Did you know that squirrels purr?

[crim son]

My oldest son found a baby squirrel with an injured paw and after being unable to guess where its momma was, brought the little guy home. He's about five inches long, not including his tail and man, he's the cutest thing! He purrs, he licks like a cat, and he rolls over to be scratched on his tiny little tummy.

Yes, we know we can't keep him, but it's too late to get him to the animal rescue place, so he's spending the night in a shoebox filled with soft things and raisins!

[siligut]

1. Sounds adorable.

I have a friend who kept a squirrel as a pet. I didn’t know he purred though.

[mainegreen]

2. No I did not. I did know they hiss however.

[crim son]

5. We haven't seen this guy hiss yet.

I'm completely amazed by how much he likes to be held. I have a couple of pics of him snuggling up with my daughter which I'll try to post another time. I know he's wild and can probably be vicious or afraid, but Larry, as he's now called, seems to like human attention. Weird.

[Shell Beau]

3. I have taken in a baby squirrel that was abandoned by its mom.

I found him on the sidewalk in the July heat. He would have burned up. But I took him home and fed him until I was able to get him to the vet.

It is important to make sure they stay warm (not sure how big your little fellow is, mine still hadn't opened his eyes). I fed him baby formula every couple of hours and used a warm rag to make him go to the bathroom. Kinda like the mom would lick him to make him go. He was so sweet and cute! Good luck.

[crim son]

6. Awww, that's cute, Shell Beau.

I did read up on the care of babies, and this squirrel is no pink baby, but is about hamster sized, very furry with a long tail. We cracked some of the birdseed for him, and he liked that. He's drinking water from a cup!

[GOPisEvil]

8. My parents did, too.

They kept him/her until it needed to go off on its own. For a couple of years he/she returned and let my parents feed him/her by hand.

[Lil Missy]

4. Be careful it doesn't bite. They can be mean.

I did hear a squirrel once. After my dog caught one.

[crim son]

7. That's true. I'm still shocked that he hasn't even tried yet.

He does, however, lick the kids' fingers! I think he was just in shock and is going to be okay.

Our old house had a long drive lined with nine ancient oak trees, and we had so many squirrels it was frustrating... until we got the three cats. There were a few tragic squirrel deaths and then they stopped coming by for acorns.

[Inchworm]

9. Careful

It is probably a scout for a large landing party.

Squirrels are shifty.

:hi:

[WCGreen]

10. Almost as bad as gophers on golf courses

[Lethe]

11. they are cute but they can do some serious damage

i had a family living in my attic - first they bit through my AC condensation return hose which flooded the house everytime the AC turned on - then they bit through a wire in an electrical box which severed the power to whole right hand side of my house.

after repairing everything i put up a wall of wire in the attic vent...only way to keep them out


i still think they are cute though

[LostInAnomie]

12. Be careful. They can carry parasites and can be VERY mean.

They bite!

[quakerboy]

13. Why can't you keep him?

[Kali]

14. yes

we have one in the house from last summer. It has been really interesting. They do a lot of things I never knew about. Ours is "toilet trained" - it goes in a flower pot and never pees or poops on the floor when it is out.

[Mugu]

15. When I was a kid (late 50's)

we had a pet skunk. It's a pet that I'll never forget. To this day I won't allow anybody to harm a skunk.

[Lorien]

16. Sounds like he's already imprinted on you

That happened with a baby raccoon a friend brought to me once. He found her in a toll booth plaza on the freeway with no sign of mom anywhere. She was just a little wild thing until I fed her, then it was like a switch flipped in her brain and she decided that I was mom. I never had an animal love me that intensely! Fortunately The local wildlife rehab place took her in a month or so later and taught her to bond with her fellow raccoons while fearing humans.

I think your little guy will be OK. I hope that a professional wildlife rehabilitator can take him in soon!

My little girl Velcro:

[crim son]

18. Isn't that the cutest thing!

Velcro... I like it better than "Larry"! When the boys found him, he was hopping on the ground. It was pouring rain and the little guy just kept purring and chirping at them. But you did the right thing getting Velcro rehab and we must do that with Larry.

[Tom Kitten]

17. I saw a squirrel running along on a telephone wire today chasing a butterfly

Yesterday I was walking home and passed by a six foot fence and happened to to look up and see a squirrel that was just sitting there looking at me. I said "Hello squirrel how are you doing are you enjoying this fine Spring day?" He seemed to ponder this and then went on his way. I like squirrels, before the tree in front of my window was cut down (it was old and diseased) squirrels would climb up and down it all the time but stop and take a look at me watching them...

[crim son]

19. I like them too, although there is such a thing as too many squirrels

on one's property. We have cats and only one oak tree at the new place, so there are very few of the critters here.

[crim son]

20. dupe, delete

[cwydro]

21. I didn't know that.

We rescued a little squirrel once, when I was a youngster. My dad brought him back to health and then released him back into our yard.

We always could tell which one he was, because he would just sit there when we approached and not run away. He liked to sit on a branch near the kitchen window and look in.

[MineralMan]

22. While it's probably not a great idea,

squirrels do make cool pets if you get them young like the one you found. All rodents tame easily when young, and continue to be tame through their adulthood. They'll bite if roughly handled, like most small animals, but not just for grins.

I had one for several years as a youngster. It was about the age of the one you found when I found it, and it was a friendly and amusing pet through its lifetime. It rode around on my shoulder or on the top of my head and generally did silly, amusing things.

They do gnaw on things, but a supply of hazelnuts available is adequate for their gnawing needs. Gnawing keeps their teeth from overgrowing, and they like what's inside the hazelnut's hard shell, so they're happy to gnaw on those.

Again, it's probably not the best idea to keep a rescued squirrel, but it has been done countless times by kids with tolerant parents.

If you decide to keep it, it probably has fleas, which you can get rid of with a pet store flea bath product and a bath.

[applegrove]

23. I found a baby squirrel on the road one time. Right there in the middle of an intersection.

I stopped and picked him up. I found some woods far away from cats for him. I hope he survived.

[deucemagnet]

24. Careful!

[doc03]

25. Squirrels are very tasty little

critters. :hide: