How To Rehabilitate Baby Squirrels

My friend Susan Baker, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who lives in Texas, told me she "got her first squirrel" today. It's the beginning of a myriad of baby squirrels that people find and bring to her every spring. I grew curious about the process and began firing questions at her. Here's how the conversation went.

Susan: It's almost squirrel season around here...it hardly ever gets cold and we freak out if we see a little frost on the grass. The mom squirrels here have at least 3 litters a year.

Nancy: What the heck do you do if you find a baby squirrel?

Susan: I tell people to find the nest the squirrel fell out of, and then put the baby in a shoe box and nail the box to the tree as high up as you can. Most of the time the mom's find them and cart them off. With the people who chop down trees without noticing a squirrel nest, I tell them to put the nest on the stump and the mom usually will come back and cart them off. If the moms don't take them away after 24 hours, then I'm stuck with them.

Nancy: Oh gosh. What do they look like?

Susan: They're so cute and adorable. Their hair is so slick that they almost are slippery when you're handling them. When they're wet they smell like cinnamon. They grunt like piggies once they get to know that you're the FOOD and are messy as HELL when it's time to wean them. I adore them...can you tell?

Nancy: I can tell! I have never found an infant squirrel although I have walked right up to ones that were a little bigger. I could probably have picked them up. They had no fear of me. They were totally adorable but looked like adults in miniature.

Susan: I have some pictures of the baby squirrels. Here is a picture of a "pinkie" (they're sticky!) and they're so tiny you have to feed them every 2 hours around the clock. They're exhausting to take care of. The other one is the size that I have now. They're every 3 hours and almost as exhausting.

Nancy: Do you have a special recipe for squirrel milk?

Susan: There is a company that makes custom formulas for wildlife and I have to order two kinds of milk, one for tiny ones and then the formula changes when they're a little older.

Nancy: What is that in the first photo? An eyedropper?

Susan: You have to use 1 cc syringes (the teeny ones) and order special ones with an o-ring because the other kind sticks and when you push too hard they suddenly slip and you've drowned your squirrel.

Nancy: How do you keep from accidentally killing them?

Susan: Well, unfortunately, it's trial and error when you're first learning how to deal with these teeny tiny little creatures. l've found out the trick is not to feed them too much or feed them too fast (the milk around their mouths is a clue when you're in too much of a hurry), keep them warm at all times and feed them the right stuff. I have a list of "victims" that I still mourn because now that I am much more experienced, I can look back and see what I did wrong (like the time I fed too fast and milk was coming out their noses and they all died of aspiration pneumonia, or the emaciated one that I fed milk too soon, etc, etc.).

Nancy: Oh dear. I guess that's the price of the learning curve. Why do they fall out of the trees in the first place? Bad weather?

Susan: Yes. Hurricanes are horrible because the wind knocks all the babies out of the trees and you know who gets them. I had so many one year that by the time I was done feeding everybody (took 2 hours) I had one hour to sleep before I had to start again.

Nancy: Yikes! How long do you have to keep them? Do they get tame and stick around when you finally release them?

Susan: They don't get too tame, actually. I try my best NOT to tame them and so they're only handled when I feed them and I keep them in groups so they can imprint on other squirrels not people. Usually they're freaked out when they go to the outside cages, but by then they're almost completely weaned. I go to their cage once daily to feed their pellets, and then once they're big enough to start to eat anything/everything, I open the cage doors and they just go. Occasionally I'll get one that someone tried to raise themselves, and they're a little too tame, but usually they're still wary and sometimes will come up for a nut. Not for long. We have so many squirrels and trees and stuff to eat they really have no reason to mess with us.

Nancy: That is great, it sounds exhausting, but must be very rewarding when you see them flying around in the trees later. Does the state reimburse you for time or materials?

Susan: No, I volunteer it all.

Nancy: What do you think is the most important thing in rehabbing the squirrels?

Susan: I think the most important thing is love. I hold them and bathe them with love and they absolutely know what it is and respond beautifully. I know, it's stupid to spend all that time and money on a rodent that is absolutely in no danger of extinction, however, I cannot and will not idly stand by when something -- anything --- anybody needs my help to survive (life or death). So, I step up, regardless of whether or not I make a tiny difference or a big difference. To them it's their lives and that is a big thing to THEM so it's a big thing to me.

Nancy: I don't think it's stupid at all. I think it's wonderful. So what should someone do if they find a baby squirrel?

Susan: Well, sometimes they really are helping when they pick up a baby squirrel, but most of the time they end up killing it with their misguided kindness. I say try your best to return it to its mom, and if you can't, get it to an experience rehabber.

Nancy: That sounds pretty intuitive.

Susan: Oh, and one more thing: if you have a captive squirrel, you're not supposed to feed them nuts! I have to buy a special rodent pellet that has exactly what they need in calcium, protein, fat, etc. The nuts have no calcium, and are almost all fat. They're like twinkies for squirrels and they will eat those exclusively if you offer them. Unfortunately most people think squirrels eat nuts (only in the fall when they're fattening and storing) and that's what they feed their captive squirrels. When those squirrels are turned loose, they're so fat, their bones are so brittle from lack of nutrition and calcium and if they've been caged, their muscles are weak. They try to climb their first tree and usually fall and their bones are so brittle from lack of calcium they break their back or a leg and it's all over for them. Of course, nuts are okay for feeding outside squirrels because they are getting other things in their environment and it eventually balances.

Nancy: Thank you, Susan!