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Anyone have a pet squirrel?

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
This little guy has survived so much, I feel obligated to help him. Literally, here is this little guy's plight. Saturday my son and I cut down 2 trees on a 6 acre wooded lot we own in a subdivision a couple miles from us. To make things easier, we used my excavator and dump truck. Literally, both trees were dropped (hard) as trees that were in the way.

From there, I picked each tree up with the thumb on the excavator and de-limbed the trees until they were only about 8" in diameter. Then, while holding the trees at a comfortable 3' off the ground with the excavator, I cut them into 10' sections and dropped those sections into the back of my dump truck. Two reasonable large trees (about 20" diameter at base) pretty well filled the dump truck.

Man, using an excavator to hold the trees while they are cut and to load 10' sections into a dump truck sure is easier than wrestling them around on the ground trying to keep my chainsaw blade from hitting the ground or getting pinched while cutting them into 18" sections and hand loading them into a pickup!

Anyway, just as I was getting ready to lift the last log into the dump truck I blew a hydraulic hose off the thumb on the excavator. That dropped the largest section (the one I'm fairly certain he was in) about 7' onto the asphalt road. After a quick repair and then cleaning all the hydraulic fluid off the road, it was too late to unload and cut the wood. I just pulled the truck into my barn and left everything in there until yesterday.

Yesterday I raised the bed and dumped all the logs onto a concrete area in front of my barn and used the excavator to pick up and hold each log to be cut into 20" sections. All logs were cut into sections and, after a short break, out came the log splitter. By then I had my youngest daughter, Madison, and my wife helping me. They kept me supplied with 20" log sections close by and then stacked the split wood on pallets as I split it.

About half way through a hollowed log I heard a really loud screaming sound over the engine of the splitter and all the other noise. The noise was from this little squirrel peaking out from where the log had been split and, literally, screaming for his life! I shut the splitter off (worried he had already been mortally wounded) and walked around to see him. When I reached for him, he jumped into my hands and curled into a ball while he was still shaking like a leaf and making all sorts of noises.

So, now you can see that he is completely uninjured and thinks Madison is his mother. He holds a spoon and drinks water or Pedialyte from it. He also is eating some small crushed nuts etc. as she offers them to him. He will allow others to hold him but, if frightened or bored, dashes back to her to hide in her hair on her shoulders or the back of her neck.

So, after all he's been through, what do I do? This little fella has been extremely lucky, undoubtedly traumatized, yet is already friendly and playful. It appears, from looking on the internet, he is a common North American tree squirrel. However I don't know how old he is. Any guesses to his age? Anyone ever had a squirrel for a pet? Thoughts? Opinions?
 

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rback33

Hangin in Tornado Alley
SUPER Site Supporter
I am a sucker for things like that. I saw see what happens. My ex wife bottle fed and raised a rabbit once... those things NEVER live, but this one did.. It ran wild in the house for a while until it chewed the phone line one too many times...
 

loboloco

Well-known member
That one is about half grown, don't really know an age. Squirrels can make good pets, but remember, they are not, and never will be a domestic animal. You will have to work around some of the hardwired behavior they have. Google exotic pets or hit the library is my suggestion.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
I had a squirrel that used to come in my apartment. Then it started digging in the plants and trying to hide nuts in them. Eventually it got old and the door stayed shut.

They are cute though. Taste OK too.
 

joec

New member
GOLD Site Supporter
I had one as a child as well as a raccoon and my kids had a skunk. The raccoon was the only one that got mean as he got older. The only problem with squirrels is they have a very short life span of about 6 years and can give a painful bite. The skunk was the best of the bunch just had to be careful feeding out of your hands. They don't see real well and can mistake your hand for food due to odor transfer from the food. They also can't handled greasy foods when young. Once mature they do well as a pet since they are as clean as cats but as loyal as a dog. A side with them is no insects where they are.
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Had the same thing happen to us only the little guy was much smaller . Wife bottle fed em every couple hours .We kept him for about 6 months We got a cat crate for him to sleep in . He started getting mean as he got older and their bite can hurt . As soon as he can open a English walnut by himself , let him go and he will be fine . He stayed around the place for years but never came too close again . He use to think I was a tree truck and would go around my belly as fast as he could .Good times
!!! The kids loved that little guy .
Good Luck !!!
 
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