baby red squirrel

It is Baby Mammal Season

Here are some tips to help them survive

Every spring, the Center for Wildlife is bombarded with orphaned baby mammals, the majority of whom are adorable - and hungry - gray squirrels. An army of volunteers and staff are prepared to give them warmth, subcutaneous fluids, and the round-the-clock feeding they need to grow into healthy wild squirrels. There are many ways you can help us give this year's babies the best chance for survival...

Please don’t rescue unless rescuing is needed…

If you think you've found a baby in need of help, get it out of immediate danger, then call us at (207) 361-1400 before taking further action. Never feed a baby mammal – improper diet or feeding technique is often fatal! And many times, what appears to be an orphan is actually a healthy baby whose mom is just out of sight. So if you accidentally bother a nest - whether you go to spring-clean your shed and scare mom off, or uncover the babies as you are gardening - don't assume they need to be rescued! Give us a call, and we can share some tricks for helping reunite babies with mom. It is always our goal to only intervene when absolutely necessary.

Leave the limbs

If possible, we ask people to delay tree work and limb cutting until October, to avoid felling nests along with the limbs. But if you need to do it earlier, keep an eye out for babies. And if you find some, call CFW before rescuing them: we may be able to figure out a way to help mom find them.

Reign in the hunters

Those domestic cats we all love so much pose a major threat to baby mammals and birds. Remember that house cats come to us from Europe and are fed by humans: they are not a natural predator, and have no place in the New England Circle of Life. If at all possible, keep your kitty inside, especially through baby season (April-June). For the wild cats who can't bear the indoor lifestyle, we recommend outfitting them with a collar full of bells. But remember, for the youngest and most naive baby songbirds and mammals, even a jingle-belled entrance will not send them running from their nest. The best chance for wild babies is a cat who spends the spring hunting season on the screen porch stalking catnip!

Spread the word: Squirrels don’t make good pets!

Oh those baby mammals are cute, and unfortunately many people are tempted to raise them on their own. Raising wild animals requires a license, formal training, and a lot of supervised practice. Tragically, every year we receive babies whose rescuers tried to raise them and only brought them to us when they realized things were not going well: by this point, the baby is often very ill with pneumonia or diarrhea. Please discourage your friends from attempting to raise any wild animal on their own!

Support Us

The supplies and staffing for baby season create a significant financial burden on the CFW. And, this spring, we hope to secure the funding to install new indoor cages to more adequately house our youngest baby mammals. The CFW is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that receives no state or federal funding. It is your generosity that keeps our doors open to Maine's and New Hampshire's wild animals in need.

Stock the Cupboards

Keeping the babies fed and clean requires a lot of supplies. You can help relieve the burden by supplying items on our Wish List. A special squirrel need is acorns to prepare them for a natural diet out in the real world, and every year we use boxes and boxes of them - all collected by our supporters. The squirrels and staff appreciate it!

Volunteer

If you can contribute four hours a week and are willing to do a whole lot of cleaning along with the pleasure of working among wild animals, please contact us about volunteering.


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