I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat

Bonnie-cat is wondering why nobody on the farm tries to eat this particular varmint.

Lottie's Take-Out Food

This was taken about a year ago, but things haven't changed.  Lottie still comes to the door to get a nut most mornings.  Nuts are in the bag she finds on the counter.  Now she usually goes to the pantry and gets her nuts from a bag on a shelf.
She also hangs out at the barn, closer to her nest, and picks pieces of corn out of the sweet feed.

Lottie's House of Many Colors

This is Lottie last winter, accepting sewing scraps from us to build her drey.
You could see her drey from a mile away with all its bright calico colors sticking out of the chinks.
She's built a new home since then. 

Squirrel Eggs

Laura was photographing the sheep this morning for a Craigslist ad, so she had the camera with her when she went to the coop to check her hens.
Inside a nesting box, eating a piece of goat feed, was Lottie.
At least someone is using the nesting box!

Nutty Squirrel

Here's Lottie.

You've Heard of Feeder Fish?

Well, we have feeder squirrels here at Providence Farm! This is a common view from the back door. There are five squirrels now, and we think the more the merrier when it comes to enjoying squirrel behavior. Neither of these is Lottie, our darling pet squirrel. But she still comes around daily for love and for food.

Squirrel Girl!

Here's Lottie both in plain sight and hidden in her natural habitat.
We love this squirrel!

Lottie

Here's just a sample of Lottie's continued cuteness.
She lives out in the woods now, but she comes to the house daily for socializing and for almond butter.

Chinese Food

Lotte loves the crispy Chinese noodles that come in our salad kits!

When we run out, she gets angry and squeaks at us.

Play Ball!

I was pretty sure we'd lose Lottie as soon as she tasted the trees. But instead of losing her, she spends more time clinging to us now. She spent one night out in the woods in her cage, then came in and slept in Becky's desk next to her bed last night. She's hungrier after her daily tree time, too.

Sleepy Squirrel

Here's a photo from last night, Big Daddy. Lottie thinks trees are nice all day, but night is a good time for Mommy's shirt.
Sound asleep with mouth open.

Lottie Overload

Somehow, without me realizing it was happening, Lottie grew into an adolescent squirrel.
The teen girls had gone away over the weekend, and at that point, Lottie quit drinking her milk almost completely. I was worried that she was on a hunger strike due to the absence of her beloved Becky. But Becky came back and still, hardly any milk down the pie hole for Miss Squirrel.
Suddenly it occurred to me to check the calendar. Lottie is almost 10 weeks old! At 9 weeks they wean and start their move out of mom's nest.
I can tell the difference in her age when I take her to the woods. She's anxious to get up the trees and explore the world above our heads. And she's not anxious to come back when it suits me.
We were reading about the grey squirrel last night and found a statistic that the first photo would prove: squirrels waste 15 more times than they eat!
Lottie loves pens, pencils, and highlighters. I contribute this to the Charlotte Mason method of squirrel schooling which encourages the love of learning. I hope she keeps up with her continuing education after she moves into her own nest.
Look how little she seems playing hide 'n seek in Becky's bed.
I had meant to blog consistently during her time with us so other people could use the knowledge we gained, but really, the care and feeding of a baby squirrel is easier than we expected. I'm a little shocked at how much like a human a squirrel is. Lottie, we found out, can see quite well, and in color. She recognizes all the people she lives with, and is shy of strangers. She's clever, and can learn helpful habits. It's possible, if she's very fortunate, and only the FSD hunts the property, that she may live up to 16 years!
These will probably be the last indoor pictures of her.
I've placed her cage down in the tree house near the barn. There she'll live, locked in, for a couple days before the door opens and she has free range of the dark and dangerous forest.
I'm contemplating moving her from there to the oak on the trail, a little farther away from the house, to keep her safer from the cats, and to give her a thicker wood with plentiful acorns in which to build. Big Dan will supply her with a squirrel mansion, built to specs of course, but I think she'll end up making her own winter drey.
I'm hopeful that she'll keep up her friendship with us. I think with enough Jolly Ranchers and fruit preserves, it's a possibility.

Squirrel School

Lottie thinks that the study of World History is totally overrated. Anyway, there weren't any notable grey squirrels in Ancient Rome, so let's skip these pages.

Nap Time

Lottie had just been splayed out flat on her back. I missed that shot be a second, but she's still pretty cute, sound asleep in Becky's arms.

Lottie

Lottie is about six and a half weeks old now, and more active and squirrely than ever.
Her diet is still mainly goat milk, but she's starting solids. She holds her almond or cheerio and gnaws at it, but mostly, her food turns into crumbs that get spread around the floor instead of the inside of the squirrel.
She's sharing a crepe with Becky this morning. She likes the preserves on top of it the best.
I think that by using preserves as a bribe, we can force her to stay friends with us after she returns to the wild.
When we got her, Lottie would eat, potty, then immediately nap. Now she eats and plays and plays some more. She can use the bathroom by herself now (in the beginning you have to rub their tummy, like with a kitten.) She uses humans as playgrounds, running in and out of our clothing and clinging to our backs as we walk around the house. The only trees she knows have blue jean bark on the trunk.
Caring for her is easier, since I don't get up over night to feed her. At first, she ate 3 cc's every couple hours with a feeding overnight. Now she eats at least 7 cc's at a time and can go much longer between feedings.

The Squirrel Chronicles

Last Sunday evening after church, a yellow cat walking near the playground heard the same squeaking sounds that were intriguing the children. It turned out to be a baby squirrel, and the kitty grabbed it. Becky rushed the kitty and hapless baby rodent, and in his fright, the kitty quickly dropped the squirming, squealing squirrel baby.
Since it was close to dark, we brought the baby home with us.
Becky promptly hopped online and found out all the ins and outs of squirrel parenthood.
She found out that the squirrel is a girl, and had no cat injuries.
We've been feeding the 4 week old infant goat milk throughout the day and night, and she's thriving.
After her feeding and a quick potty time, she curls into the tightest little knot you can imagine. She falls right asleep in my hand after her overnight feeding.
Next week she should open her eyes and start to get even more fun for us. At 12 weeks, we have to start teaching her about her true home, the wild. Adult squirrels don't make safe pets, but they adapt well to their outdoor habitat.