🐿️ A tiny ER patient gave me major nostalgia this week...

What raising hundreds of baby squirrels taught me about wild renesting & rehab! On Wednesdays We Wear Scales 🦎💅 A midweek check-in from your favorite pink-haired reptile nurse. Hey! Grab your iced coffee, because an unexpected visitor walked into the ER clinic a couple of nights ago and sent me on a massive trip down memory lane! Look at the photo below, that is a tiny, sleeping baby squirrel who presented on shift. Seeing this little guy instantly brought me back about 10 years ago, when I had just started as the Animal Care Manager at a wildlife rehabilitation facility down in Washington, D.C. I worked there for about three years, and during my time in wildlife rehab, I literally raised hundreds of baby squirrels. Holding this little peanut again brought all those early feeding schedules, warm incubator checks, and wild release milestones rushing right back. Renesting First, Rehab Second 🌲 When people find a tiny squirrel on the ground, their very first instinct is usually to pick it up, bring it inside, and try to rescue it. But in the wildlife world, mom is always the absolute best rehabilitator. If you stumble across a baby squirrel that appears uninjured, cold, or displaced from a nest after a storm, here is the official step-by-step protocol to try and get them back home: 1. Check for Injuries & Warm Them Up: If the baby is bleeding, covered in flies/ants, or injured, it needs a licensed rehabilitator immediately. If it's just cold and uninjured, place a warm water bottle or heating pad under a soft cloth inside a small box to warm the baby up first. Mom won't retrieve a cold baby! 2. Set Up a Safe Renesting Box: Place the warm baby in an open box lined with soft t-shirts (avoid towels with loops that snag tiny claws) and secure the box high up in a tree or off the ground near where you found them. 3. Give Mom Time: Keep pets and humans completely away from the area and observe from a distance. Mother squirrels are incredible mothers and will actively carry their babies back to a backup nest if given a quiet, safe window to do so. 💡 Critical Keeper Note: Leave Wildlife Care to the Pros! Here is a super important disclaimer that I always emphasize: even though I have years of professional wildlife management experience and have raised hundreds of neonate squirrels, I am technically not a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in my current state. Wild animal rehabilitation requires specific state permits, medical protocols, and dietary formulations. Please never attempt to raise or keep a wild animal on your own. Feeding the wrong formula, aspiration pneumonia from improper syringe feeding, and habituation to humans can be fatal for wild babies. If renesting fails, your job is simply to keep them warm, quiet, and get them to a licensed professional. ⚡ Community Resource Spotlight: National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association! So, what happens if mom doesn't return, or the baby is clearly injured or sick? That is when you hand the baton over to certified experts. If you ever find displaced, sick, or injured native wildlife, you can use the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association (NWRA) directory or your local state Department of Environmental Management/Fish & Wildlife registry to find a licensed rehabilitator near you. These organization listings connect you directly with permitted wildlife centers and local rehabbers who have the exact equipment, medical oversight, and wild-release caging needed to get these animals back into the canopy where they belong. [Click Here to Find a Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator via the NWRA!] MY WEBSITE Visit Our Socials Sweet Ave Pawtucket, RI 02861 View in browser You are getting this email because you've subscribed to sweetavezoo at beacons.ai/sweetavezoo. If you'd like to stop receiving these emails, you can unsubscribe from the list.