I remember the summer we had a squirrel join our family. It was not intentional; we received a “Craigslist Special” an old camper that we towed home. Our intention was to tear it apart and use the frame for a trailer. All was going well until we started removing the walls; to our surprise, we found a squirrel nest with no Mom in sight. Mom must have been left behind at the original location. That was bad news for us and bad news for the two baby squirrels.

The two babies were very young, eyes still closed, and clearly in need of a mother. We felt terrible for displacing them, but it was impossible to return them to their mother. We decided to try the difficult and maybe impossible job of being a surrogate mother to the squirrels. We purchased a small nursing bottle and formula. This was not an easy thing to do. The squirrels required constant care, regular feeding, and a heating pad to attempt to regulate their temperature.

We hoped for the best but feared the worse. Surprisingly they were eating well and growing! The day even came when they opened up their eyes for the first time! The two squirrels are adorable and of course, they were very friendly. As they grew, we did not know what to do with our new friends. We started doing some research as we wanted what was best for them. Living in a cage their entire life did not seem like a loving thing to do. While searching online for information, we learned a few things, first of all, you need a permit to keep or raise a squirrel! Who knew, right? Then to our surprise, it turns out you do NOT need a permit to raise a coyote!

Now that makes no sense but who am I to argue the ways of the world? So what to do? We found our answer as we reached out to a lady that had a permit to raise orphaned squirrels and return them to the wild when they are ready. She was a professional at it and knew what she was doing. We were more than happy to turn over our new friends; this will give them the future they deserve, a free life!

We happily contacted the professionals who handle squirrel removal Denver and handed over our squirrel friends. We kept in touch and heard they adjusted very well. They did not release them until they were confident that the squirrels could fend for themselves and would not consider people to be their friends. We never did hear where they were released or how long it took to get to that point. However, this does bring me to the point I am getting to. Wild animals are just that. They are wild and should be. Often people interfere in their life as our worlds are encroaching on each other. Sometimes, like in this case, interfering is the only choice. The question then becomes what is the best way to handle a situation that involves a wild animal in your yard? Maybe causing damage?