reached out and grabbed it. When I came out later with another piece he ran to the top of the log, knowing I would take the lid off his cage and hand it him.
Junior, a month after he adopted us .. looking good!
I am hoping when he is released he will come to visit often. I will know it is him because when he hears me ask, “do you want watermelon,” he will come rushing to get a piece, and of course a side dish of cashews.
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Evidently my comment is too long but I don’t know how to moderate, or even copy and paste it somewhere else! Now what?
I love your squirrel story. I had a similar experience with nursing a squirrel when a neighbor child was at my door with an injured squirrel in hand asking for help. I couldn’t turn my back on what I perceived was this little helpless creature that needed help. Of course we adopted him and called him the only logical squirrel name we could think of……Rocky. I well understand the many hours that are spent with the dropper, having fun moving forward finding new foods for him to love…..although I never thought of watermelon! Yes, a time consuming task but we loved our Rocky. He was welcomed into our family just as you’ve adopted your little friend. I’m about to tell something that is not a fun thing. I offer this story in hopes that you better prepare your thoughts and expectations than I did mine with the releasing an adopted squirrel friend back out into the wild. I like to think of “happily ever after” endings. However, the truth is that the “natives” are not likely to adopt your friend back into their pack. He just doesn’t smell like squirrel. When Rocky was full grown, I started taking him outside so he could practice climbing trees in preparation of his release. I was letting him go higher each day until he got the hang of the climbing thing. The day I let him keep going, I felt so happy and proud that he made it all the way up to the tippy top branches of the tree looking happy and enjoying his new freedom. Other squirrels also watched although not so proudly it seems as they flew at him and knocked him right out of the tree. Within seconds he was back on the ground having fallen the whole way and stunned but happily not injured. I worked with releasing him a number of different times of day and in different trees, but each time the native squirrels knew where he was and immediately came running and knocked him right out of the tree. Evidently he smelled like humans, not squirrel, and they didn’t recognize him as one of them. Not knowing what else to do, I kept him well fed and in his cage. I’m not knowledgable as to the life expectancy of squirrels, but his life in that cage seemed much shorter than it would’ve been out in the wild.
Not a fun thought to think that an act of kindness would hasten the demise of your friend, nor fun to add to your delightful column of all the enjoyable squirrel cuteness adventures. I know there can be a good solution, so what I hope to happen with this telling is that you move through the release process with better intuition, right thoughts and better re-acclimating him than I did and that you have a better ending. Del understands animals so maybe he knows squirrel talk well enough to have some discussions with the squirrels living in the wild nearby. You both can help them better understand and accept this new addition into their family of One can have a harmonious and happy ending…..no matter what he smells like when it’s time for his release.
Hi Barbara
Thanks for the info. I think that probably the problem was territories rather than human smell, which has now been shown not to be an issue. We plan to leave a way for him to return to his “big cage” until he is ready and able to find his own other home. But, this certainly gives us a “heads-up” and I appreciate it!
What a cool way of thinking about us nuts! Love it!
Thanks!
AWWW! I love that he loves watermelon, too! And yes, he definitely is picky about the nuts he likes…and he picked you and Del!
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