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Feeling Happy
How to hand tame squirrels
"I'm curious about the squirrels though. Can you really tame squirrels? That would be so neat! We have a lot of feeders in the neighborhood, so I'm thinking maybe it wouldn't work here because they have plenty of access to food sources elsewhere."
Squirrels are one of the easiest wild animals to tame. They are naturally very curious and fearless, and they love food that we have access to. All that it takes is a little patience.
Tabitha is our main squirrel tamer in our family. It took her about five days to have all five of the wild squirrels who live in our/their territory accepting nuts out of her hand. Mandy is the feral cat tamer.
The amount of feeders really doesn't affect it much...we have three hangers in our trees. That does attract them in the first place. Do not discourage them from feeding at the "bird" feeders. In the beginning, they will run away as you approach the feeders, so stay pretty far away and throw an ear of hard corn at the base of the tree. Make sure they see that it is you offering the corn. If you do not move around much or look threatening, they will come down to inspect the corn, jerking their tails in an odd spastic way and chirruping loudly. Do this every about once a day for a while. Soon they will see you as a source of good things.
You can talk to them while they are coming down. Think very positive thoughts, like that they are welcome to the corn and that you like to share. Compliment them on their bushy tails. I do not know if they can REALLY read your mind or that the fact that you are concentrating on NOT being the planet's most deadly predator signals your body to non-verbally communicate trustworthiness (or both).
Eventually start throwing raw peanuts. They would sell their their furry little souls for raw peanuts. Toss a hand full and wait until they are checking them out. Eventually start tossing them closer and closer, and then when they are coming about three feet away, just hold it in your hand and wait. Squat down. They will creep up very cautiously and take it from your hand with their little black paws. Once this happens, they will get quite bold and fearless, and will start knocking on your door for more. (Our friendly ones rear up against the glass and chirrup very loudly. When we open the door they run to us, just like the stray cats.) They come running in from neighboring yards when we open the door. We keep a large punch bowl full of raw peanuts for them next to the door. They also love pop corn and some crackers.
This method also works for mockingbirds and possums. Mockingbirds love cat food. Possums love anything, but particularly anything sweet, like bananas or mashed sweet potato.
I think that no matter how much food they have access to, squirrels adore peanuts. I do think it is easier in the winter, when there is less food around and they are not mating and raising their families.
One you have their trust, they will come quite close to you. They swirl around my feet when I am nursing the baby. They never act like domestic animals, you cannot pet them, but their trust is very rewarding.
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http://www.myspace.com/charli
esquirrel
Yes, you can pet some pet squirrels. Charlie probably let us handle him more because he was so young when we found him. Sign into MySpace and you can enjoy some pictures. We also have some video.
Charlie came right up to one of our neighbors (9/07/2007) who immediately picked Charlie up and showed him to us. Charlie lived in one of our bathrooms for a couple of weeks. We knew we couldn't keep him so we let him loose in the tree in front of our house. He stayed there for the most part. As he got older, he wandered more often.
The first week, Charlie was so comfortable with us that he would sleep in my lap or in my son's pocket! He would actually step off of the tree, walk onto my arm, and eat out of my hand.
Sadly, Charlie is no longer with us. He was run over by a car and killed (10/22/2007). Charlie was a very special gift and always brought a smile to my face. Strangely, I find myself grieving over a little gray squirrel. -
I was just wondering can you tame American red squirrels too we don't really have many Grey squirrels in our yard since the red ones moved in we have a whole family in our trees about 6 of them or more, but they do come from other houses around us sometimes to eat, the only ones I've tamed are about 4 chipmunks that live around us some come on my lap and others are so tame they climb up my arm looking for food. if you could answer this it would really help.
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I read this the other day and found it really helpful. I don't really want to touch them, but it would be nice if they wouldn't scream and twitch their tails when i go outside to refill the birdfeeders. So I started being really nice and saying complimentary things about their tales and telling them that these sunflower seeds are for them-- four days later and the little buggers are waiting for me at the door, no longer mad, but excited!
Thanks! -
Drom the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Q: What is the risk of rabies from squirrels, mice, rats, and other rodents?
A: Small rodents (such as squirrels, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, and chipmunks, ) and lagomorphs (such as rabbits and hares) are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to cause rabies among humans in the United States. Bites by these animals are usually not considered a risk of rabies unless the animal was sick or behaving in any unusual manner and rabies is widespread in your area. However, from 1985 through 1994, woodchucks accounted for 86% of the 368 cases of rabies among rodents reported to CDC. Woodchucks or groundhogs (Marmota monax) are the only rodents that may be frequently submitted to state health department because of a suspicion of rabies. In all cases involving rodents, the state or local health department should be consulted before a decision is made to initiate postexposure prophylaxis (PEP).
For more information about rabies in rodents and lagomorphs, see: Childs, J. E., Colby, L., Krebs, J. W., Strine, T., Feller, M., Noah, D., Drenzek, C., Smith, J.S., & Rupprecht, C. E. (1997). Surveillance and spatiotemporal associations of rabies in rodents
9/26/08 9:02 PM
I also read the 'they're teaming with rabbies' arguments. Come on! Squirrels are some of the happiest animals I have ever seen. What idiot can equate them to disease-ridden pests of society?
Thank you for this post!!!