Lesa and I are officially "Squirrel Grandparents" !

[Pappy!]

Woohoo !
How special is that when a little wild critter we took in and raised, and who ended up stealing our hearts, comes back to the house to have her own family!!
That is just what happened with "Hope", our little rescue girl squirrel !
She is almost two years old now and Lesa told me a while back that she was pregnant but I was the typical man and went "uh-huh"..... but I kept watching her and her behavior changed pretty drastically about three weeks ago. She started spending almost all of her time on the porch and as the days kept going she became a bit protective of her space! Not normal for our gal at all. She hardly let me pet her and give her good scratches, she was spending more and more time in her house on the porch and or inside the house in her favorite little vase....yes a vase!
About two weeks ago I was giving her some of her favorite things to eat and low and behold I saw movement in her tummy! Next day....same thing!
Anyway, Monday she wanted in the house and was not taking "NO" for an answer. I let her in and she bee-lined it for her vase. I knew that was not going to be large enough so I got her out of her vase and substituted a new narrow wood house I had built. She started making a nest in it then said "Hell no" and wanted back out. Let her out and she disappeared in her porch house. Thought she was just mad at me but she stayed in the next morning and the afternoon too! Finally coaxed her out and she was noticeably thinner!! Woohoo! We are grandparents!  She is eating like a small horse when she comes out then quickly disappears right back in her house.
At this age she should only be having two little ones max. After this she will be able to have up to 6-8 little guys. We have not seen them as she has them well hidden so I have no idea how many or how they are doing but she only comes out for water and food and I can plainly see that they are nursing so I believe all is well in squirrelville. Pics to follow when we know more.

Here is Hope when she was very pregnant!



And one of her in her favorite vase she likes to sleep in once in a while. This was Monday.

[sixlow]

Congrats Grammy and GrandPappy ! It will be interesting to see how much she lets you spoil her little ones, looking forward to more pics when they emerge.

[Steel cowboy]

Great to hear about your grand critters. Growing up on Long Island squirrels would use the window flower boxes at my house every year for their new family’s. As squirrel’s life goes you guys could be great, great, great grand parents in a year or two.

[Pappy!]

Well......this morning a friend of mine dropped by and asked if Lesa and I could take a couple of little pinkies (baby squirrels) that were either abandoned or the nest fell out of a tree. We said sure!
We already have the Pedialyte and Fox Valley squirrel formula for newborns plus the tiny nipples for feeding.
We were talking about it and decided to let Hope see the little guys and see if she was interested in taking them in along with her own.
I was feeding Hope and when she was comfortable I showed her one, hoping for the best. Hope immediately took it from me and started cleaning the little one!. Whew! She took it in her house and disappeared.
The second one was not so easy. Hope was not coming out again for me.
When I built her house I installed a ledge inside it that she can get under to protect herself and defend herself if need be. It is open on one side only. This is where she is rearing the little ones.
For the second little one I placed her on a small inspection mirror I have and guided the mirror over to the small opening in the ledge and let her fall the couple inches to the nest below. Don't worry, Hope has a nice soft cozy nest put together under there!
I heard Hope take her in as well so now she has at least two more mouths to feed!
What a cool little Mama she is! Nature really is pretty amazing at times.

[flsix]

That's good stuff Pappy. It's really neat to be included into Hopes new family.

[Squirrel]

It's nice to see that folks out there are taking care of my cousins.  We appreciate it a lot!

[Pappy!]

Yesterday was another nice day for us!

One of our other little gals that we raised came by for a visit. She used to come by every day then every other day then little by little it has been around once a week or so....sometimes more.
She has relaxed even more than when she lived on the porch. She didn't really like a good scratch or petting too much. Now she seems to really enjoy it. Can't beat that! She must know the caliber of the food on the porch is way over and above what she can get out there! Glad to provide for her whenever she wants!


This is "Squirt" named because she was little and fast!
Here she is on one of the outside feeders....laying in the food! How good is that!! I had just gotten done reaching up and giving her a good scratch though.....



And here she is laying on Daddy's back eating a pecan half.
If you look up and on the outside of the door you can see one of the houses I built for them to use if they want. Also the swinging door they use to come in and out of the porch for food or to just visit. Look a little harder up in the same area and you can see a rope. The rope goes from the top of the fence to the "porch" on the little squirrel house. Much safer than having to get to the porch by ground.

 

Enjoying some fresh corn on the cob! Look low and left on the photo and you can see whats left of a small avacado she had just devoured as well.



