Helping the Little Critters

My friend over at Grey and Red discusses how to properly care for squirrels. Her advice on how to distract them from taking up residence in the attic is especially wise.

How can we care for them? Can we care for them without drawing an army of them to our property?: Is this a project for a Girl Scout troop or some other service organization?

It isn't all that hard to care for squirrels in the wild, particularly because most of them are self-sufficient and, for the most part, they don't really need us. But it's nice to help, where we can.

A good project (yes, for the Scouts or any other community groups) would be to build squirrel nest-boxes. These are rectangular-shaped wooden boxes that can be hung securely in the trees, providing squirrels with extra warmth and shelter particularly during the winter months.

Nest-box patterns can be found online, including this very good one.

The squirrel entry hole should be on the side, as noted.

Shelter is a big deal and a fine way to care for squirrels because building these boxes means they won't take up residence in someone's attic. Squirrels would rather live in the trees, anyway.

Setting up squirrel feeding stations doesn't hurt either. Platform feeders are nice (although be careful here, you could end up attracting pigeons, rats and feral cats too). Better to skip the feeding stations and instead plant shrubs and care for trees that provide squirrels with leaves, berries and other natural foods.

One final thought: If you find a baby squirrel you should always first try to reunite the baby with its mother (making sure to keep the baby warm and wrapped and out of harm's way if it is an eyes-closed, hairless baby that cannot control its own body temperature). If the baby's mom cannot be found, it is important to find a wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible; by no means attempt to feed the little one, you can do more harm than good by feeding the wrong thing, or feeding improperly and aspirating the squirrel too.

Baby squirrels are born as early in the year, here in New York, as late February (for the spring season) and sometimes, in the fall, as late as October.