chipmaker
06-19-2005, 11:12 AM
Some of you may remember the just born bay squirrel I found on the ground while outside surveying the damages incurred by Hurricane Ivan right after it was safe to ventur outside. Well Ivan is actually more of a Ivanna than an Ivan but Ivan is her name anyhow....It was only fitting. She is as tame as can be, and actually runs all over those little fur babies the wife has (miniature dachshunds) and routinley gets up on my German Shepherd both to sleep or use as a stepping stone........All the dogs have basically acepted her except for the Spitz. No way can you let Ivana have free run of the house htough without supervison, being a typical squirrel, but she likes ot set on your shoulder, or crawl inside a shirt etc. She loves the leg pockets on my BDU's pants.........Her home is a cage made out of 1" x 1"welded wire 6'high x 18" deep by 4' wide, which sets on a steel base made out of tube with a catch pan. In her cage is a nice large limb from a Oak tree with a nice fork in it, as well as a house made out of pine, and a 1" diameter cotton rope that hangs down from the top that she loves to swng and run up and down on. Of course the wife being the wife, has to buy all her babies something on every trip to town, so Ivan's cage also has a vast array of toys and other items to keep her amused. Again being a squirrel, means things normally do not last long unless they are made of ceramics or metals. I usually have to make her a new house about every 2 months, as she will literally chew her house apart, even though she has numerous things in the cage to chew on. Her favorite foods are vanillla wafers and pretzels, but she usually gets a complete diet of proper feeds and fresh veggies and nuts with the shells on.......I often take her outside on her harness and leash, and she has a blast scampering up and down the trees and exploring stuff. Wev have let her loose already, and have not had any problems in gettng her to come back and go inside, but the wife really does not want to chance things like that.
Ivan gets up late and goes to bed early.....and gets really upset if you disturb her when sleeping.....don't most females? She gets to the point she will start to chatter up a storm when she gets too upset over being disturbed......
I think if this squirrel was let loose outside it wold not make it, as she has no fear of any dogs, since she was raised with them. Shew could probably find food just fine as well as shelter, but I suspect her lack of fear would do her n quick, so she is destined to reside where she is at....
Its amazing how sharp their teeth are. I put in a piece of rock maple, and in no time it was just chips, and that stuff will dull a saw blade pretty quickly......She has yet to bit any of us, but likes to lick or nibble on you, which I guess is she is just getting minerals or salt, even though she has a slat lick in her cage. Overall, a noisy critter when she does not get her way, pretty darn messy in regards to shells of nuts etc getting on the floor, but probably no worse than the average cage bird.
Ivan gets up late and goes to bed early.....and gets really upset if you disturb her when sleeping.....don't most females? She gets to the point she will start to chatter up a storm when she gets too upset over being disturbed......
I think if this squirrel was let loose outside it wold not make it, as she has no fear of any dogs, since she was raised with them. Shew could probably find food just fine as well as shelter, but I suspect her lack of fear would do her n quick, so she is destined to reside where she is at....
Its amazing how sharp their teeth are. I put in a piece of rock maple, and in no time it was just chips, and that stuff will dull a saw blade pretty quickly......She has yet to bit any of us, but likes to lick or nibble on you, which I guess is she is just getting minerals or salt, even though she has a slat lick in her cage. Overall, a noisy critter when she does not get her way, pretty darn messy in regards to shells of nuts etc getting on the floor, but probably no worse than the average cage bird.