squirrel

[sluckey]

Here's a squirrel update...

Patty opened her eyes Friday night. Lil Bit has moved outside to the big cage under the gazebo and is now running around free. She moved into a squirrel box Saturday and spent her first night out of the box. I give her the juice twice a day and will begin a single juicing tomorrow. She is adapting very well and more rapidly than any of our previous orphans. The other two orphans we got last week are also doing well. They've been on solid food the whole time. They are still in a big cage hanging under the gazebo and have calmed down enough to take food from my hand. Next Friday I'll open the cage and hopefully they'll move into a squirrel box. I just want to keep these two safe and give them a good chance at survival without imprinting too strongly on them.

This morning is a perfect spring morning in Mobile. I got up at 6:00 and juiced the babies and then just sat at the gazebo drinking three cups of coffee while the backyard woke up. Just a hint of early morning misty fog. Azaleas and dogwoods are in full bloom. Goldfinches are turning yellow and getting fat for the northern migration. Songbirds are happy and filling the otherwise quiet morning air with love songs. And the squirrels are playing everywhere! It's the 'Life of Riley!"

...Steve

[Hemi526]

  Gee thanks Sluckey, I live in Michigan. My morning cosisted of sitting in from of the sliding glass door looking out at dead trees and grass with hints of snow here and there, the pool cover iced up and an dead leaf blow by from the 30 mph north wind. I need to visit you!
  The squirrel is cute.

[billcreller]

I hear ya Hemi !!  Same here.  Jeez, it got into the 40s today, a heat wave! ;D

[EL34]

Spring is just around the corner here.
We get hints of it with 60+ temps and then it goes back to the 30's

That's mountain weather.
Thanks for th sq update Steve

[sluckey]

I have a nephew visiting for a couple days. He's from the town of Hancock in the U.P. Just drove down yesterday. He said it's miserable up there.

Since Patty opened her eyes, she became a lot more mobile. She's in the little BIG cage now. Look at that big belly! She just got juiced.

[Hemi526]

He lives in the UP aye?

[sluckey]

Yes. He's a Miami boy too! He's a professor at Michigan Technological University working on his PHD.

[Hemi526]

  Thats beautiful country up there. I try to make it up there snowmobiling 3 or 4 times a season. Some of the winter views from the hills after a fresh snow are breath taking.

[EL34]

I was born and raised inMI.

Lived there till 1973 and then went to FL for 28 years.

Now I'm in NC

They call us types a half back here cause I moved halfway back.

[Hemi526]

  Where about in Michigan were you raise Half Back?   ::)

[tubenit]

OK, I admit it ........... I like squirrels too and feed them corn and sunflower seeds. Haven't adopted any though.

What I like better is feeding birds.  I have four bird feeders plus two additional feeders for humming birds .......... and 3 bird houses.

I go thru an average of 50 lbs of sunflower seeds a month.  ;D

I have a bluebird house which currently has 5 eggs in it. I caught a photo of the male "guarding" the home. I was pretty close to the bird when I took the photo. Maybe 10 feet away.

Tubenit

[tubenit]

The bluebird eggs as of last wkend.

[Hemi526]

  The only place I see Blue Birds around here anymore are on the golf course.
  I have a buddy that has a place in Northern Mich. He goes up every week end. He bought one of those corn spreaders that feed the deer. It was pretty cool, deer hung out by his house all day waiting for the thing to spread corn which it did 3 times a day. After about a couple of months he had to get rid of the thing, the deer were destroying his yard, his garage had corners worn down from deer rubbing their antlers on it. He had no grass left, it was mud.

[EL34]

Hemi,
Born in Battle creek,
moved to Jackson till 4th grade
and then moved to  Marshall
Left Marshall when I was 17 and went to Florida

[Hemi526]

  Holy, crap,
I moved to Battle Creek at age 1, have lived here all my life, My corporate office is in Jackson. I hung out in Marshall during my teen years, (mainly because of a girl), most of my friends are from Marshall. It is a small world, we probably hung out together some time or another.

[Hemi526]

Doug, did you ever own a blue and white Triumph motorcycle when you were in Marshall?