"I'm full Dad"
Relaxing on the picnic table after filling up on pecans, avacado, and cold corn on the cob. Lesa and I were at the table with her just scratching her and talking to her. Shortly after the pic she got up and was gone, out and back up in the trees pursuing the life of a squirrel !

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

Awesome Story !

[Pappy!]

Thanks Bert! Good to hear from you as well !!

[Pappy!]

A most welcome update!!

Came home this afternoon and walked out on the porch shortly after.
Hope was waiting on top of the outside fridge and when I walked out she promptly "Squirrel Bombed" me! ...HI Dad!
She wanted in the house to take a break I guess so that's where we went. I took the opportunity to catch her and cut her teeth while she was in there. Not an easy task! They were the worst I have ever seen them as she has not let me catch her for weeks now. We got through this and usually right after I can entice her with a pecan. Not this time, she was having none of it. After about ten minutes I offered her some formula. That worked! She drank 8 full syringes of formula and 4 chunks of Avacado! Eating like a horse!

Here she is sucking up the formula like a Hoover!



Then I thought....this would be a good time to see the babies! Left her inside and walked out and tried looking with an inspection mirror. No luck and I started fearing the worst.
I unscrewed the bottom of her house and gently lowered it down.

Woohoo!



She has 6 little, fat, healthy boogers!!



No wonder she is eating like a horse! Hope is a small squirrel and these guys are probably taking almost all of her nutrition right out of her.
I let her back out on the porch and she immediately went in and started her Mom duties.
A short time later I walked back out and she was out again. I gave her 3 more chunks of avacado and she ate those as well.
What an amazing little Mom she is! Taking care of 4 of her own and 2 orphans we placed with her. Quite a task for a first litter.

[Bert AKA,Valkaholic]

Awesome !

[sixlow]

Very cool, except for the teeth cutting part ? what's all that about ? ???

[Pappy!]

Hope has malocclusion.
Her teeth never grew in properly like they should have. Possibly due to the fall she took onto the concrete and subsequent jaw damage. She was bleeding when we found her and very weak. We were not sure she was going to survive the night hence the name "Hope". She did thank God.
Since she has malocclusion the only way she can survive is to have her teeth cut on a regular basis.
A squirrels teeth routinely grow up to 6" per year! Normal squirrels have no problem keeping them worn down Hope cannot do this as they are not at the correct angles.
Her upper teeth grow more back into her mouth then downward and her lower right tooth is not firm enough to bite with and grows long with the look of a sabre or sword.
If left, the uppers would puncture the roof of her mouth and grow into her eye or brain. Lower will grow outside her mouth then start curling backward, eventually catching her eye.
She would, at some point, either die of starvation or from one of the above issues.
Technically, Hope is a "NR" or non-releasable squirrel however the bond between Hope and I (Lesa as well) is strong. She cannot forage as well as other squirrels and knows she has to come in for food she can eat. We spoil her with the foods she loves and a bit of formula that contains all the vitamins and nutrients that help her stay healthy.
Usually, when her teeth are too long she will start really snuggling up into the bend of my arm or sometimes just lay out on my knee. She stays there and accepts good long back scratches. Not sure why this is but I know from experience now that she is telling me she is having a tough time.







Through the later stages of the pregnancy and through the present she has wanted no part of being caught. I guess that is nature and instinct.
This is the only way Hope can enjoy the life of a squirrel, up in the tops of the trees, enjoying life as she should be.

[Squirrel]

So I guess squirrels can make great pets, too.  I guess I never thought of them that way.  What you are doing for Hope is awesome.  I'm sure she appreciates you and Lesa for all your help.

[Pappy!]

I wouldn't say they are great pets. They will steal your heart almost immediately though! They are wild after all. They are messy eaters and leave these little dark things that look like grains of rice around behind them!
They are funny as Hell and playful beyond your imagination. They are super smart as well. Hope will come to me almost all the time when I ask. When I tell her "Looky here" she knows I have something for her. When I tell her I will be right back she waits for me. She knows the sounds I make when I want to see if she is ready to play. She also knows that after a good scratching I will tell her night-night and she turns right around and heads to bed.
She knows lots more words pertaining to food, etc as well. She is an amazing companion as long as it is mostly on her terms. Some are amazing pets. Hope seems to know that she has limitations and can't survive without help from Dad.
In the wild a typical life span for a squirrel is 3-5 years max with an average of 2-3.
In captivity they can live up to 20 years!
Since Hope also goes outside we have to depend on her survival skills and awareness skills to make it. Food wise she has it made compared to the wild ones.