Squirrel Release - Squirrel Rescue Story Part Four

Update 4/30/2013
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Young Squirrel came home this morning.  
My friend Sarah arrived shortly before 8 a.m. to witness the event. Shortly after 8, Melissa arrived with two volunteers. The squirrel was covered by a blanket inside in a towel-covered crate.  

At the same time, a mama bunny was feeding her babies in the back yard at the base of the tree the sibling squirrel had clung to after I carted the sister off to rescue.  So we calmly walked around the other side of the yard and Melissa set the crate down at a tree near the back of my property. 

Melissa removed the towel, opened the crate, removed tiny containers of food and water, plus the blanket, then stepped back.  At this point we had 5 people in the back yard, two of us with cameras, and a squirrel that didn't seem inclined to leave.  

Melissa walked back and tilted the crate.  Young squirrel clung to the walls of the crate, but eventually leapt out, then onto a nearby tree.  We expected her to climb up, but instead, she clung and watched us.  I could see her chest heaving as she breathed.  Then, she leapt down, onto another tree and back off, then over to the fence and into the neighbor's yard.  Last we saw, she was hanging on that fence before disappearing into that wooded back yard.  

Success.  This young squirrel had a traumatic start on her road to independence.  We've done what we could, now it's up to her.  

Latest photo of the teen girl squirrel below.  I've continued to see her off and on.  My neighbor asked how I knew it was her.  Honestly, I didn't know how to explain.  So I went out to take a photo and sure enough - see the scar?  Near her shoulder blade.  Of course, I can't see that from a distance.  A connection?  Some subtle characteristics?  Makes no matter.  Sometimes you just know. 

Squirrel Rescue Story- Part Three - Richmond Wildlife Rescue

I "friended" Melissa Stanley on Facebook several years ago after we met briefly at an event sponsored by an animal welfare group we were both supporting at the time.  I believe it was Joey Stanley, her beloved mutt who had his own page, who sent the friend request.  Melissa was actively involved at the time with raising awareness about canine cancer, since Joey had been stricken and was a survivor. I was showing and selling my art at an event to raise money for a local canine cancer awareness group. As years passed, Melissa began posting about wildlife rescue as well.  The next thing I knew, she was on her own, raising funds with the dream of opening her own facility to not only rescue, but house and rehabilitate the injured.  So I "cyberstalked" and checked on her posts now and again.  This girl was going to make it happen.  

And so she did.  I wish the facility had been opened when I rescued a Cooper's Hawk off of I-295 after it careened into the corner of a tractor trailer.   

At any rate, the Richmond Wildlife Center and Animal  Services of Richmond opened very recently in the Midlothian area of metro Richmond, making it accessible to nearby counties. And not too soon for my injured squirrel.  The facility is on the second floor above the Winterfield Veterinary Hospital. The use of the space is generously donated by the landlord of the building.  Although they are not affiliated and are completely separate entities, Winterfield does generously donate the use of equipment if needed, and their reception staff will notify RWC when a rescue client arrives. Donation is the key word I heard over and over when talking with Melissa.  This 501 C-3 operates on the generosity of others.  I'll get back to this at the end of this post. 

I asked Melissa about the two names - Richmond Wildlife Center (the business entity) and Animal Services of Richmond (the corporate name.)  In short, this allows the facility to be a full-service practice which provides service not only to native wildlife, but also to non-native (exotic) species that may be kept as companion animals.  For example, the young squirrel would be the former, the Pekin duck and Mute Swan that were rehabilitated earlier this spring would be the latter.  While she is in no way "in competition" with local veterinarians, many do not service exotic animals, so this gives those animals in distress another option for care. 

Once I had the squirrel ready to go, I loaded her in my van and headed to the center.  I had been on the phone several times with Melissa during the rescue attempts, but my call kept dropping (thanks Verizon!) At least we were able to communicate well enough to know I was doing the right things or have her direct me with instruction, and finally to let Melissa know I was on the way once I was able to contain the youngster.  Which, by the way, quoting Melissa, "Comparing her to a human, she is a rambunctious teenager and very wild now. She is technically classified as a juvenile here in our center." 

When I arrived, I'd been requested to leave the squirrel in the car.  Since the rescue facility is on the 2nd floor of a veterinarian office, it wasn't a good idea to risk mixing domestic and wild animals.  Melissa also had told me to keep the car ambient and quiet, to keep the stress level down if possible during the ride. Once they assessed the size of the squirrel, they very quickly were able to move her to critical care.  First I filled in a page with basic info, who, what, where, how, basically.  The entire transfer could not have taken more than 5 minutes and I was on my way home. 

