How to save a squirrel

a post from Beatrice

An exciting but also sad thing happened here on Sunday. We found two baby gray squirrels in the yard. They had fallen out of their nest, and then to make things worse they were attacked by our cat Julius. Unfortunately, he bit one of the squirrels, but the other one escaped his jaws. They were very cute, and we knew we had to help them.

Here is what we did, and what you can do if you find baby squirrels in trouble:

1. First, if you have dogs or cats who are outside, GET THEM IN THE HOUSE. Daddy picked up Julius and put him inside.

2. Make sure the doors and cat door are closed and locked. We had to do this two times because Julius really wanted to get outside.

3. Then get a shoe box. I brought one from my room and stuffed it with old washcloths. I put on heavy gloves and slowly lifted the squirrels into the box. It’s important to wear gloves because squirrels are wild animals and they could bite you. When I held them they both wiggled and were really furry and light. The squirrel that had been bitten just lay there, and the other one crouched. First it just rested, then it came in a hunched position, like it was ready to go. It also squeaked.

4. Next, leave the box open near the tree where you found it, so the squirrel’s mother can find it.

5. Don’t feed the squirrel or try to play with it. You can check on it and reassure it, but then you just need to leave it alone and give it time to settle down and puzzle out what’s happening. It can be very stressful to be separated from your parents.

6. If the mother doesn’t come back for it, you can call a wild animal rehabilitation number for help. In North Carolina, you can call the NC Zoo (336.879.7644) and a trained volunteer wildlife rehabilitator can advise you.

The squirrel that Julius bit died, but the other squirrel was very feisty. After less than an hour it got up and scrambled out of the box. It crept over to a log where it crouched and waited to decide what to do next. Before we knew it, the squirrel was gone! We hope she found her mother.

Here’s some more information about squirrels:

Squirrels build nests out of leaves, grass, feathers, and bark in the forks of tree branches. Their nest is called a drey, and they have one for summer and one for winter. They build a new drey for the winter, to keep themselves warm and dry. If they find a cavity in a tree, they can also use that as a den.

A group of squirrels is called a scurry.

Squirrels are an important part of the ecosystem. They are food for other animals (not you, Julius!) and they bury acorns that can grow into trees. They are nature’s gardeners!

There are more than 270 species of squirrels in the world, from the tiny, five-inch African pygmy squirrel to the Indian giant squirrel, which can grow to more than three feet long if you include its tail! It’s also really beautiful and colorful:

Prairie dogs are also a kind of squirrel.

We really like flying squirrels, which can glide up to 500 feet!

If you’d like to read a good chapter book about a squirrel, we recommend Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant. It’s a sweet, exciting story about a dog, a bat, a hermit crab, and a squirrel mother of triplets—in an ice storm!

Have you ever saved a baby animal, or an injured animal? What did you do to keep yourself and the animal safe?

*this post is dedicated to our cousin Sam and his squirrel Stumpy.