adopted 4 babies yesterday!

[hunter29180]

unexpected as we had no plans to adopt anything...


yesterday my neighbor came by..she began telling me of some strange crying sounds near her house, asked me to come find out what it was...

well when I got there, I could hear the sounds of a small amimal crying for its mama..as I approchaced a tree where I had spotted a pair of squirrles nesting last fall, I found BABY SQUIRRLES!! 4 of them, their eyes were not even open so not sure of their age, about 4 in long not counting tails!..2 were exhausted about 8-10 feet from the bottom of the tree, and 2 were about 1-2 feet from the ground,(these were still crying) neighbor said the sounds had been going on for a few hours..I backed off and scanned the trees for another hour..no MAMA around...now I know MAMA will fight to the death for their babies and I was concerned..then I saw a house cat sneaking up. I gathered all 4 of the babies up and brought them home.

they were very dehydrated, and cold, so first thing needed was to get them warmed up some. took a pair of scocks and a lb of rice to make a warmer. heat in microwave for 3 min wrap in a t-shirt anf placed in box, covered with another t-shirt. with in a few minutes all the babies were snuggling uo to it!

wife went to wally world and got 2 puupy bottles, can of puppy formula and a bottle of piedilite for babies. after a hour we got some of the Piedilite down all 4 and wiped thir buts till we got a bowel movement..we were worried about 2 of them as they were very weak. reheated the rice scoks and they all dropped off to sleep. this was about 8 pm..2 am I tried to rouse them to try to feed them some more..no luck, but all were still living!

at 7am tried again..all were still with us! got more piedilite and some puppy formula down all of them..reheated rice scok and they all curled up next to it.
Lord willing they will survive till big enough to fend for them selves! then we can return them to nature as was intended..

heres a picture from this morning after being fed!

[Deacon_Man]

Great story, and I wish you a lotta luck with them.

[wv hillbilly]

they actually make nice pets, if you dont mind cleaning up after them.
i wish you were a little closer . i would give you a squirrel cage/house we made when we had 2 of them

[BETH]

well that was nice of u and wife to do and that was good idea with rice keep us informed please

[Gabob]

Hunter
We raised a fawn years ago on undiluted baby formula concentrate. I told a lady who was having trouble with a baby squirrel about it and she tried it and it worked great. Our fawn would get diarreah from cow's milk and the baby squirrel did the same. The concentrated baby formula did the trick for both

[hunter29180]

still alive! and regaining strength! wife said she will name them this weekend if all goes well! the first 48 hrs are the most dangerous for them and we are half way there! we will sex them tonight..but I think we have 3 girls and a boy..wife says 2 and 2..we will see for sure tonight!

this will be the 3rd ..well 3-7th squirrels we have rescued and raised..but the first time for more than one! takes me 30 min to feed and clean all 4....boy can they wiggle!!

Gabob, the first time we did this..a wildlife rescue urged us to use puppy formula as that was what they used for all animal babies from the wild, so far never had the diarreah, they also told us abour the rice!

it makes a very good heat pack the stays warmer than a hot water bottle without the chance of a spill. we used them for a lot of baby animals since then! they are easy to make in any size needed. for a pad just sew "tunnels" lengthwise in it, fill loosely with rice and sew closed! heat in microwave no more than 3 min. usually you will need to wrap with a towel so its not too hot. do not leave unattended in microwave as it can catch fire though! Great for those muscle aches we all get!

[firefighter1635]

Awesome rescue, hope they all make it through. Keep us updated i'd like to see some photos as they get bigger.

[gun runner]

Im happy to hear that they are alright. Your doing the right thing

[flintlock]

You and your wife have done a good thing.

[gvw3]

Some one on this forum has one as a pet. He posted pix of it some time back. Good luck with this project.

[01brian]

wow, great story. That's a tough thing, you are doing great so far.

[BETH]

wish i was there to help

[montezumaz]

Sorry, the devil made me post this.

