Build a Squirrel Cage & Help Save Baby Squirrels!

I know it’s been centuries in squirrel-years since I last posted, but this one landed in my lap, and it’s for a great cause:

Empty Cages Collective, an Alliance Participating Organization, was inundated with orphaned baby gray squirrels this fall.  These babies were orphaned when their nest trees were cut down, their mother were hit by cars or indiscriminately poisoned with poison intended for rats. Most of these babies were “pulled” from Animal Care & Control where they were at risk of being unnecessarily killed.  Others were rescued by the general public. Through timeless dedication, most of the babies survived and thrived and it is now overdue to prepare for their eventual fall (and for the younger ones, spring) release.

When rehabilitated grey squirrels are released back into the wild, a nest box needs to be placed in the area (per squirrel) where the release is happening so as to help them adjust to living the wild life.  This is especially important with autumn babies who will not have the whole summer to find food in warmer weather.  We really need to get some squirrel nest boxes made as buying them (about $60-75 a pop plus shipping) is completely unfeasible for ECC’s modest budget.

Empty Cages Collective is in desperate need for people with carpentry skills (or friends with carpentry skills) to step forward to help us build squirrel nest boxes.  We are also in need of donated wood - as we would prefer to use recycled wood fiber left over from other projects instead of buying new as some of the squirrels we have were orphaned when their nest trees were cut down.

I am including a few plans on tree squirrel nest boxes for all of your perusal:

http://www.agfc.com/!userfiles/pdfs/free/squirrel_boxes.pdf <http://www.agfc.com/%21userfiles/pdfs/free/squirrel_boxes.pdf

http://www.dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/wasquirrel.asp

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/conservationstrategy/naturescaping/docs/squirrelbox.pdf

Please contact me if you think you can help!

Best,

The Empty Cages Collective

ph 800-880-2684

http://emptycages.petfinder.com

http://emptycagescollective.wordpress.com

So Sorry!

One day, I’ll get better about keeping up with squirrel news. I’m swamped — in a good way — these days, and so my poor squirrels get put on the backburner (where, as we know, they’d be eaten, if I lived in the U.k.) When things calm down, I hope to revive the squirrels.

Squirrels Get Desperate in Duluth Winter Temps

Duluth News Tribune outdoors columnist Sam Cook explains that while Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel is whiling away her winter in sunny Florida, he’s been driven to “full-skitter alert” for the sound of squirrels as they try to escape the sub-freezing temps and seek a little shelter in his house.

He’s not alone, he writes:

“I hope we are better off than one woman who wrote me after reading of our squirrel issue. She live-trapped squirrels or ground squirrels that presumably were getting in her house — and drowned 36 of them. Despite that, she still had squirrels in her house.”

For the Luxury Squirrel Art Collector

W Hotels is selling their white ceramic “squirrel ring holder” for a mere $120.

Nurses Plan Counter-Attack Against British Squirrels

According to the Telegraph, nurses who work in rural areas in the U.K. are under assault by squirrels, and are now being instructed to “walk in pairs” to avoid violent confrontations and to “make loud noises” to scare them off. (When has that ever worked?)

“One district nurse was left with “reddening of the scalp” after being attacked.

In her “squirrel attack report” she wrote: “On walking up farm access I was jumped upon by a squirrel. Then another landed on my head.” She rated the “severity of incident” as “insignificant to catastrophic”.

That’s quite a big range, no? Insignificant to catastrophic?

The article ends with an equally puzzling sentence:

“Last year, inventor Mike Madden suffered whiplash after a squirrel leapt on him as he tested a head-mounted bird feeding try in Huddersfield.”

(He put a bird feeder on his head? This is like holding out a bloody steak in your hand and then blaming a dog for biting you.)

On Squirrel Appreciation Day: Honoring America’s Kaibab Squirrel

(PHOTO CREDIT: Kaibab Squirrel at Grand Canyon, originally uploaded by Live Simply.)

The kaibab squirrel is a white-tailed squirrel found only in the Grand Canyon region of Arizona.

Today, on Squirrel Appreciation Day, the workers of the Kaibab National Forest designated more than 200,000 acres of the parks to the kaibab squirrel. In response, Squirrels Squirrels Squirrels hereby bequeaths a giant acorn to the KNF!

From the Prescott Daily Courier:

“Dr. Joseph D. Hall, who conducted [an] evaluation on the squirrel and its habitat, stated that the Kaibab squirrel is, in a local way, as significant a species as the finches Charles Darwin studied on the Galapagos Islands.

Like the finches of the Galapagos, natural geographic boundaries including the Grand Canyon have restricted the Kaibab squirrel’s movement and allowed it to evolve into the species seen today.”

Forget Tuesday, Wednesday is Squirrel Appreciation Day!!!

Sorry to all my loyal readers for my long absence, I’ve been befallen by both bronchitis and a case of the lazies.

Thankfully, I didn’t miss the most important day of year: Squirrel Appreciation Day, this Wednesday.

Not sure how to celebrate? Here’s some tips from wildlife rehabilatator Christy Hargrove, who is credited with founding this special day.

According to this press release, “Hargrove suggests leaving an extra treat out in your backyard, such as seeds, nuts or suet. Or she recommends simply learning something new about the furry species. For example, do you know what baby squirrels are called?”

(Answer: pups.)

Finally: My Own Squirrel Photo!!!

I love squirrels but I don’t live near any, meaning I don’t get to enjoy them on a daily basis.

But this week we’re house-sitting in Coyoacan, a neighborhood in southern Mexico City. And there’s several fantastic, noisy, social squirrels roaming about the property, enjoying the lush gardens. One of them (below) looks like a typical squirrel, the other one is dark brown and has a very thin tail – not sure what species he/she is. They are having a fun time barking at my dog, who, in turn, is barking back.

They’re also falling prey to my lens!

Pete the Purple Squirrel Stumps Students

The Daily Mail has an article today on Pete, a squirrel that hangs around a school in Hampshire, U.K.

What makes Pete so interesting is that he’s purple:

Read the article to find out what may be behind Pete’s purple coat! And here are more photos.

Squirrels Are Donning Their Winter Coats

Wearing my Winter…, originally uploaded by mudder_bbc.

It’s a cold one out there in the U.S.! Stay warm everyone!