# Update on Red Squirrel kittens



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Thought I'd do an update thread to stop the other one getting too long.

The squirrels grow more and more manic every day and it gets harder and harder to get photos of them unless they stop to eat and the speed they move now is awesome!!

This morning Countryfile have been here for a couple of hours videoing them for their programme. Even the producer and her runner who came here to recce everything 2 weeks ago couldn't believe how much they'd changed and how much faster they were. The cameraman spent most of the time with at least one of the sitting on his head and they spent loads of time running along the boom rod onto the microphone!!!

Anyway a couple of more recent photographs

All four of them on top of the climbing frame (my sun loungers! :roll 10 days ago - you'll see a difference when you look at the more recent photographs.










Tucking into hazelnuts on my husband's shoulder.










Sitting in the hawthorn berries eating a pine cone










And this is what happens when you bring home corn on the cob and put the shopping bag down on the kitchen bench.










This morning with Adam Henson from Countryfile!











Video taken on the 1st October, once we'd learned how to lap 

Baby Red Squirrel tucking into breakfast - YouTube


And another taken on Saturday morning.

More Red Squirrel Morning Mania - YouTube


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

Lovely pictures - I was going to say their climbing frame one was the best, but not so sure now, they are all good!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

It's very hard nowadays to get all 4 of them together unless they are asleep or eating and even then it's rare!


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## laurencea (Aug 28, 2009)

wonderful!!!


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## Big Red One (Oct 17, 2007)

They are looking great, you've done a fantastic job on them.
I bet you can't wait until they are ready to go and you can get your corn on the cob back ! :lol2:

What date will they be on Countryfile?


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## BSL (Jan 19, 2011)

well done you have done a great job there they look like they are a bit of a hand full


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Big Red One said:


> What date will they be on Countryfile?


I was told it would be on the 30th October. They were here for 2 hours, but of course the section will be about 3 minutes long!



BSL said:


> well done you have done a great job there they look like they are a bit of a hand full


I just wish I could clip their claws, because I'm absolutely covered in scratches, because even wearing a thick long sleeve jumper the claws still go through a bit, even my legs are scratched through my trousers! :roll:


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## Sparko (Jun 30, 2010)

Those photos are fantastic. It's so nice to see something like this. I'll have to find the other thread so I can see the backstory on them.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

3 more videos taken on the 11th October.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZMazxN15OU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdEr5c870TY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPYrZQJQW0g


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

*Mayhem with a kitchen roll*

14th october - kittens having fun in my spare bedroom, while I'm trying to do something on the computer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU1WQ8zR5D4


And 15th October - fun with the kitchen roll and my granddaughter's excitement at meeting the squirrels quickly wained after a scratched face - she now prefers the rats! :lol2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8nbS1EHugs


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

*Kittens move out to their release pen today*

Well the red squirrel kittens finally left us today, so this will be the last photographs and video of them for a few weeks.

The pen in all its glory with my husband inside on a stepladder merrily drilling and screwing stuff to the beams and walls.











This is a very small part of what will meet them when they finally leave the pen - the fence in the bottom left hand corner is the small fence which surrounds the orchard where the pen is situated. I think this is a wonderful environment for them! :2thumb:











And the squirrels themselves having great fun exploring
















































































And although they all came steaming out of the carrier and ran around having great fun, I think it was a little too much for one of the girls and she decided to get inside my fleece and hide down the sleeve. Eventually she came out, but only stuck her head out the front – very unusual with these kittens and they don’t like to be held or stroked like the previous 2, but she seemed quite happy to just sit inside my fleece and watch the other 3 run around.





















And finally, this is what happened when I opened the cat carrier and set them free!

The red squirrel kittens leave us for their new pen - YouTube

And their parting gift to me??? 4 scratches on my face, one of them right on the end of my nose and a torn lip! :lol2:
They will insist on jumping on my face from a great height!


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## EVIEMAY (Mar 6, 2008)

A day of mixed feelings though Eileen.

You and Barry have done a fantastic job - I shall miss the videos and updates.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

There may yet be more when we go to refill the feeder. :whistling2:

And of course the day the door is opened to give them their freedom I'll be there again.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I've just spoken to the owners of the garden tonight, just to make sure everything is OK and they've said everything is fine so far.

The kittens have already been visited by an adult red squirrel who was sitting on top of their pen today :2thumb:

He also mentioned the little boy was 'enjoying' the company of the girls! :gasp: I've watched him 'practicing' here, so I guess that's what he doing! :lol2:


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## laurencea (Aug 28, 2009)

awww. bless the little ones.

great work. very well done.


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## Testudo Man (Aug 3, 2005)

Fantastic thread, great video and pics, good out come for these lovely little squirrels:no1:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Thank you very much! :2thumb:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Not the best start to our day when the phone rang at 8:15am and we had to dash out on a mission of mercy this morning!

When we explained how to build the squirrel pen we asked Graham (the garden owner who is also a farmer) to put paving slabs down, but for some reason he didn't want to do that and was talking about laying wire underneath the grass. Then Barry took him to see the pen he'd built (with the pavings slabs laid down) and showed him what we were describing to him, including the full width area blocked off from the squirrels with the feeding hatch so that you could enter the area, close the door and feed and if a squirrel escaped through the hatch it would still be trapped in the 'tardis' area.

Anyway when Barry went up there was no slabs down and there were gaps between the wooden 'walls' and the grass because of the ground being uneven. Graham said he had railway sleepers at the farm and he was going to bury them into the ground surface along the base of the pen. When Barry went back on the Saturday there was no sign of him or the sleepers, but when he went back on Sunday the sleepers were there ready cut so Barry spent all day digging them down to ground level and buttressing them against the 'walls'. However, there wasn't a piece there for him to lay along the back of the pen, so he was just hoping that the fence the pen was built against would stop them escaping because the wire was a good few inches into the ground.


Sadly it wasn't. It would appear that a squirrel was burying nuts (he found 3 hazelnuts in the hole) and had found its way to freedom on Friday morning. To say I was gutted would be an understatement, because if they'd only just laid paving slabs like we suggested it wouldn’t have happened and after 7 weeks of careful nurturing, they managed to get one to escape in 5 bl**dy days!! 

So when the phone rang at 8:15am it was Grahame to say that they’d borrowed a trap and had managed to catch the squirrel overnight but it was at death’s door, so what could they do! He thought it was dehydrated so was drip feeding water with Stress powder in it. So I explained how to test for dehydration and he came back and said it wasn’t, so I told him it would be hypothermia (had to happen on the coldest night we’ve just about had so far this year) and to put it in a covered dark box with some towelling and put it somewhere warm and we would come straight up.

During the conversation he also mentioned that another one had escaped and jumped on Caroline’s head while they were getting the other one out of the trap :gasp:

Fortunately by the time we got there (they’re an hour’s drive away) the squirrel was in a box sitting on a folded blanket on top of the Aga and had come around and was moving about and grunting away. I had a good look at her and she seem subdued, but fit and well, so we moved her away from the direct heat (before she did dehydrate :lol and had a cup of coffee, after which we took her back to the pen. During the conversation they said that the other one had escaped yesterday, but they'd re-set the trap after taking the other one out and had caught it straight away, so it was back in the pen! So Graham has now put a paving slabs in the escape corner and all exits hopefully are now covered

The hypothermic one mooched about quite happily on the floor of the pen and then jumped up. Unfortunately her judgement was slightly impaired and she misjudged a couple of jumps, but she was active enough and ended up jumping into the squirrel feeder, where she sat for the rest of the time we were observing them, just eating. :2thumb:

I thought I’d ended my responsibility for them when I handed them over, but I see now that I haven’t, so it wasn’t the best start to my morning, but at least all 4 are now back in the pen and this time we hope the base has been corrected and there are no more escape areas for them to dig out of.

However, by way of compensation saw a gorgeous buzzard sitting on a very low tree right alongside the main A1 on the way home – and of course I didn’t have my camera!!


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## laurencea (Aug 28, 2009)

blimey!

good to know they are still doing well. mischievous little rascals!


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