If you have reached this page because you have found
a baby squirrel here are three important links that will give you some
help
www.wildlifeproblems.ncf.ca
www.orphanedwildlifecare.com
www.rideauwildlife.org
Other resources available to the Ottawa area, in the case
of birds or turtles include:
The Wild Bird Care Centre at
613-828-2849
www.wildbirdcarecentre.org
www.turtleshelltortue.org
I had noticed in the newspaper that morning, that the
Wildlife Centre was desperately in need of volunteers to foster baby squirrels.
They were overrun with them, another phenomena resulting from the ice storm
of January 1998. When my daughter told me that a neighbour had a baby squirrel
lying on her lawn, I went to investigate.
The poor little squirrel had fallen from the top of a
50 year old silver maple, and was lying on the grass, bleeding from the
mouth. While I was trying to figure out what to do to help it out another
baby squirrel ran right up to me as if it was asking for help. And then
another. I ran back home and found a box to put them in, and an old towel
for them to hide in. When I returned, the two active ones climbed right
in and snuggled down. I carefully lifted the injured squirrel into the
box and as I did so, he sighed his last breath. On the drive out to the
wildlife centre I was thinking. How much work could two baby squirrels
be? This could be an interesting experience for the kids. So, by the time
I arrived there I had pretty much decided that if the centre would let
me, I would bring these babies home and take care of them.
The squirrels needed to be examined for injuries and
started on antibiotics. So they rested at the centre for a couple of days
before I was called to come in for a training session. I needed to bring
a box to keep them in for a couple of weeks. When I arrived with my box,
it was promptly filled with the two original babies, plus two others. "It's
the natural litter size," I was told. "They have a much better chance of
survival this way." I was given a lesson in mixing formula, feeding by
syringe, helping them to urinate, and cleaning them up, along with a booklet
explaining their needs at different stages and instructions on how to build
the cage that would house them once they reached 8 or 9 weeks of age. These
squirrels were about 5 weeks old. I was beginning to wonder what
I had gotten myself into.
I brought the babies home and put the box in our upstairs
bathroom. I had to keep them where the cat would not detect them and this
seemed like a good place. And it was a good place, because when they all
escaped from the box later that night at least they were confined to a
small room. So, less than a day into this venture it was time to find a
cage for them. Our neighbours had a spare bunny cage, so I transferred
them into it, but then realized that it was too big for the bathroom, the
squirrels would now have to be kept in our bedroom. At this point my husband
was starting to roll his eyes.
24 hours after bringing the squirrels home I developed
"squirrel hands". When you are feeding 4 baby squirrels every four hours
your hands get incredibly scratched. And they stayed this way until the
squirrels were weaned. Feeding squirrels through a syringe is tricky. They
have a tendency to aspirate if you do not take care and concentrate fully
on the task at hand. And if this happens you have to hang them upside down
and make sure you get all the liquid out of their lungs or they could develop
pneumonia. The one female in the group gave me a few scares by doing this.
All of the squirrels were on antibiotics as well, but in varying doses.
I had three grey squirrels and one "honeybear" which is a mix between a
black and a grey squirrel. The wildlife centre had marked them all for
me with liquid paper on their heads so I could tell them apart for their
antibiotic dosages. As I was getting to know them better, and the liquid
paper was wearing off, the next natural thing to do was to name them.
One of the squirrels, a grey male, was a bit older than
the others and much more rambunctious. He was quickly named
Rambo. The "honeybear" male was named just that, Honeybear.
The third male took a while, but once the squirrels started on solid food
it became apparent that "Thief" would suit him just fine. And the female
earned herself the name Patience,
she would dutifully wait for the guys to be fed before having her turn.
Were I to do it again, I would have named her something else that I won't
type here, because on more than one occasion she bit me. Squirrel bites
really hurt.
As the days passed, the squirrels were getting more active,
venturing out of the pile of towels in the cage to do silly things, like
hang upside down by one claw. It was time to think about building the big
cage. It had to be constructed out of one inch welded wire and have the
dimensions specified by the wildlife centre. As well, there had to be inside
it a nesting box constructed of plywood, with two entrances, a mud room,
and an inner room. The only place that I could find that had the correct
caging material was about an hours drive away, so off I went to get it
and by the time I returned I was a hundred dollars poorer. And about a
hundred blisters later I had constructed the cage.
It was now time to move the big cage upstairs to the
bedroom, I still had to keep them hidden from the cat, although at this
point Mickey had ventured in on them a couple of times and shown no interest
in them. So my son and I struggled to get this 4 x 4 x 2 foot cage up the
stairs, twisting and turning it every which way to clear the railing and
gouging the wall while we were at it. Obviously we did this while my husband
wasn't around. The cage had to have a 2 foot square door to it, so the
squirrels had to be fully weaned before transferring them to it, otherwise,
getting one out to feed would mean letting three others loose. I also had
to find fairly large branches for them to practice their climbing skills
on.
