Elaine - 2006-01-18
I found a nest of 3 babies when the limb their nest was in fell, no hair, eyes closed, on 09/09/05. One female died immediately, most likely from internal injuries, but the other female and male I raised successfully, thanks to the internet and directions I received. Since they are supposed to open their eyes at 5 weeks, I estimated their birth date at 08/25/05... making them 4 months old Christmas Day. I have a nice 4 story cage for them, and turned them loose in my house during the day... and dearly loved them. They were soooo funny... and had their affectionate moments... but they are also VERY curious and into things they shouldn't be. I picked up the phone to make a call and it was dead... they chewed through the wire. Later, they chewed through 2 lamp wires, one while it was on. I heard this ominous snap, crackle, pop, ran in there and the lamp wire was a goner, and the squirrel was furiously rubbing its mouth on the carpet. I finally drug the cage outside, and after letting them get used to outdoors, opened the door. The cage is still by the big oak, and I leave snacks for them. They still come to me, and tolerate my petting them... the female more so than the male, she is much more affectionate and sociable. They sleep in the big oak, and one rainy night she returned to the cage and her warm dry nest, but he roughed it in the tree. I cried and cried when I let them go, and I'm usually out there before daylight waiting on the sun to come up so I can greet them... they brought me a LOT of pleasure and joy... and I fear that something will get them... but they seem a lot happier out there. I did bring the female inside to visit one day, and she enjoyed visiting her old haunts, and crawled in my lap and cuddled for a while, but then she would go back and forth to the door, and as time went on she'd get more frantic... so she was very happy to go back out to her tree. For now, I have to be content with them visiting me often and letting me pet them and feed them snacks. I did fall totally in love with them and would love to do it again. And again.

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debbie whitlock - 2005-12-22
my southern flying squirrel is a sweetheart! his name is chewey. my laborador, ruby, brought him into the yard on one very nasty and rainy day. she was pushing him around in a puddle while he loudly protested. upon trying to release chewey onto a huge oak tree in my yard-which i soon realized was not going to be successful- i brought him in the house to let him dry off and rest with the full intention of letting him go as soon as possible. looking closer it was easy to see that chewey was a very young squirrel, not more than 10 weeks old. once the poor thing realized that we werent going to hurt him he stopped trying to bite and began to allow us to hold him. we used gloves at first but now the only time i use gloves to touch chewey is when im ready to put him back in his enclosure and hes not ready to go. boy does he chirp his disapproval! chewey is about 19 or 20 weeks old now and has really bonded with me. hes really alot of fun to have around!

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Aniris - 2005-12-20
In november I got my very first flying squirrel. It is a little girl and i love her so much. she is so cute. her name is Faline(like in the movie Bambi!). we bonded very fast. I take her everywhere with me, she is so good. We play hide and go seek and when i find her i tap her on her nose and she goes runnig to hide again! we have such fun together.s he is my baby and i love her so much. :)

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Cassie, MA - 2005-11-27
I just recently got my squirrel. I automatically fell in love with him. His name is Rocky and my grandmother found him in her wood stove. She couldn't keep him so she gave him to my uncle, who, unfortunately, couldn't keep him either. So, he asked me if I wanted him. Of course, as an animal lover, I said I'd ask my mom. Mymom fell in love with him, too, and said we could keep him. I was a little afraid of him at first, because he was wild, well, we thought he was wild. But my uncle tried to let him go, but the next day, my grandmother found him in her cupboards, so to my house he went. Just the other day, I was going to clean his cage, and I went totake him to put him in his excercise ball, when my mom stopped me and took the cage intothe bahtroom. I followed her, and watched her carefully. She slowly opened his cage and reached in. Rocky got scared and started to dart about the cage, but my mom just slowly followed him with her hand. She finally got him and he got away.He ran around the bathroom, andI couldn't help but laugh. She finally caught him, and she held him close to her chest. She then said, "Open your pocket." I obeyed and she carefully put him in. He stayed and caught his breath. I reached in, and patted him. He still stayed right where he was.Without even thinking, I wrapped my hand around him, and pulled him out. He didn't squirm, he just looked ta me. It may not seem like much to those of you that hold your squirrels all the time, but it was something big to us. It was a big step in taming our new wild friend.

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Rocky and the Youngs - 2005-11-26
I just lost my pet squirrel Rocky :( We only had him for a week but his eyes were open and he had all his hair when my friend brought him to me to care for. I along with the kids and my wife fell in love instantly. He was just cutting his top teeth and nursing perfectly, preferred to sleep in my pocket and loved to sleep curled up in a little ball. He was so gentle, loving and left a big hole in our lives when he passed away suddenly just 3 days ago. After all the tears had been shed we held a small private graveside service followed by a song from my daughter. I explained to my kids that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, at 6 and 8 years old they completely understood! Don't take your pet for granted, and give him a little extra squeeze for the Young family!