What impressed me was 1. how calm Melissa and her volunteer were and 2. how organized they were.  I was handed a business card with a patient i.d. number so I could check on the squirrel. And that I did.  Melissa very nicely handled each of my questions with direct answers and not once did she treat me as if I was intruding on her time. Considering it is spring and she and her volunteers are incredibly busy, that speaks volumes. Our goal has been the same - either humanely euthanize the creature if she could not be helped, or nurse it back to health and bring her home. 

I will add here what Melissa has told me about the care of the squirrel at the facility.  "Your squirrel on arrival was put under anesthesia and her wounds were cleaned thoroughly. She was scrubbed with betadine and her deep wounds were flushed with sodium chloride. She did very well during the procedure and she was on pain meds for several days and on antibiotics for 14 days. We had to hand feed her twice a day as her lower incisors had been knocked loose. This was no easy task and required 2 people and thick safety gloves in order to feed her. 

She was moved outdoors several days ago to begin the acclimation process. She is still on schedule to be released tomorrow, weather pending."

So, there ends Part Three of the squirrel rescue story.  Can you imagine feeding a wild squirrel with gloves? I have nothing but admiration for the determination of those who do this type of work and volunteering. 

Depending on how the release goes, I may post a Part Four. I will do a follow-up at the very least. 

Now, back to donations.  As with any non-profit, Richmond Wildlife Center depends on the generosity of others. Melissa speaks well of her corporate sponsors as well as the local veterinary community for their donations of time, personnel and equipment. I plan to offer a donation, and based on what I've experienced with this squirrel, I know it will barely begin to cover costs.  But a little is better than none.  For anyone interested in donating, go to this portion of the website for  Animal Services of Richmond more information.  

Or simply write a check to either Animal Services of Richmond or Richmond Wildlife Center and mail it to :  

Animal Services of Richmond

P.O. Box 14694

Richmond, Va 23221

Squirrel Rescue Story - Part Two

To start from the beginning, go here. 

Once the squirrel was safely inside the cat crate, I picked it up to move to my yard.  Of course, again she began screaming bloody murder.  I knew this baby was in pain, and she was badly injured, but she was feisty and very much alive. I was able to see a puncture wound on her back and Danielle, the young neighbor lending me a hand, saw one on her face. (Now we know there were more.)

I took the crate to my side door and covered it with a towel, to help calm her.  She stopped screaming when I set the crate down.  Poor thing, during the rescue her chest was heaving and her tiny chin quivering in fear and pain.  I know squirrels are rodents and can be destructive, but I cannot leave any creature to die a slow death if I can help it.  I left the quiet crate and went indoors to feed my dogs and prep a few things before heading to Richmond Wildlife Center.  As I took my dogs out after dinner, one at a time, I peeked around the corner to check on the crate. It hadn’t been 10 minutes at most since I’d left her by the side door.  I assumed Mama squirrel would be nearby, but I was surprised to see she had removed the towel and was sitting on top of the crate.  When I loaded the crate into the car, Mama squirrel was right there with us.  I know she would have gotten in the van if I had left the door open.  All I could do was tell her I wasn’t planning to harm her baby, and if I could, I’d bring her back. 

I left Danielle to sit with my dogs, and headed to Richmond Wildlife Center. (more about this in Part Three) I texted Danielle after dropping off the young squirrel to let her know I was on my way home.  Her reply made my heart drop: “...I saw Gregory playing with a squirrel....”  NOOOOOOO.  was all I could think. (Gregory is my youngest dog, and at first we thought he was responsible for the injuries.)

Fast forward to home:  I arrived and did a yard walk.  Danielle had not seen any when she went to get Gregory, I didn't see any, either.  I let the dogs out.  Gregory was on a leash.  As we walked past a tree I saw a large hunk of black fur, about eye level.  I moved close.  It moved, too.  I whipped my head around - a baby squirrel.  Another baby, slowly circling, inching up the tree as I watched.  

