Lucky's Story
As a Registered Nurse who works the night shift at our local hospital, a large portion of my job is the observation of behavior.
It was a snowy day late in March of 2008. I had just gotten out of bed around 1:00 PM after working the previous night. I glanced out of our second floor bathroom window and observed a strange scene of three large crows standing in a semi-circle around the my utility trailer. I thought this was rather odd behavior for crows, so I continued to observe for a few minutes. Suddenly, an adult squirrel emerged from under the trailer and chased one of the crows causing him to fly up into our oak tree. Knowing the nature of Crows, I assumed that the squirrel had something they wanted! Just then, the Crow in the tree swooped down and landed on the side of the trailer. He then jumped down to the bed, picked something up and flew away. What he had in his mouth had legs and a tiny head. I knew then that I was an observer of the cruel law of the food chain.
I went downstairs and told my wife what I had just observed and invited her to come to the kitchen window to watch this mother squirrel valiently continue to fight this lost battle. I told my wife that I wondered if the imprint of the baby squirrel was still in the snow on the trailer bed. Since I didn't have shoes on, my wife volunteered to walk out and look. She came back in a short time later to inform me that there was indeed an imprint plus another lifeless and naked body in the trailer.
(Lucky, right after starting to breathe, approximately 12 days old.)
Since I had never seen a squirrel that young, I put on my shoes and coat and went out to look. I did not observe any signs of life. Instead of being pink, the tiny creature was dusky and blue. I picked it up to examine it a little closer and noted that it was not breathing and felt cold to the touch and was quite stiff, like rigor-mortis was setting-in. Since it was really cold outside, I decided to carry it inside to show my wife. I figured I would show her, then go get my shovel and bury it rather than letting those nasty crows have it.
The thought ocured to me that humans appear dead and lifeless after cold water drowning and have been successfully resuscitated even after considerable amounts of time had passed. One way to tell would be to warm her up and attempt some form of CPR. My wife went and got a tanned rabbit pelt that she had for a long time, while I warmed a rice bag in the microwave. We wrapped the tiny squirrel in the rabbit fur then cradled it in the warm rice bag. I gently rubbed and stimulated her chest with my index finger. Within 5 minutes the little gal started to make some labored respiratory effort.
I had no idea what to do next, so I had my wife hold her while I got on the Internet. I grabbed the first article I could find that sounded like they knew what they were talking about. I knew from the squirrel's appearance that she was dehydrated and hypothermic. So, warm fluids and a warm environment were my first priority. The site gave me a recipe for homemade Pedialyte, so I mixed some up and started re-hydrating her with an eye dropper. The site also had a recipe for a milk, egg yolk and karo formula. In my ignorance, I started mixing it up and feeding it to her after getting her body temperature back to normal. I rigged up a squirrel PICU with a small cardboard box, a thermometer and a clip-on utility light. I played with the light placement until I got the thermometer to register in the mid to high 90"s.
( The author feeding Lucky with an eye dropper.)
This feeding and sleeping arrangement seemed to be working fine until day 3, when I noticed that my little friend was starting to have involuntary jerking movements. These kept getting worse over the next 12 hours. So, I went back to the Internet to try to find out what was going on. The next site insisted that the only hope for squirrel babies was to start using a well known puppy replacement formula. I went out and spent $19.00 for a can of this formula and started to feed it to her. The jerking did slightly improve, so I continued on this diet until the can was starting to get low. By this time, Lucky was going on 10 weeks old, and I needed to know where to go from here.
( Lucky at around 7 weeks old taking her Formula)
That's when I found a totally different philosophy about how to feed a baby squirrel! I found that I did not need to "shell-out" all that money for Puppy Formula. That a simple formula that I could mix up in my own kitchen was all that I needed to be feeding her. I switched Lucky over to this formula and mixed her up a batch of special nut balls, since she was ready to start on some solids.The transformation in her appearance was dramatic! Below are pictures of Lucky the day I started her on the new formula and Nut Balls. The second picture was taken 5 days later!
(Lucky before I started feeding her the new formula and Nut Balls)
( Lucky 7 days after starting on the new foods.)
As you can see, the change in my little friend was dramatic and rapid! And that is what this site is all about! If you have a squirrel or squirrels that you are feeding, or ever have the opportunity to help a tiny one survive to maturity, I hope that I can be of help to you to insure that you don't make the same mistakes that I made! I also hope that we can enlighten you as to correct nutrition for squirrels to ensure that your little friends live a long and healthy life!
It has been my priviledge to raise and release many squirrels over the years. Now that I'm older, and my squirrel rehabilitation days are over, I take great pleasure in spending my time writing about squirrel care and nutrition and sharing my experience with others. As a result, I've been able to share in the care of thousands of these magnificient animals. I extend a big "thank-you" to all who have written to tell me about their squirrel care adventures, and for the kind words and thank-you notes!
Have a Great Day! And, thanks for visiting!
Lucky is my inspiration and friend!
"A Well Fed Squirrel Is A Beautiful Thing!"