On this third day since I grabbed little Spip from the grass where he laid hurt and cold, all is well. For those who missed our first installment, Spip Mac Squeak is a 3 to 4 weeks old gray squirrel. I found it squealing in despair with a bite on the end of its tail by the side of the sidewalk. No nest was to be found so home it came. After warming it up, he seemed active enough. Happily, my little sister was around to gather the necessary stuff to ensure its survival, electrolyte water to rehydrate it and then replacement puppy milk formula to feed it adequately and the syringe delivery system with a small tube for both. If I am the little critter’s ersatz of a mom, that would make her its putative aunt 😉 .
Spip was not fond of the Pedialyte ( in part because we forgot to get the fruit scented one? ) and became a little lethargic in the following hours. Simili puppy milk is much more to its taste though. Since that appeared, in barely more than a day, Spip has learned to grasp the plastic tube and drink from it. The thing is very adaptable and it would really have been a pity to let it die. I then began adding fat ( whipping cream ) to make the mix richer and allow him/her to bulk up a bit. So far so good. Reassured that survival is on its way, I will now compute its needs to last until weaning and order proper squirrel formula from the lone maker :
http://www.foxvalleynutrition.com/product-lines/milkreplacers/
A word of warning though, both the puppy and species specific stuffs are pricey and you simply can’t feed squirrels much of anything else. Which brings us to what you should do in such a case.
Depending on where you live, there may or may not be services that rescue squirrels. If there are, that is where the animal should go. Not only is the food hard to find but squirrels need to grow up with their kind in order to be equipped for release and survival through socialization. Sadly, these shelters don’t exist everywhere. America and Europe have them but not equally by region. In California, many counties have them while in some states they have none and many squirrel hunters instead. Still, if one is available, especially if you found a lone baby, bring it there! In the contrary, brace yourself. Not only does the young rodent need that special food and company, it also requires feeding every 3 to 4 hours ( at the age Spip is ) and ideally a little play time as it gets older. On top of that, it is a difficult balance to care for it without pushing bonding too far so that it can be released later to the wild where it belongs.
Already in 2 days +, Spip had to be “weaned” of excessive fondness for its saviour, yours truly. If I had let it, it would have taken to sleeping only in my hand? So that just as with a human baby, I had to teach it to manage without “mommy”. In turn, that led to it escaping its nesting box while I was running errands and a long search when back to find it. One good thing came out of this crisis though : Spip is now content with its warm ( new closing ) box! As a human baby and child would have, it learned from its experience.
The promises shown in this and how well it learned to manage to feed from the awkward nipple replacement device point to a bright future. Many steps are still to come, already under review, preparation and some to prove crucial. If the adventures of Spip MacSqueak touched your heart, stay tuned and accompany us. Next time, we’ll post a picture of our little star.
Good day all, Tay.
Definitive Lapse of Reason 