About two weeks ago we got a pair of flying squirrels. The first week was a bit hectic for all of us. The new cage had not yet arrived so we put them into a bathroom in a dog kennel for their first night in their new home. I saw a spot in the cage bars big enough for them to squeeze through so I stuffed some oh-so-secure paper towels in the spot. Naturally, this was not sufficient to withstand a curious squirrel. The next morning I went in to feed them and to my dismay there were no squirrels in the kennel. I looked into the Kleenex box on the back of the toilet and one little face looked back at me. I scooped the box up and deposited him back into the kennel. The other one was nowhere to be found.
With a sinking heart I wondered if the towel I had stuffed under the door crack had deterred the missing squirrel just a little before he snuck out to meet his maker(s), the cats. I was wracked with guilt. I felt like the lady who forgot her baby for 8 hours in the car on a hot summer day.
I put the lonely squirrel into a large screen cage we used to keep a chameleon in. He scampered around a bit and then disappeared into his nest box. The cats kept vigil at the door.
These squirrels are nocturnal and I remember them being very active around 11:00 or so. I spent the next three nights sitting on the couch, listening for scampering in other areas of the house. I watched the cats to see if there was any new interest in a particular closet or under some furniture. There was not, although I heard plenty of scampering from behind the bathroom door.
One morning when I went in to feed the lonely guy and I noticed evidence of food bits outside the cage. I was perplexed how the squirrel could have gotten out of the cage so I looked inside. There he was, minding his own business.
So once again I launced a search. And there was the runaway, hiding in the Kleenex box. Thinking I could just scoop the box up and deposit him in the cage, I did so. And like lightning he jumped up onto the pictures and began to hop and glide around the bathroom.
I watched him then disappear into the only place I could not get my arm into - the porcelain sink pedestal.
I got a cat toy with a tickly end and flushed him out but could not catch him.
After 15 minutes of squirrel rodeo, I finally shooed him into the cage. He quickly went into the nest box and I heard some reunion chirps.
Just to be sure (the enemy of good is better) I opened the cage to see both of them together. Quick as a wink he escaped and we repeated the rodeo. Finally I got him back into the cage.
The cage then arrived and was put together into a fabulous squirrel dwelling, complete with cedar nesting boxes, climbing limbs and multi-level food cups. All the doors have small snap locks or cable ties on them. To date the cage has been squirrel proof.
They seem to like it a lot. They come out at around 9:30 or 10:00 PM and put on a show.
They eat heartily, seeming to prefer blueberries, hickory nuts, walnuts and strawberry yogurt over sunflower seeds, apples and pear yogurt.
Please note: These are not pictures of our actual flying squirrels. We will have these soon but in the meantime, they all look the same so you can't really tell them apart. Now that our guys are getting more used to us we will be able to get pictures of them in their newest dwelling, the "BJ Frog" but that is another story for another day.
Orville and Wilbur
