Life in Squirreldom

Gone, Gone, Gone... They've Been Gone So Long...

Okay, so they've only been gone for a week, but it seems like a lot longer!

I took my two not-so-little squirrels to another volunteer's home last Monday. She has an outdoor enclosure, so she'll continue feeding them while they strengthen their muscles and skills so they'll be in prime condition when they are released back into the wild.

They were certainly ready to make the transition. Often when we bring squirrels to an enclosure, they hold back in their carrier or cage for a while and, even once they venture out, it's not unusual for them to run to one place and “freeze” for a while until they feel comfortable. Not these guys! The minute we opened the carrier door, they SPRANG right out and ran all over the sides of the enclosure. One even jumped from one side to the other, missing my head by about an inch I might add!

In case you've forgotten what they looked like, this video has some nice scenes of them thoroughly enjoying the natural foods (e.g. branches, twigs, leaves, weeds, etc. from my backyard) I stock their cage with, which is another sign they'll soon be ready for life in the great outdoors.

So I'm rodent-free for a while, but I don't know how much longer that's going to last, since on Tuesday we got our first babies of summer season into the Center! One of them was too badly injured to save, but the other one is now in the caring hands of one of our other foster moms. Two more came in on Saturday—little pinkies between 20-25g... I'm not sure who's taking them or if they'll make it. But I do know they'll be given every possible chance!

Change of Address

Quick administration note: I've changed the URL for this blog to www.LifeInSquirreldom.com, so if any of you readers have a link pointed to it, I'd appreciate it if you could update it. The old URL redirects to this one, so old links won't be broken.

Likewise, my new e-mail address is Mama_Squirrel@LifeInSquirreldom.com.

If you're an e-mail subscriber, you should continue to receive them without doing anything else (which you'll know if you get this post in your Inbox tomorrow!).

If any of you happen to stumble upon any bugs as a result of this change, please let me know.

Going Squir Crazy

These guys aren't going to be with me much longer. It's not just a matter of their size (over 310g yesterday!), but they're so obviously ready to move to bigger and better quarters, as you can see by their energetic antics in this video compilation.