Inside we all went.  After 30 minutes or so, I went back out to see.  This youngster was still clinging to the tree.  I couldn’t see any injuries, but I had no way to get close. If it was the sibling, it had been a terrifying day.  I had no choice but to leave this one alone, hoping it would venture back down.  Dusk began to fall.  I went out to my deck to watch the baby, zooming in on the silhouette.  Still clinging.  I watched.  After about 8 minutes or so, the low buzz of birds and insects was suddenly broken by the most piercing, guttural chirp in four short bursts.  The baby.  Before the last chirp ended, I heard the claws-on-bark sound of Mama squirrel, zooming down her tree. I watched her scoot across the leaves to her baby.  In half a second, she placed her front paws on the trunk of that tree and then back down to the ground.  She turned and continued in the opposite direction. What? In another few seconds, the Mama had traversed her runway of tree limbs above, and scooted down to her baby.  I could see some commotion.  Then it stopped.  More commotion.  Then quiet.  I stared at the spot, but then I heard it.  The rustling leaves and I looked down barely quickly enough to see Mama heading back across the yard, and up the tree to her nest.   

I headed out to the yard to be sure there was no injured baby.  He was gone.  I can only assume Mama squirrel either carried or coaxed her youngster down and home. The sun had set and in the twilight it was hard to tell.  As I walked under her tree and looked far above my head, I could see the silhoutte of Mama squirrel against the dark, cobalt sky as she lay across a short, broken branch that juts from the base of her nest.  She appeared to be surveying the yard, as a sentinel high in the mast of a ship.  She must have known where this youngster was all along.  Had she waited for him to crawl down on his own? Was it tough love, but there if she was needed? She was certainly ready when he called for her help.  I sighed, speaking words of encouragement and apology to Mama Squirrel, and went back inside for the night. 

I may have rescued a young squirrel from a painful death, but this day Mama Squirrel, who risked her life to defend and rescue her nearly grown youngsters, was my hero.  

Next up, Part III - Richmond Wildlife Center and how Baby Squirrel is doing. 

Quick update 4/13/2013 - Baby squirrel wounds are healing, but she is not eating on her own and is currently being hand-fed.  

Squirrel Rescue Story

This past Friday, as I sat right here at my breakfast table, looking out the double window that overlooks nearly my entire back yard, I heard high-pitched screeching.  Horrible, high-pitched screaming, that could only be an animal.  I was pretty sure it was a squirrel and my assumption was that a roaming cat had captured one.  

I leapt to run out the back porch door. My hound Gabby was faster than I and already out the screen door. I closed the other dogs inside and rushed to the fence on my side property line to find a ball of screaming, gray fur.  With Gabby there, the ball came apart and two squirrels ran chattering and fussing up the nearby tree to their nest.  Suddenly, by my foot, a 3rd young squirrel bolted upright and ran through the picket fence posts to my neighbor's yard. As I watched I realized this squirrel was injured...it couldn't seem to stay on the post, or make it back to the tree.  It tried to climb on and in the black compost bin my neighbor keeps. In a matter of seconds, it hid against the bin. 

I ran inside, pulling Gabby with me.  I grabbed a towel, then into the garage for my cat crate, out the side door to my neighbor's front door, ringing the bell.  I explained there was an injured squirrel in his yard and I'd be there trying to capture it.  His daughter came out to help, thankfully, because I needed her.  With one of us on either side of the fence, our goal was to keep the squirrel from getting back to my yard, which is full of trees, shrubs and brush and would provide her with too many places to hide and die.  At one point the mother squirrel came rushing back out when the youngster began hollering again, only to leap on her baby and begin biting her.  At the time, I believe she was trying to pick her up as a mother cat carries her kittens, but the wound between the youngster's shoulder blades must have made the attempts painful.  So more screaming ensued and after a few seconds of tousling, the baby landed on her back.  I swooped in and grabbed her, but not well. The baby screamed again, the mother came flying and baby got away.  To shorten this part of the episode, I eventually was able to toss a towel completely over the youngster.  I let her rest for a few moments then gently picked her up and put her in the cat crate.  Of course, more screaming and mother squirrel was there for the entire process. 

If you've never heard a wild animal scream, it is unmistakeable.  I knew squirrels chattered, but the pain and fear this scream contained was blood-curdling.  It was a piercing sound, like a hawk;  a squeal, like a rabbit; and a growling, guttural sound like an angry cat all put into one. What hit me later, was that during this episode, the mother squirrel was the only one that responded (besides me) and my yard has no shortage of squirrels.  Mothers know the sounds of their babies. 

I was able to take the young squirrel to rescue.  Newly opened Richmond Wildlife Center, where she remains currently.  I don't yet know her prognosis - I won't be surprised to find her spine is damaged - but so far she is resting and alive.  If she will eat and heals well, we'd like to release her back here where her home is. 

The rescue, however, isn't the fascinating part. It was watching the interaction of the squirrel mother and her babies - yes there is another youngster that became part of this story.  And since no one likes a long blog post...that will be Part II.