[EL34]

No, wish I did!  ;D

I had a Yamaha 125CC. I think it was called a Big Bear?
Don't remember exactly.

I had a babe magnet 1961 Ford falcon station wagon in high school.
It had the ranch theme vinyl seat covers with cow brands, horseshoes, etc
That Ford was party central for me and my buds.

I left MI in 1973.

What years are you talking about?

[Hemi526]

 1968 to 1974. One of my employees has lived in Marshall all his life, I was telling him about you and he thought he remembered you. Was wondering if you had a Triumph. His name is Steve Sayers, he lived in town but now lives on Stewart lake. I dont rmember your car. I had a babe magnet too, a 66 Chevy step side pickup. I used to cruise town a lot with, hang out at the foutain etc. The city wont let you hang out at the fountain any more, I keep wondering if I am the reason  ::)

[EL34]

Hmm, just looked at my high school yearbook from 1971.
Don't see a Steve Sayers, unless he was not in, or already out of high school by 1971?

I remember Michele Sayers, maybe that was his sister?

Used to hang out downtown also and cruise main street.
Hanging on the parking meters and watching the people cruise by was a weekend night past time in Marshall.

[Hemi526]

Steve was out of school. Michele is his siter though. Man, its a small small world.

[Hemi526]

  How are the squirrels doing Sluckey?

[sluckey]

All squirrels are fine. They're living and sleeping in the trees now. I see them daily at feeding time. I did pick up one more squirrel from a lady that had raised it, but had no good place to release it. This little girl was named Skunky and she moved into one of the nesting boxes with Patty. They bonded and even now when you see one, you usually see the other nearby.

...Steve

[Hemi526]

  Its pretty cool they bonded like that. Especially with them both being females isnt it?

[sluckey]

Its pretty cool they bonded like that. Especially with them both being females isnt it?

I've seen some unusual combos. Last fall we had a young female that we put together with three much younger females. She immediately took to them and began washing and mothering them. We called the group Charlie and the Angels.

They don't always mix like that though. You just have to try and see. When it works, it simplifies raising them.

The bonds usually hold for about six months. When they become mature enough to breed, they become solitaire (especially the females). But during cold or stormy weather we occasionally fine several piled up together in a nesting box.

[Hemi526]

  We had big wind here this week end so I had to pick up sticks that fell from the trees before I mowed the lawn today. (several of them). When I was done I started the tractor and began mowing, I came to one spot that I had picked up all of the sticks and there were several more on the ground again, and it wasnt windy. While picking them up I noticed they had been chewed off. I looked up and there was a brand new squirrel nest about 2o feet up in the tree. Later while mowing I saw the squirrel, he or she is smaller and a beautiful silver with some white. Ill try and get you a picture. If it is building a nest, is it going to have babys?   :-?

[sluckey]

If it is building a nest, is it going to have babys?

Could be. Squirrels in my area usually build several nests. Sometimes it's a group project if the squirrels are juvenile. If it's a single female squirrel, there's a good chance you'll have babies. Squirrels will move their young from nest to nest, usually two or three times. I don't know how the nests hold together. They're usually very crude.

[Hemi526]

  It is a crude looking nest. I will keep an eye on it and keep you updated.

[sluckey]

This is a kinda neat story. (If you're squirrly that is!)

My college age daughter works in the extended daycare program at the school where my wife teaches. Monday afternoon while Megan (daughter) was outside with the kids she heard a high pitched squeal. She recognized the sound as that of a lost baby squirrel. Well she found it and brought it home. The baby was very hungry and dehydrated. But before bedtime we had juiced him twice and all's well. The mother squirrel was probably dead because they just don't abandon babies that small. The baby had eyes open and was nibbling at solid food, but was definitely not weaned.

I told my wife that there were probably some more babies too. The next day she found 2 siblings in a tree near where my daughter found the first baby. She was able to coax them down. So, the family is reunited and doing very well. They all took to the juice immediately and they are eating acorns, pecans, and hickory nuts (cracked of course) as well.

Ah, the nest is full again!    :)

[jhadhar65]

I've followed this thread from the beginning and that's incredible.  I've lived in the country all my life and never had the opportunity to adopt like that.  The closest I've come to that is a wolf I have from the reintroduction efforts several years back in the northwest.  His mom and dad didn't relocate well.

