Patient of the Month: Baby squirrels are here! 🍼

These baby squirrels were stuck between a rock and a…bulldozer?!

The first orphaned animals of the year have arrived at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary. Meet our featured patients this month: Eastern Gray Squirrels 25-010, 011, and 012!

Three eastern gray squirrel babies cuddle inside of an incubator at in wildlife rehab care.

Actually, this trio was one of three different groups we received within just a 24 hour period. Yup, we’ve kicked baby season off with a bang!

Rescue Story

The other two groups arrived after separate tree work crews accidentally cut down their nests. One rescuer attempted re-nesting the babies but stopped that process when he noticed the babies had some minor injuries needing professional attention. The other rescuer tried feeding the babies puppy milk, which meant re-nesting was no longer possible. Feeding incorrect formula can cause severe gastrointestinal distress and does usually require the baby comes in for remedial care. These are unfortunately typical circumstances for orphaned squirrels arriving at the Sanctuary.

However, the trio pictured above, consisting of two females and one male, had a more unusual rescue story. They were found inside a bulldozer!

A fellow Nelson County community member got quite a surprise one morning last week. He runs an excavation company and was kicking off the day at a job site in Lynchburg. Right before he fired up his machinery, he noticed there was a clumped nest of baby squirrels inside the bulldozer! It was unclear how long they’d been there for, or if they had been towed there from another location when the bulldozer was brought to the job site. Their rescuer did the right thing in calling us immediately.

Re-nesting?

We quickly realized that the chances of reuniting these babies with their mother were slim to none. There were no trees nearby at this job site, limiting the likelihood that mom had secondary nests (or that mom was even around). On top of that, the rescuer sent photos to our text hotline that showed the babies were quite skinny and dehydrated. The rescuer took off from his work site and drove out to the Sanctuary right away so they could get the care they clearly needed.

Please remember that it’s common for female squirrels to have backup options for her babies! Squirrel nests, called dreys, look like a simple clump of leaves next to the trunk or in a fork between two sturdy branches. Take a look outside your window right now. We bet you can see at least one drey, even if you’re in a busy area! If you have come across what you believe to be clinically healthy infants, call us right away and we can advise you on safely attempting to reunite them with their mother.

Our Wildlife Hotline

Speaking of calling us: please take a moment to save our hotline number in your phone contacts. That way, you’ll be ready to call if you come across an animal in need this baby season!

Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary hotline: (434) 263-4954

We are usually able to answer hotline calls between 9AM-5PM, every day of the week. Please leave a message and refer to our website for intermittent care instructions if you are unable to reach us immediately. (We’re probably caring for a patient!)

What’s next for them?

Despite their unfortunate origins, these three infant squirrels have thrived in care at RWS so far. Our team began working in 10 hour shifts to accommodate their five-times-per-day bottle feeding needs. Since adjusting onto our specialized formula, the babies have each nearly doubled in weight! As you’re reading this, they are cozy inside one of our neonate mammal incubators.

On average, a clinically healthy orphaned squirrel stays in care for two months. That puts them right in the middle of typical patient stays at the Sanctuary. Our “long haulers” include red foxes and birds of prey, both of which usually require six months of intensive care at minimum. Our shortest stays are usually native mice, which can be independent from their mother within three weeks from birth! We’ll soon begin admitting all of these species as baby season charges onward.

We anticipate admitting over 150 orphaned baby squirrels this season, so patients 25-010, 011, and 012 are just the beginning of a very squirrelly couple of months. To help prevent accidentally orphaning a nest, check out our quick video on tree work tips!