Spider brought in a newborn squirrel this a.m. Cats do this to try to teach us how to hunt

[librechik]

my son tells me. Just like they were taught by their mothers.

The squirrels eyes are still closed, but it's well developed. It's weak, but still vigorous. Spider kitty didn't maul this creature, he was just sort of caring for it like a baby, placed carefully on the carpet of the kitty's shared scratching post. He went over to pet it and sniff at it every once in awhile, that's how I discovered it.

My question is, what do I do with it? If I put it outside the cats in the neighborhood will get it again. I can't raise a baby squirrel, in fact I am rather hostile to the ones that live in my yard and nibble on my tomatoes and throw tiny green apples everywhere.

Right now I have rescued it from the kitty and it's resting in a box like a Father Knows Best episode. At least I can make sure it doesn't suffer in its last moments, altho it seems almost old enough to survive on its own (not really, but maybe)

Any suggestions to soothe my bleeding heart or rescue this animal?

Thanks in advance

[Arkansas Granny]

1. Check with your state game and fish department. They may know a rehab in your area.

You might also contact a local vet and see if they know anyone who takes in babies like that.

[cali]

2. I can't say I have any expertise in the subject but

I did google it:

STEP TWO: Give The Baby Squirrel A Safe Warm Nest

Give the baby squirrel a safe dry warm place to live, to replace it's nest.

We use a plastic tuperware with air holes in the lid.

- Place the tuperware on a towel.

- Put a heating pad underneath the towel.

- Set heating pad on low.

- Make sure heating pad doesn't automatically shut itself off after a period of time.

- Put old T-shirts in the tuperware so the scared baby will have a cozy place to hide.

You may have to improvise your own make shift nest. A cardboard box under a table lamp will do in a pinch.

The most important thing is that your baby squirrel be warm. Baby squirrels can't digest food properly if they are cold.

baby squirrel nest



STEP THREE: Give The Baby Squirrel Fluids

Almost every baby squirrel will be dehydrated when you find it. Until you learn more, don't give the baby squirrel ANYTHING but water. You can give the baby water with an eye dropper if you have one, or let it lick water off your finger.

Cow milk is bad for squirrels, avoid that, and anything else but water, for now. In the next section we'll discuss the proper fluids.

Don't try to feed the baby squirrel yet. The baby may not be old enough to eat, and in any case, it needs to be fully hydrated before moving on to any kind of food.

<snip>

http://nature-talk.com/wildlife/squirrels/rescue-a-baby-squirrel.html

and here's squirrel rehab:

http://www.squirrel-rehab.org/rehabinfo/infantfeeding.html

[KarenS]

3. If this happened to me, I would call our Vet,,,,

They are such bleeding heart animal lovers there well equipped too.

[lapfog_1]

4. Call a local animal rescue

but I have doubts that anything will work at this point. The baby squirrel is probably too young to survive without it's mother.

[Kookaburra]

5. Your vet's office likely has a number you can call

to reach a wildlife rehab person.

Something similar happened last summer with some baby bunnies, and my vet was able to help get me in touch with some folks who came and picked them up and rehabbed them until they were able to be released back into the wild.

[Liberal Veteran]

6. Misleading headline.

I was expecting an arachnid brought you a newborn squirrel.

I'm rather glad it was a cat. The alternative was too frightening to contemplate.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Me too!

I immediately imagined a gigantic, cat-sized spider carrying a squirrel in its jaws.

[librechik]

9. We named our rescue cat Spider because he spends most of his time high up in the trees etc

he's a little bit feral. I imagine to his prey he is a big hairy eight legged monster.

He brings all kinds of stuff in.

Once he caught a young jaybird and cornered it in my living room. Unbeknownst to me.

When I startled it it flew up suddenly from behind a chair and scared the crap out of me!
I threw a towel over it and took it outside to release it--it dashed off a little the worse for wear but still able to fly.

[Jazzgirl]

10. LOL, I thought it was just me!

I was trying to picture what kind of spider could carry a baby squirrel. I figured it had to be big but why would you let it in your house??1!??

[a la izquierda]

14. I was afraid to click on the link...

I've got serious arachnaphobia, and totally misread the title.

[Gold Metal Flake]

7. I suggest you keep your cat indoors.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

11. +1... and hopefully it'sbeen "fixed"

Ferrel cat populations are becoming problematic in suberbs.

[librechik]

16. of course it's been neutered--it's a rescue cat.

Keeping cats indoors is problematic for me when there is space for them to be outdoors in relative safety. That is their natural state and I'm too much of a hippie to overrule that emotion. However, if I lived in a more urban area, naturally I would (and did) keep my animals indoors.

[MadHound]

17. Despite what you think, cats outdoors in this ecosystem is not natural

Cats are an invasive species and they cause a huge amount of damage outdoors, killing billions of birds and other animals each year. I've six cats of my own and every one of them stays inside, I suggest that you keep yours inside as well. It is their natural state, it is humanity imposing our state, our domesticated little killers upon nature.

[Brickbat]

13. This.

[XemaSab]

21. Yup

[tblue37]

12. Like many other communities, urs has a nonprofit agency that

cares for injured wildlife or baby wild animals that have been rescued by people who then do not know what to do with them. Ours was called Wildcare for a long time, but it has a new name now, and I don't know the new name.

Perhaps such a group of people in your vicinity are available to take the baby squirrel into their care.

[libodem]

15. Our town has a rescue just for squirrls

Bob brought a young squirrel into our basement years ago. It was an on going saga of epic proportion. Ending with a squirrel lady coming to the house and reaching behind the deep sink and hauling it out bare handed to take home to rehab.

[Poll_Blind]

18. Somewhere there's a mama squirrel without her baby.

PB

[Go Vols]

19. I have had

baby squirrels and coons both.I fed them warm sugar water for a few days,then evaporated milk with syrup,both from a syringe with a rubber nipple.

At a month or so old,I kept feeding the evaporated milk and syrup along with fruit and veggies until eventually they just eat fruit and veggies whenever they get hungry.I fed the coon fish and chicken too.

Both are good pets for awhile,I had boxes nailed to a tree for them to live in at prolly 2-3 months old.At 10+ months,the ones I have had just start coming around less and eventually are gone.

[HopeHoops]

20. Yeah, try to raise it as a pet. We just lost our deformed rabbit of six years. We loved him.

It's unlikely that you can get a squirrel back into its nest (and the touching it thing is a myth). You might need to use formula and an eyedropper for a while, but it should integrate well with your other creatures. Our dogs knew the difference between our cottontail and the outdoor ones, and they can even differentiate between the outdoor ones that are naughty and those that are well behaved. Just cuddle it a lot and try to get food into it. I've taken in two abandoned robin chicks. I hand fed them and they both learned to fly in our bathroom. Sadly, I couldn't teach either to forage on their own and both died.

As for our bunny, he lived a spoiled life instead of being eaten by a cat on his first night out of the nest. Six years is pretty good for a cotton tail. I just got back from buying a tombstone, burial shroud, and kale (the first food he ate in our house). The kids dug a pit. We'll do the ceremony about 4:30. I already miss him.

[librechik]

22. UPDATE: no one will take the squirrel for rescue in the area-It's still alive and drinking H20

The advice I was given is to put the animal at the base of the tree it fell out of and allow the squirrel mother to rescue it.

I don't like this--I foresee the cat bringing it back inside. Should I continue to care for it until it dies, keeping it away from being mauled at least? Or should I try the base of the tree stuff (have to guess which tree as I found it indoors at the base of the scratching post. )

aaarrrggghh