On the other hand, I've had friends who have done what you guys have done, except with raccoons.

[EL34]

That's not true, you have a monkey that you taught to play guitar.

I wouldn't mind taking care of a baby squirrel.
I have several that come into my shop every day and get peanuts from me.

I now have 4 chipmunks that are extrememly tame.
A couple of them get under foot here in the shop.
They sneak up behind me and look up waiting for a peanut.
I let the chipmunks take the peanuts from my hand, but not the big rodents.

[EL34]

I moved this topic to the hobby board because I think this is definately a hobby for Steve

[sluckey]

This is an update on my last post. My wife and daughter had just rescued 3 orphaned babies from school.

Coaxing a hungry orphan down to safety. Yes, that's Poison Ivy!


Mrs. Luckey's first grade class saves two babies.


Two weeks later the triplets enjoy their new home.


Episode Two. My niece raised an orphan this summer and brought him to me to release. This could be a challenge. Jake doesn't know he's a squirrel yet!

Jake says goodbye to his family.


But he doesn't grieve too long. Gotta get ready for Mardi Gras!


Patiently waiting for the next pine nut.

[EL34]

Wow, cool pics, cute babies

[sluckey]

Hopefully this is the last squirrel for this fall season. This makes six! The triplets, Jake, Peanut (he's pretty wild), and now Dude.

A young woman that works for a local vet found Dude when he was a pinky. She mothered him until last week but had no place to release him, so she brought him to me. It's really tough to raise one that young. There's feedings every 2 hours for about 3 weeks and you have to use warm wet Q-tips (simulates mama squirrel's tounge) to stimulate them to use the bathroom. Then you gotta clean them with wet cotton balls. He'll be totally weened in a few more days, then I'll start letting him out of the cage. Hopefully he'll move into one of the nesting boxes and sleep there until next spring. He's been raised alone and has a strong attachment to us. He'll probably be a lot like Jake so we decided to take a pic of them together.

So here's Jake helping me feed lil Dude. I hope they will be friends soon.

[tubenit]

Just saw the photos!!!  VERY VERY cool!  What an incredible thing to do!

I did not realize how tame and "relational" they got with you. That's really amazing to me!

Kind hearted thing that you have done.  Bravo!

With respect, Jeff

[gainer]

 This thread is pretty cool.

 We have plenty of wildlife here, considering how close we are to town. Not too many deer except maybe middle of the night. I think they stay away from the busy streets here.


 A few summers ago the grass was temporarily high....a mother rabbit gave birth 10 feet away from our side deck. I went ambling outside and she ran off; I thought I just doomed the babies but felt it was better to not get too close. Apparently the mother just comes back to nurse once or twice a day. We still see some of the offspring when I'm not making big noise out in the garage.


 Squirrels are all over....one was ran over a few years ago, I swear he was the size of an average chihuahua.

 The coolest is the hawks around this area....some good size ones....and foxes.

[sluckey]

Squirrel update...

Most of the little ones have scattered thru the trees and the neighborhood. I still see and recognize three of them regularly, but they are wild and wont let me get any closer than a few feet. On the other hand, Jake is still my buddy. I see him daily and he's still interested in checking out my pockets and occasionally playing. I have to wear gloves now because biting is part of play, and he has big, strong teeth! He was shot with a BB gun a couple weeks ago and was really struggling. He moved back into his nest box under the gazebo for several days while he recouped. He's made a good recovery, not quite 100% yet, but getting there. He'll be fine if he just stays away from the kids next door.

These pics were taken 12/30/08.

[tubenit]

Steve,

Great photo! And that's a cool update. You and that squirrel are handsome fellas!  I figure if a squirrel can crank a walnut, that they can sure put some hurt on ya with those teeth. It's really easy to develop an affection for an animal you've nursed back to health.
 ;)

I'd have a talk with the neighbor kids about shooting "my" squirrel. I wouldn't like that. I wonder if there would be a safe way to mark your squirrel to distinguish it from others?

One of my neighbors cat occasionally gets a bird off my bird feeder and I'm not real happy about that either. However, the hawks do more damage to the doves that feed by dive bombing the doves right off the feeder. Pretty amazing to see the hawks and perrigines move that quick.

