What to do with a trapped squirrel - where to bring it

If you are going to relocate a trapped squirrel, which we do not advise by the way, you should make sure that you are doing so in the right conditions to give this little guy or gal a chance to live. Relocation very rarely works with wild animals, mostly because you're setting them free in an area they are not knowledgeable about. There will be predators and the squirrel won't know where to hide from them, and more than that, the squirrel will be away from its family, a source of food, and water too. This is why exclusion methods are always advisable when dealing with wild animal control concerns, such as a squirrel in your house or commercial property. If you have caught a squirrel in a trap, however, you should act fast. You will want to release the animal as soon as you can into its new environment, but that's only after you have made sure that there aren't any babies in tow. If you have spotted a squirrel in your property, there's a very high chance it will be a female, and she will more than likely have a nest of babies. Removing the mother without the babies will result in dead babies, and the mother will also do everything in her power to try and make it back to her young also. If you know where the nest of young is in your building, you can wait for the mother to leave to hunt for food and use it to your advantage. Making sure you're wearing thick gloves, grab the babies and use them as bait in your live cage trap to bring the mother in also. Hopefully, you can then relocate the entire family somewhere new and all together.



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Relocating a squirrel after you have trapped it is not legal everywhere in the world. Therefore if you want to relocate it, you are supposed to keep some few elements in mind. Firstly you should do is bringing the squirrel about five miles from your residing area. Otherwise it may find it way back to your house and cause problems just like before you caught it. The second thing is you shouldn't let the squirrel to stay in the cage for a long time; it is stressful as the animal may become dehydrated. However, you can give it some water via a pipe if it has stayed in the cage for a while but you are not supposed to give them food, it's not interested in eating, but you can give it wet food such as orange slices. The third thing is that you should be very careful while handling the cage. You shouldn't stick your fingers inside the bars. When releasing it, you should be careful and ensure you are in a place where it cannot attack you though its primary purpose is getting away as quickly as possible. However, you should not compromise your security by cornering the animal when it has a chance to bite you.. Before you relocate the trapped squirrel, you are supposed to consider the following.

What kind of area to relocate to
You are expected to have in mind that releasing squirrel in public is not legal. The matter of debate is what the best area to relocate. Some people considers bringing it to the wooden areas and releasing it there. Most people considers the undeveloped areas with significant water sources. Besides other suggest that squirrel caught in urban or suburban areas are important to those places, but they will always cause some problems in the area. Relocating these animals is hard, they will always get to people homes since they are used to home territorial.

What about baby squirrels
Relocating baby squirrels without their mothers are very tricky; this is not recommendable unless the babies are mobile on their own. You may be having two traps, the best option when releasing them is getting away the babies away, after they have gone then release the grownup squirrels. The tinny squirrels may sometimes be abandoned by their mothers especially when the mothers are inexperienced, therefore you are supposed to check the release site on a daily basis until you sure that all the animals have been retrieved. You should also inspire people to leave the babies in their patch since their mothers have alternate den reserved for their babies. The problem of relocating baby squirrels is that if you take them to a place full of other squirrels they will always run away and it becomes hard for them to connect to their mothers. If you release the babies together with their mother in a new site, it becomes too hard for them to find a place and even it becomes hard for them to relocate your house again. Hence, it is an excellent idea for you to relocate babies with their mothers to a new site and it's assured that they won't came back again. At times people relocate the squirrels but doesn't consider the environment they are bringing them, you should be observant and especially if you are relocating a mother with its babies

Do squirrels have a homing instinct? Yes they do. How far can a squirrel find its way home? Reports vary, but it is thought to be at least 5 miles, possibly more.


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