Super Quick and Easy, Super Delicious, Tender Squirrel and Mexican Rice (or Spicy Squirrel and Rice for short)

INGREDIENTS
1-3 squirrels depending on their size (but probably depending more on yours) cleaned and quartered
3-8 sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 package of Spanish rice mix (I used Carolina brand which serves three or four and costs under a dollar, but I know there are others)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 cups of water
Sriracha Sauce (aka rooster sauce, cock sauce, ketchup for grownups) -enough to cover your squirrel meat.

Note: The rice mix I used called for 1 2/3 cups of water, and 1 tablespoon of butter, but I added a little of each for the mushrooms and squirrel.

PREPARATION
1. Marinate your squirrel in Sriracha Sauce. I covered mine in sauce and left it in the fridge for about 8 hours, but you can also freeze meat in sauce to marinate it, so that it's ready to go when it thaws. If you don't know what Sriracha sauce is, then you are in for two treats. Sriracha is great stuff.
2. Put the water in a pot, and the butter in the water, and boil it.
3. When the water boils add your squirrel, and stir it until the water boils again. You can shake the sauce off of it if you want it more mild, or you can add all the sauce with it if you want it spicier. Don't let me tell you how to live your life.
4. When the water boils again; pour in your rice mix, and add your sliced mushrooms (if you like mushrooms), or whatever else you think is good in Spanish rice. Black beans, tomatoes, onoins... that sort of thing.
5. Cover the pot, turn the heat to low, and let it simmer for 20 minutes. I like to stir rice mixes once after about 10 minutes to mix all the flavors, and it seemed to work well for this too.
6. Serve and eat.

[BETH]

shame on u they are babies

[Buckshot]

Doggoneit Monte, Beth's right. You shoulda knowed better. Wouldn't hardly fill a tortilla. Gotta raise 'em up big and fat. Then squirrel fajitas for the whole family.

[howlnmad]

Good for you. You're doing the right thing. My wife did that whole saving orphaned bunny thing. Bottle feeding and all. Hoppy, Jumpy and Bighead Spike. Never would tell me where she released them.

The site below gives you what and how to feed them. I was surprised to see that puppy formula is what to use with some heavy cream.

http://www.squirreltales.org/

[hunter29180]

good site apttango30, however the brand recommended is no longer the correct one! It was found to be contaminated and killed many puppys as well as rescued animals, the company was found to have known about the contamination but not only sold the known contaminated lots, but continued to use the same contaminated source for more batches in the name of profit. so do not use Esbilac brand formula for any baby animal!

[hunter29180]

we sexed them last night and we have 3 baby girls and 1 boy! wife is consitering naming them after the chipmonks! with the boy as Alvin!

the grand kids will be informed of the addition of the new family members this weekend! our plans are to release them when we are sure they can fend for themselves. we are concerned about how late in the season it is so that may be in the spring. course i reminded her we always feed the squirrels and birds starting in november so food would not be a problem..but shelter for them outside would be.

so it may be spring before our babies are ready to leave the nest. course spring is when the mating season starts and the males get really agressive so that would be good for Alvin as he should be in better health than the other males near here. and the girls should be better able to find a better nesting site. course wife has informed me I will need to put up at least 4 nest boxes near the house and hope they choose them. the nest boxes will be of the same type they will use during the winter with us so they will reconize what they are!

the last squirrel we raised, Peanut, stayed near our house for 2 years and sometimes visited us as we sat on the porch. He always came up chattering at us and we always kept raw peanuts for him. he would hide under wifes hair and sit on our shoulders and eat his peanuts. it was funny to watch his mate in the tree scolding him the whole time he "visited". he always took the last peanut with him when the visit was over, we always said it was for her that he took the last nut away...

[ampaterry]

Hunter, that is a great story -

GOOD FOR YOU!!!

[Gabob]

Great !!
Glad they are doing well

[rosierita]

awe! they are so cute!

[BETH]

how about a picture of u feeding them?

[hunter29180]

here you go Beth!

all 4 being woke up for feeding..as near as we can determin they are 4-5 wks old..and wife feeding Alvin..

[BETH]

wow how cute is that you made my day grinning ear to ear thanks