Rescuing squirrels and wild rodents

Most of the phone calls that Small Victories (our former rescue) have received over the past few years have been regarding young squirrels found outside of their nests, injured squirrels, and errant mouse-like creatures (rats are pretty easy to identify).

• If you are looking to solve a problem with an animal that’s taken up unwanted residence, contact Humane Wildlife Control. 

Here is your basic advice on what to do and how to care for wild rodents:

1. Goat milk is the universal replacement milk.
2. Soy milk comes a close second.
3. Rabbits take puppy formula, but not kitten formula. 
4. Don't take a baby rabbit (or even a bird) from the wild just because it's alone. Its mother will come back to look for it. You must be sure it's abandoned by its physical condition, or by monitoring it regularly throughout the day, without touching it.
5. What small animals in distress need is 1) warmth and 2) liquid energy.
6. Sometimes they actually need to see a vet, too.
7. But if they don't, they need a secure, warm (but not too warm), dark (away from prying eyes) space in which they can recover.
8. Babies need to be fed every few hours. Count on one overnight feeding.
9. Squirrels sleep 75% of the time.
10. Once a squirrel's tail begins to be bushy, it needs solid food (start with porridge) and climbing exercise.
11. You can't keep them and domesticate them. It's inhumane to cage a wild animal for long, and it's illegal.
12. Take the squirrel outside for walks. Introduce it to trees.
13. Handle small rodents as little as possible while you clean their cage.
14. Release mice in an environment as similar as possible to the one in which you found them. If it's a house mouse you don't want, find it a secure shelter where it won't be bothering anyone - or unlikely to be poisoned.
15. Don’t feed wildlife you don’t want to increase in population. I didn't mind having a wild rat sheltering in my backyard, but for its own safety, I removed the bird feeder. 

General shelter volunteer jobs

Are you hesitant to get involved because it seems like being involved in animal rescue is such a huge demand? If so, don't worry, it can be done in manageable enough bites that you can get involved without getting burned out. The following jobs add to your skills and networks, and are very favourable for work experience on your resume.

Positions:

Advertising liaison - creating and mailing out or posting Adoption flyers at petstores and vet clinics on a monthly basis. Anyone is welcome to approach new pet stores and vet clinics and other locations for posting our flyers; after initial contact is made, we will add them to our mailing list.

Fundraiser - shelters and rescues always need someone with events-planning experience or interest who can help get fundraising activities under way. Telephone calls are a major part of this work.

Adoption agents - mainly for organizing and staffing adoption clinics. Also involved in interviewing candidates after paperwork has come in to determine if they will be a good home, including some home visits. Bilingualism is an asset.

Written Communications - E-mail is the biggest routine job after cleaning cages and looking after the animals. Rescues need someone with writing skills and communication empathy to help with this work.

Advocate - someone (or two) with public relations and/or legal experience to raise awareness of animal welfare issues and to help make the ship watertight; this position may be key in making an organization a registered non-profit / charity. Bilingualism is an asset.

Translation - from time to time, a shelter needs fast turnaround on translation jobs.

Handyman - if you have a knack for building, maintaining, painting, shelters and rescues can always use your help. They have shelving units that need to be straightened and mounted properly, units to build, and repairs to make!

Seamstress - if you have a sewing machine and skills to make hammocks and toys for fundraising and for shelter pets!

Pet forum liaison - this is a job some of you perform already! As shelter /rescue staff don't have time to spend on the forums, they miss out on opportunities to get to know the extended small animal community. You don't have to do it officially on their behalf, though you can give the rescue or a shelter a mention when it's relevant. If a positive adoption prospect comes forward, just provide the shelter the details of who they are - lend your support to adoption agent(s) in screening homes. French or English or any language - according to forums you visit!

And finally: Cuddler.

At most animal shelters, most small animals are treated for health problems only if it's easy to treat, otherwise, they will be euthanized. For these reasons, they are not "safe." They are mostly being kept in good conditions - although they may not always be on the best bedding or have a proper diet. They aren't let out for exercise except perhaps with volunteers.