Once the cage was set up, it was time to transfer the
squirrels. They had been weaned for about a week, and weren't used to being
handled anymore. How soon they forget. After trying for half the day to
grab a squirrel without getting bitten, I finally gave up and turned the
bunny cage up on its end so that I could line the doors to the two cages
up with each other. The squirrels transferred themselves, disappearing
into the new nesting box.
Did I mention that the squirrels were getting more active?
Well. Once they were in their new home they discovered the joys of running
horizontally around the inside perimeters of the cage, and every single
wire clip holding it together would vibrate and rattle. They would leap
from branch to branch as if they were in a real tree. And the real treat
to all this was that they would start as soon as the sun started to come
up in the morning. We no longer had a need for an alarm clock. It
wasn't necessary to open the door to the cage, I could just dump their
food in through the spaces between the wires, and they used a water bottle
which was mounted on the outside of the cage. For the next three or four
weeks, they ate and grew and learned how to hide food everywhere. It was
time to start thinking about releasing them.
The Wildlife Centre actually sends someone to your home
to measure the cage and to inspect the tree that you will be releasing
the squirrels into. The tree is important because the nesting box has to
be attached to it prior to the release, so that when the squirrels leave
the cage they have somewhere familiar to go. In our case the tree is on
our front lawn, another 50 year old silver maple, so large that it shades
our entire house. This posed another problem. How do you get the nesting
box up there? This is where the bucket
truck came in.
Release day was exactly that...release DAY. I realized
that when we had taken the big cage upstairs and done all that twisting
and turning that it had been empty. Now, full of squirrels, I wasn't about
to take it back down the stairs. The squirrels had to be transferred back
into the bunny cage in order to get them outside. I shut the bedroom door
and began one of the most daunting tasks I had ever faced, short of childbirth.
I was under pressure, because I had booked the bucket truck and I had to
get the squirrels transferred and retrieve the nesting box. It took me
four hours. I started at 9 a.m. and by 1 p.m. I was bruised, bleeding and
beaten. During that four hours I had squirrels under the bed, climbing
the curtains and in my closets. It occurred to me that opening the bedroom
window and removing the screen might be the way to go here. Once they were
in the bunny cage we carried it downstairs, and my little babies went out
on the front porch for their first look at the outside world. For a few
minutes they hid under the towels, then one by one the little heads started
to pop out. Soon all four
were pressed against the bars, noses sniffing the outside air. They
watched the nesting box being put up in the tree.
You aren't supposed to release squirrels in the rain.
And we didn't really. It's just that when I placed the cage under the tree
and opened it, the skies opened as well. It was one of those fast moving
thunderstorms that can hit suddenly in July. And at this point it was too
late to say "sorry guys we'll have to do it tomorrow", so we let them go
and hoped for the best. Well, instead of properly filing up the tree to
their nesting box, the squirrels scattered. Honeybear and Patience ran
into a bush. Rambo headed for a neighbour's mailbox, which was under a
porch roof. And Thief, my favourite of them all, took off across the street.
I knew where the first three were, even the next morning they were still
there, but not my little Thief, I couldn't find him anywhere. The next
day I was able to coax the other three towards the nesting box and they
eventually went into it.. When you release squirrels you have to continue
to feed them for a few weeks until they learn where to find their food
naturally. The 3 squirrels were leaving the box to eat what I had put out
for them, and then returning to the box, occasionally checking out the
rest of the tree. It made me very nervous to watch them exploring the higher
branches. And I was worried about Thief. Two days after the release I looked
out the front window, and there he was on my porch. I opened the window,
and called his name. This
picture just about says it all. Thief joined the others in the nesting
box and they all lived there for most of the summer. They would often try
to get in the front door and there was the time we had a guest in the back
yard and Thief jumped
into his lap. By the fall however, they had learned to be a little more
wary of people and were behaving like REAL squirrels.
Wait. There's more.
While I had the squirrels in their big cage, a client
in my home heard the racket they were making upstairs. I explained that
it was squirrels, and she asked to see them because she loved squirrels.
In late August a neighbour of hers found two baby squirrels. They called
the wildlife centre which was now overrun with the midsummer babies coming
in, and were told that they would need to find someone to foster them.
They then called me.
I went out to the wildlife centre to pick up my two new
babies. They handed me four. It's really important this time" they said,
"because the squirrels need each others body heat to survive the winter."