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Bianca - 2005-11-26
I found my gray squirrel a year and 2 months ago. i was on my way home from school and i saw i dead squirrel laying in the road. well, me being Buddhist, I went over to the deceased squirrel to take it off of the road and bury it. But as i approached it, I saw that there was a little brown ball of fur next to it. When i picked it up, i saw that it was a baby squirrel. It was huddling up near its deceased mother in order to keep warm. So, i took the mother and the baby off of the road and buried the mother and took the little baby home with me. When i got home i called the nearest vet and told them what has happened and i asked them how to take care of it, and you will never guess what they told me to do, they told me to bring it in so that they could youthanize it. I was appauled by what the woman said, so i said, "Just because it is orphaned, and is a baby, you want to kill it?! I thought that you were supposed to help animals!" That was the end of that vet...anyway,i bought baby formula and fed it through a baby bunny bottle, and now ive had her ever since. She has never bittten me or anyone else. In fact, shes sleeping in my one arm right now, so im holding a squirrel in one arm and typing with the other!:)The funny thing is that when she was a baby i could have swore that it was a boy, so i named her Rodney, well, a year later it turns out that its a girl...by then she knew her name as Rodney, so it was too late for a new name.Shes a great pet, whoever said that squirrels are wild and will turn against you are NUTS.I love my squirrel more than anything in the world, and makes me happy to see that other people think so too. keep up the good work. by the way, i think im the only one that has a harness for little Rodney, and she is the luckiest squirrel around because she has the run of the house, thank goodness that she scratches at the door when she has to go outside! -Bianca,age 16 NY

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Gay - 2005-11-22
My name is Gay & I have a male grey squirrel named 'Rocky'. He's my heart. He is a survivor of Katrina. His family were all killed in the storm, his mother & siblings. He was found in Theodore, Alabama. He was only an inch or 2 long & looked like an embryo. His ears opened about a month later & his eyes the next week. I'm Mommy to him & he's a happy member of the family. He's very lovable but loves his independence. I don't keep him caged up. His cage is merely a place of security for him when there are children around or whatever.
I could go on & on about my friend Rocky. He's wonderful & I'm so glad he's part of my life......

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Rob Brown - 2005-11-13
Today I saved a baby gray squirrel from a cat. When I showed him to my kids we decided to keep him as a pet. I wasn't sure until reading all the wonderful things people have said about them on this website. We have named him Mr. Snuggles and look forward to making many fond memeroies with him.

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Jenna - 2005-10-19
about 2 yrs ago, I had a wonderful experiance. My cousin was over, and I found a baby red squirrel, under a tree. it was kinda cold, but it was still alive! We looked everywhere, but no sign of mama or anything else. we figured the mother kicked it out of the nest, either it was sick or because the teeth grew too large and it would die anyway. My cousin and I have rescued lots of wild animals, anywhere from mice to squirrels, baby birds and ducks. We made a nest for it in a shoebox, and fed it warm milk through an eye dropper. We stuck to regular feedings, and even woke extra early to feed him. we named him preston. after awhile, we stopped using rubber gloves. we knew he was no longer dangerous and we knew he had a chance. if he didn't, he would have died much sooner. He began to think of me as his mother and got very excited when feeding time arrived. we even bought him a little cage. he would climb up the sides trying to get to me! then a friend of ours, who knows about wildlife, said we were doing wrong and should immediatly take it to a specialist. and that it should be fed dogs milk instead of cows. well, he had already lived a week, was very active and loved us. he rode in our pocket and i took him everywhere. but we still brought him to a wildlife specailist, and i lost my little buddy. he went to live with more "special needs" squirrels. I think he would have lived on, but we did it anyway. I don't know where preston is today, but i hope he's alive and happy.

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christine - 2005-10-05
I have just gotten my first official squirrel about 3 weeks ago. His name is Dizzy.He fell out of a tree and ever since he kind of lost some of his coordination. I figured it would be safer for him not to be out in the wild on his own, for fear of what could happen to him at great heights. He is the most lovable pet I have ever had. When
I am home I let him roam and when I call for him, he actually comes running to me, like he knows his name! I am purchasing a squirrel to put with him so he's not lonely. He loves to lay on peoples laps and he rolls over for me to scratch his belly like a dog. Every day seems to be better as far as his balance and coordination. Hopefully my next squirrel will be as loving as Dizzy. Thanks for all the info. Christine and Dizzy

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