Shelters need volunteers to go in and cuddle the rodents. This keeps them well-socialized and alleviates boredom in the cage. About 3-4 volunteers are needed, and you are only asked for a consistent schedule. Also, the more small animal volunteers there are, the more weight is given when they raise concerns about illnesses and healthcare.

Spaying and neutering

Spaying and neutering larger rodents and rabbits is most cost-effective when they are young. How you measure cost-effectiveness is something we go into on this page, because cost is a factor of why people do not spay or neuter their pets.

Basic cost-effectiveness is taking the cost of the operation and dividing it up by the number of months you reasonably expect the animal to live. For example, if it is a young rat, start with 24 months. So a $120 procedure amounts to (the time value of money not included) $5 a month. Can you afford that? Probably.

If you keep only one sex, or else are completely responsible and keep males and females separate at all times, then do-nothing is a viable option for you. However, there are some health and behaviour benefits for spaying and neutering.

Females who are spayed at a young age are much less susceptible to mammary and/or uterine tumours. The cost of a tumour removal is commensurate with the cost of spaying, AND tumours often come back, so two operations can be assumed.

Sometimes neutering is required if you have a particularly aggressive or territorial male who won't get along with his cage mates, or who needs for his own good and your convenience to be integrated with other males. Or he could simply be a lucky fella because he'll have a female cage mate. (I know we like to anthropomorphize, but rats do not mate for life. Nonetheless, domestic rats do form pairs and the bond can be quite strong.)

If you think your rat is already pregnant…

Make a wise investment in yourself and your pet. If she could be pregnant, take her to the vet and see about spaying her. It is not too late until the vet tells you it is. If she is young, she will derive benefits by reducing tumour occurrences when she's older. If she's older, it could save her life from a difficult birth.

One way of telling early on if she's pregnant, well before she develops a distinctive pear-shape, is to weigh her daily on a postal scale. An increase in weight is a strong indication if you have reason to suspect she's been in contact with males.

The cost of spaying a rat, chinchilla or a rabbit varies; in Montreal, it's about $170. Remember: once a rat is spayed, you never have to worry about her getting pregnant again. All other alternatives mean it could be a repeat performance.
Rabbits have litters of 3 - 6 babies.
Chinchilla have only 1 - 2 babies, but remember - they live 15 years!
Rats have litters from 4 - 18 babies. Healthy moms usually have about 10 - 14.
The cost of a caesarian section should the birth go badly: $140 and up. Other assistance is additional, i.e. emergency hospital admission fees, because you don't get to choose the hour of birth. If a rat is in labour for more than 3 hours, she is in trouble! Do not wait!
The cost of euthanizing pinkies (termed culling), if you choose to go that route: $50 and up. Home culling is a crime. It is also very sad, as the mother will look for the babies she loses.
The cost of upgrading the cage size to accommodate Mama and 5 - 8 daughters: $100
The cost of a second cage or two to house 5 - 8 males at 5 weeks of age: $100
The cost of food and bedding for a period of six months, estimated duration to adopt all babies (except one daughter to keep Mama company): at least $75 more than before
Realistic number of rats at shelters that don't find homes because your babies found those homes first: 4 – and an excellent chance that one of your babies in turn has babies, and those babies end up in the shelter.
The average cost per rat in treating mycoplasma or removing tumours, likely and predictable diseases, over a lifetime: $200
Cost of euthanasia at a shelter - available whenever an animal needs it: $2 - 5, paid by the shelter as people do not usually offer or agree to pay or donate for this service
Some municipalities pay the shelter for this fee, and the shelter responds to this money by refusing to partner up with rescue organizations to save lives - because if they don't euthanize the animal, they don't get the fee. Shelters cannot run on rain, sunshine, and goodwill alone.
Cost of a much more humane (under sedative or anaesthetic) euthanasia at an exotic vet: $15 - 22 per small animal, paid by the client

So, if you don't spay your potentially pregnant rat, chinchilla, or rabbit, you are still spending money, and spending other people's money (or not spending money by subjecting the animal to cruelty). The chances of all babies making it into homes, where all their needs will be looked after all their lives, are not so good. Moreover, there are so many pets already living in this world, who deserve a better chance at being the pets they were supposed to be. You can help them first and foremost by not adding to their numbers.