With respect, Jeff

BTW, do you still surf & where?

[sluckey]

BTW, do you still surf & where?

Those are wind surfer boards. We haven't done that since '96. Carol and I were big on catamaran sailing. We have a Prindle 19 that's rigged for racing. We used to follow the regattas between Biloxi, MS and Panama City, FL. Then Megan came along and we switched over to wind surfing. That allowed one to play in the bay while the other took care of the baby. We were regulars at Fairhope on the Mobile Bay  and part timers over at Pensacola Beach. The little board with the Dolphin head centerboard was a kiddy board for Megan.

Then along came softball and we spent the next 10 years at the ball park. With no life of our own!  ;D

[tubenit]

Wind surfer boards!   How cool is that?  I always wanted to live someplace where I could give that a shot.

I used to live in Panama City, Fla. as a kid. Actually lived in a screened in cottage on Mexico beach before getting based housing on Tyndall AFB. That was around '60 or '61.  Good memories there. Used to be tons of sand sharks swimming all around us and occasionally small hammerheads. Never thought too much about it. However, I had a rather interesting experience with a thresher shark coming up from the deep to get a look or bite of my feet before I wisely removed them from the water. Probably about a 10-11' shark.

 ;D

With respect, Jeff

[EL34]

Cool Squirrel pics, thanks for the update.

You should have the kids over and show them your buddy up close.
I bet they would see the squirrels in a different light?
Not something to shoot, but a cool little creature that has a brain and is really smart.

Unless of course they are souless demons from hell.  :-[

[Dynaflow]

 Or.... Put on some sniper camo and any time the kids come outside, shoot them with a bb gun... Perhaps they'll quit coming out if they associate pain with coming outside...... I often wanted to do that with Taggers hide on a roof top with a night scope and shoot the spray can in they're hand with a pellet rifle... :D

Regards,

Dyna

[sluckey]

Spring project...

Angel was very near death when we got her. But she's a fighter and has some strong squirrel instincts. We've had her almost a month now. She's already exploring the gazebo and a nearby tree. She's only a week away from moving into a nesting box. Looks like she already has one picked out. She looked into another box, but to her surprise (and mine too) a screech owl had moved in! I can't tell if the owl is nesting or just roosting, but it did not leave the box last night so I suspect it may be nesting. Doesn't appear to mind my inspection mirror probing. The owl is about the size of a fat robin. I don't really think it's a threat to the grey squirrels. Hope I'm not wrong!











PS... Here are a couple sound clips of an eastern screech owl.

http://www.el34world.com/Misc/Music/xspf_player_slim.swf?song_url=http://home.comcast.net/~seluckey/owl_1.mp3

http://www.el34world.com/Misc/Music/xspf_player_slim.swf?song_url=http://home.comcast.net/~seluckey/owl_2.mp3

[EL34]

Cool, another fuzzy one to raise!

The top sreech owl sound is the one I hear all the time in Pisgah during our night rides.
We see them along the creek beds all the time.
They always seem to take off and fly right in front of us on the bikes.

It's like having owl escorts.

[sluckey]

The owl is sitting on eggs. I don't know much about owls. Hope I can learn because I really want this to work. I'm concerned the squirrels will eat the eggs (or babies) if left unguarded during the daytime. Hopefully the nocturnal nature of the owl will work to it's advantage. It's such a neat feeling having an owl nest in the gazebo!

[EL34]

A screech owl moved into a squirrel box at my girlfriends house a couple years ago.
We never even saw it until about a wek before the baby and the mom flew away.

[alcee]

Check this out.

http://inside.cua.edu/story2.cfm

I teach at CUA, and I have personally seen this squirrel several times.  The squirrels are very well treated there; revered even.

Alcee

[EL34]

yeah, that's the true albino model

We have the regular white/non albino's all over the place here.

Here's two of them outside my shop.

[alcee]

That's so cool!

Alcee

[sluckey]

Here's a little ditty about the white squirrels in Olney, IL...

http://www.el34world.com/Misc/Music/xspf_player_slim.swf?song_url=http://www.mondovox.com/Olney/whiteSquirrels.mp3