I had brought the cat carrier with me this time, instead
of a box. We placed the babies inside it and within seconds, one of them
escaped through the door of the carrier. So we wired half inch welded wire
to the door and home I went. This time was a little different; because
I would be releasing the squirrels around the beginning of November they
had to be kept outdoors so that their fur would thicken and they could
become accustomed to the weather as it cooled. They were kept in the bunny
cage inside until they were big enough for the big cage. I put them in
the big cage on our back porch, where I could keep an eye on them. It was
important that they were sheltered and also that no dogs or cats discover
them there, apparently a couple of years before a whole litter died of
heart attacks when a cat tried to get at them.
This time I had three black squirrels and one honeybear,
all males. The honeybear was brothers with one of the black ones, and they
were easily recognizable because they had the same funny little noses and
very wispy tails that did not fur out until the end of the winter. The
honeybear was named Grumpy for obvious reasons, and his brother became
Sleepy, he was very tiny and hard to wake up to feed. At first I was concerned
that he might not even survive. The other two were Rebel and Speedy. I
had a problem telling them apart, so I just kept renewing the liquid paper
on their heads.
This time, releasing them was a piece of cake. We put
the new nesting box in a tree in our back yard and let them go. Three days
after release, they discovered the old nesting box in the silver maple
and literally all four of them packed their bags and moved into it. I suspect
they preferred it because it was higher off the ground. They dragged every
bit of paper towelling that they had used for nesting material from their
box, into the old one. As the weather got colder I left little scraps of
fake fur on the front porch for them and they dragged those up into the
nesting box too. I had to feed them all winter, because they had not had
the opportunity to hide food for themselves. They would hang their heads
out the nesting box opening and watch for me through the front window of
the house.
In the spring they all went their separate ways, the
visits back to "home" are very rare now.
I have a squirrel that comes to my front door almost
every day now, and he also looks in the windows at the front and the back
of the house, to let me know he is there and waiting for food. I suspect
that it is Sleepy, because he has that funny little nose, but I am not
sure. But even if he isn't one of my babies I will continue to feed him
as long as he hangs around. And any other squirrel that wanders by.
The life expectancy for a squirrel is 10 or 11 years.
Unlike other rodents they are not sexually mature until they are almost
a year old. The female will only produce two litters a year, in the early
spring and midsummer. The average litter size is 5. She raises them on
her own, nursing them almost constantly until they are about 8 weeks old,
leaving them only long enough to get food for herself. If something happens
to her, that she doesn't return to her babies, they will come out of the
nest if their eyes have opened, and this is how we end up with baby squirrels
at the wildlife centre. Fostering baby squirrels is a lot of work, but
a very rewarding experience. I hope to do it again.
June 1st, 2002
The squirrel nesting box is still mounted in our large
silver maple. Over the past 3 years it has been home to a variety of birds,
as well as squirrel families, but now there are new squirrel babies emerging
from it. I watch them each morning, stretching their limbs out on the big
tree, and wandering from their nest inside the box. I often wonder, as
each new set of babies emerges from this house, if any of them are descendants
of the squirrels that I fostered. I also wonder, if my "babies" are still
alive, so many squirrels die young because of cars.
September 26th, 2002
Well, I've done it
again. Or rather am doing it again. Except it is different this time, it
is only one baby, he followed me while I was walking the dog, and that
surely is a cry for help. Although I could not pick him up at the time,
or find him later that day, I let the neighbours know he was out there,
and within 24 hours he was found under a pine tree trying to survive on
birdseed. I put him in a box and took him to the wildlife centre. The wildlife
centre is in a bit of a turmoil this fall, the Ontario Ministry Of Natural
Resources has somehow decided that racoon rabies is a big issue here and
has prevented the centre from doing its work. So he was checked out, he
was dehydrated, and handed back to me, alone, along with some formula.
With winter approaching I am wondering how this baby will survive on his
own. I certainly do NOT want to over winter him in the house. For now,
he is in the bunny cage, alone, on two feedings of formula a day. He is
another Honeybear, and I have named him Pepper,
because of his colouring. On Monday I will take him back to the wildlife
centre, there is a possibility that they have another baby his age that
he can bond with. I hope so.
Oct. 4th, 2002
Pepper has a new "room mate", her name is Wilson,
named after the family that brought her into the Wildlife Centre. Although
they have their differences, I am confident that one of these days Wilson
will figure out that she and Pepper are of the same species. I suspect
that Wilson was found alone at a much younger age than Pepper; she seems
to prefer the company of humans over Pepper's presence. She is quite vocal
when Pepper charges around the bunny cage, yet when he is done she has
her turn at it. Occasionally she forgets herself and actually runs around
with him, and each day brings her a little closer to acting like a squirrel.
Very soon it will be time for the big cage, which I will place in our shed.
