Well…..Earle keeps learning (and I along with him). Earle is almost completely “weaned” off of his milk now. His diet now consists of Apples, Banana, Seeds and Nuts…along with the other things he finds to eat on his own such as (lichen on the tree bark, small shoots on the ends of branches and some berries).
Lately, I’ve been concerned that I’ve never seen Earle “drink” from his water dish….so I threw some of his sunflower seeds into it (he loves his seeds). This pretty much made him “bob for seeds” which really irritated him….but I’ll be darned if he didn’t start lapping up the water. Pretty funny to watch him “complain” with a sharp “Chut…Chut..” every time he touched his nose to the water.
He finally figure out he could reach in with his paws to retrieve the seeds….which is fine with me…since he has learned to drink now.
Earle is completely free to come and go from his cage as he wishes (weather permitting)…and he now spends the bulk of his day racing up and down the tree. Juvenile squirrels have a LOT of energy and it’s a good thing he is in a big tree or he would have already worn the bark off of it.
Towards late afternoon Earle will usually find a big wide limb to rest on… or will sometimes nap in his nest…as he was doing here (before I woke him).
It is interesting to watch his “instincts” begin to show. He has a very strong desire to “shell” his food….and much prefers seeds and nuts to anything else.
He gets kind of mad when I give him peanuts though... because it takes so long to shell them compared to the sunflower seeds. Of course, the reward is greater (but he hasn’t thought of that).
He will also take any “excess” food and bury at the base of the tree….another good instinct!
Gradually…he is learning to become more self sufficient. It will take time, but I believe he will learn all he needs to know in the coming months.
The last thing I want…is for him to be a “welfare” squirrel, dependent on me.
I am concerned about socialization though. I have seen virtually no other squirrels around when I leave him alone.
I guess the activity around the tree is keeping them away.
Earle really, really, likes to play at this stage….but I am forced to make him spend most of his time alone (for his own good).
Kind of sad…because he’s a really nice squirrel.