Late Baby

I've got a new squirrel I'm nursing for a few days. That would be #14 or 15 I think, since August. Didn't expect to have any more since baby season is long over, and the ones people may be finding and turning in to The Center are juveniles (between 5-10 weeks) who are half way weaned. We will care for them until they can be given to at-home rehabbers who have the room for outdoor cages and can oversee their several month process of transitioning back into the wild (called a soft release).

But I went in Thursday and there was a little girl with her eyes still sealed shut. She would probably need a late night feeding -- long past the hours at The Center --and I was way too happy to do it. I stopped to consider that I was just over the problems my allergies gave me from the last bunch -- eye infections, a terrible cough, a raspy voice-- and just getting back to normal in my life routines. I'd cleaned, put away all the squirrel stuff and started to get to sleep when I was tired and get up when I wanted without the babies needs ruling my life. With Thanksgiving just a few weeks off, and guests coming in, I thought better of it. But when I checked her chart I saw that she also hadn't --- TMI alert!!!--- pooped for the 2 days since she came in. And she was a really fussy eater. Not every volunteer at The Center is good with squirrels so I was concerned about her feeding too. I knew a few days of my attention and the added security of the quiet and dark I could provide at my home would get her past the shock of whatever had happened to her, and she'd be normalized in no time.

Sure enough, by Friday night she was eating more easily and her systems became regular. Yay. I like to think she feels secure now-- here she is sleeping after milk in the pocket of my flannel pajamas. She looked so blissful, I let her do that for a bit before I tucked her in in her tank. If you click on the picture you can see that sweet little face and outstretched paw close up. (SO worth it!)

Her eyes opened Saturday and she's gotten more active, climbing up the little fleece fabric I put on one wall of the tank, developing muscles and learning to hang upside down by her back feet. She began doing the instinctive gesturing for holding and eating nuts before her eyes were open, so I introduced a raw Macademia nut (the softest, for baby teeth) for her to chew on, and later put some walnuts and pecans in her tank. Those are soft and too big for her to pick up but she won't get anything lodged in her throat if I'm not around either. In the morning I find she's chewed on them... and quite adorably, has collected and stored them all under the little tree branch I put in.

All in all, I think she's going to be a fine, healthy squirrel!