I also have to determine a different location for a nesting box, the original
box in our silver maple revealed a secret to me the other day, it is full
of baby red squirrels, not a common sight on a street in the city.
Oct. 10th, 2002
As the weather is turning colder at night, I have transferred
the bunny cage to our shed. The temperatures are dropping below 5 degrees
Celsius at night now, and the squirrels have finally figured out that sleeping
together is a GOOD thing, Wilson is no longer chattering at Pepper, they
seem to be friends now, or at LEAST bedmates. Wilson still is a bit too
tame, yesterday when I took food out to them and opened the cage she jumped
onto my arm and wanted attention. I was a bit taken aback by this, Pepper
is now totally wild, but I held her for a moment, then put her back in
the cage. As much as it is cute, I know that keeping her being tame is
not a good thing for her in the long run. She needs to have a bit of fear
of people (and CARS!!) in her if she is going to survive and live the full
11 years that she is entitled to.
It is October in Ottawa and right now you cannot drive
a block in the city without seeing a dead squirrel on the road. They are
busy collecting food for the winter and totally oblivious to cars. Personally
I check the sides of the roads and look out for them, but that is just
me. A lot of people consider them to be the equivalent of rats.
Oct. 13th, 2002
The squirrels have
been transferred to their big cage. I am getting to be quite an expert
at this now, lining the two cage doors up to each other still works quite
nicely. Wilson didn't hesitate to move in to her new luxurious premises
but Pepper took a bit of convincing. When he finally moved into it Wilson
had second thoughts and moved back into the bunny cage. Oh well. It only
took an hour this time.
Oct. 28th, 2002
For the past two weeks
Pepper and Wilson have been growing like weeds! It is hard to believe how
tiny they once were. Wilson still is quite tame, she puts her nose out
through the spaces between the cage wires to sniff me and seems to ask
for her belly to be rubbed by exposing as much of it as she can pressed
against the cage. But I don't trust her to not bite, and I don't really
want her getting used to belly rubs! Pepper is very shy and jumpy and this
is good. We have had a couple of good frosts this week, and this weekend
I will put the nesting box up in a tree beside the shed and hope for a
successful release.
Despite the situation
that the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre is in right now, they have kept
in touch with what is left of their foster families. I received a call
from them this week, to check on the squirrels and to ensure that they
were in a safe location on my property. Another foster family had their
big cage in the garage and went out for a bit, leaving the garage door
open. A neighbours dog discovered the squirrels and knocked the cage over
trying to get at them. The squirrels survived but were quite traumatized.
Nov. 1st, 2002
Squirrel release day.
I took the nesting box out of their cage, then we moved the cage to the
outdoors so that they could see their home being mounted in a tree. They
did not care. Within MINUTES of their release, Pepper found an old nest
attached to the hydro pole in our backyard. Wilson soon joined him there.
Apparently they prefer
the natural life, and I understand this, they have added to the nest since
they have moved into it. I am feeding them daily, but I am also feeding
about a dozen other squirrels, I wonder at times if ANY of them were my
babies.
April 30th, 2003
In Ottawa we have just survived one of the coldest winters
in recent years, wind chill factors of -30C for days on end. Pepper and
Wilson had a true introduction to Ottawa winters this year, and despite
this fact have not moved to Florida. On the really cold days I worried
about them, yet at the same time was amazed to see them leave their nest
and run along the hydro wires. They handled the cold weather better than
I did. I am happy to report that the two of them survived, and are still
together, although I suspect that they will part soon and go their seperate
ways.
The Ministry of Natural Resources, in all its wisdom,
has managed to get our Wildlife Centre closed down with its bogus claims
of raccoon rabies in the area. This Centre has for many years provided
excellent care for injured and orphaned wildlife, and now the residents
of Ottawa have no where to turn should they find an animal in need of assistance.
If you stumble across this story and need information on what to do to
help with a wildlife problem follow this link
for
educated assistance.
March 6th, 2004
It has been a year since I last wrote about Pepper and
Wilson. I have watched their nest daily and amazingly they are still together
in that nest. This is highly unusual but considering the extremely cold
winter that we have just had, it is understandable that they stayed together.
They would have reached sexual maturity last September, but that would
not have been a natural breeding month for them, so perhaps this spring
Pepper will depart and Wilson will have babies. I will continue to watch
them. Neither of them will come near me now, which is good, but they do
respond to my voice by not running off, they seem to have a sense of "home"
when they hear me call their names.
June 3, 2006
There is now a new wildlife rehabilitation centre in
Eastern Ontario. If you would like more information, or need help for orphaned
or injured animals you can reach them here:
Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary
P.O. Box 266
North Gower, Ontario K0A 2T0
613-258-9480
rideauwildlife@ripnet.com
www.rideauwildlife.org
