|
Tallahassee Democrat (FL) Baby creatures need fostering
Take a squirrel for a whirl All the movement made the baby squirrel nervous, so he ran up April Arrington's left arm and burrowed under her ponytail, hiding from the half-dozen people crowded into the room. He'd come out later, when it was quieter, to nurse his formula from a plastic syringe. Little squirrels aren't much different from infants in some ways, mewling when they want attention, fickle and cranky when it suits them. Depending on their moods, they'll curl up in your palm and drink quietly or squirm and climb like sugar-addicted toddlers. Getting them to eat one drop at a time is a long, messy process. That's why the St. Francis Wildlife Association needs foster parents for them. The animal-rehab group takes in as many as 600 sick, injured and abandoned baby gray squirrels a year, along with 50 or so flying squirrels. Each has to be fed every four hours - and watched over and kept warm - for up to three months. "We get so many that it's better to have volunteers raise them," said Jon Johnson, executive director of St. Francis. "They'll get a lot more attention that way. "You just have them for a little time in their life when they need you. Then, they're going to get independent and go on their way." Mainly orphans Dozens of squirrels are tucked away in the St. Francis animal hospital, a few country miles outside Havana. Most live in a row of screen-topped aquariums, across the room from the hawk cages. They're hard to see, curled up together under wadded towels - except for the pair on the end, who keep popping out to wrestle. At birth, they were hairless pink wigglers, tiny and blind. About a month later, they're the size of small kittens, with curious black eyes and blooming tails. All have survived one disaster or another, maybe blown out of their nests or attacked by other animals. They're usually orphans. St. Francis gets the squirrels from people all over North Florida, especially after storms in the late fall. Johnson, his staff and volunteers will keep them about 12 weeks, until they're old enough to forage on their own. They'll gradually be reintroduced to the outdoors, then set free in a safe place. Last week, Johnson held one in his palm and peered at its white-furred belly. The squirrel was swollen into a miserable little ball, eyes dull, whiskers drooping. A mother and her children had found him a few days before and tried to nurse him. Apparently, there's only one proper formula to give baby squirrels. Esbilac, for puppies, will keep them healthy. KMR, the kitty milk, won't. "They were feeding him KMR, so he's a little bloated," Johnson told a hospital staffer. "Dilute the milk a little and feed him some apple. The apple will act as a laxative." This one, like the five others with pneumonia, will stay in the hospital until he's better. The rest, ideally, will be placed with foster parents. Feeding process is slow They practiced with water in an empty yogurt cup, learning to draw it up and dribble it out from a 1-cc syringe. Three volunteers had shown up for squirrel training in a break room at a Mays-Munroe appliance store. Arrington, who works at the store, was teaching them how to feed the babies. She held up the syringe and put her thumb on the underside of the plunger, to keep it from going down. "I do this when I feed them because they'll try to suck it too fast," she said. "You have to do it slow. "They will get very frustrated with you." But annoyed squirrel or not, slow's the key, said Arrington, a St. Francis volunteer for six years. She explained: Squirrels have to drink the formula one drop at a time, one syringe at a time, until they're full. Go too fast and they can get milk in their lungs and develop pneumonia. Little ones can take four to six syringes at a feeding, the older ones nearly a dozen. They cup the end of the syringe with their paws when they nurse. Sometimes they grunt their contentment. "Do you have to burp them?" one woman asked. You don't - but you might have to help them urinate if they're young enough. Then they'll sleep, Arrington explained. 'It'll be fun' She'd brought about a dozen squirrels for the training. Arrington lifted them out one by one and passed them across the table to the cupped hands of her prospective foster parents. Grandmother Charlotte Jernigan filled a syringe with slightly warmed formula and offered it to a tiny squirrel while 7-year-old Jacob sat at her elbow, watching. The squirrel was nervous and shaking, but hungry. Jernigan, 54, and Jacob had decided to help after their own encounter with a baby squirrel last week. They'd found it in the yard of their east Tallahassee home and tried to care for it. They were enchanted by the little climber, Jernigan said. They weren't able to save it, though. After the squirrel died, she talked to someone at St. Francis who told her about the need for volunteers. She and Jacob were in a class the next day. "I think it's a really good experience," she said. "Kids need to learn that everything has a purpose. "And it'll be fun." Because the squirrels are happier with company, Jernigan decided to take three. She packed them into a cardboard box and covered them with crumpled paper towels. On her way out, she smiled when asked whether she was nervous. No way, she said. She'd raised three daughters already, so feeding and housing a few squirrels would be a piece of cake. But letting them go later, now that could be tough.
The first three months For the first six to eight weeks of their lives, the squirrels should be kept in an aquarium with a lid and a constant heat source. Use a 1-cc syringe to feed them Esbilac formula, mixed with small amounts of whipping cream, about every three to four hours. Watch for diarrhea and pneumonia. At eight weeks, they can be moved to a wire cage with a small cardboard box and some towels inside. They will sleep in the box and use the cage for litter, exercise and eating. They'll begin to lap formula from a bowl and eat seeds and vegetables. About 10-12 weeks, you can return them to St. Francis for release. For more information, contact the St. Francis Wildlife Association or visit www.stfranciswildlife.org/. IF YOU CAN HELP You need to . . . *Be 18 or older. *Be able to feed a squirrel at least five times a day. Some volunteers take their squirrels to work in a small, lidded box. *Have room for a squirrel cage or aquarium in a place inaccessible to cats and dogs. *Commit to taking care of the animals for about 12 weeks. For the first six to eight weeks of their lives, the squirrels should be kept in an aquarium with a lid and a constant heat source.At eight weeks, they can be moved to a wire cage with a small cardboard box and some towels inside. At about 10-12 weeks, you can return them to St. Francis for release. The St. Francis Wildlife Association needs
10 to 15 volunteers to help raise this fall's batch of baby squirrels.
If you're interested, call the association at 386-6296. |