Anyone have experience with tame squirrels?

[Piranha86]

I have really been wanting to have a pet squirrel (don't ask, I'm crazy) but obviously, mom and dad said no. What I think I want to do is tame a few in my back yard and have them as semi-wild pets. I have seen squirrels in local parks that are so accustomed to people giving them food that they will come up within 2 or 3 feet of you. But has anyone done this before or does anyone have some tame squirrels in their yard?

We have probably 5 squirrels that venture into our yard, their 'hoard' occupies 2 nests, one in one of our trees, and one in one of our neighbor's trees. They come up onto our deck and near our breakfast nook (where we can view them out the window), but they've never really come close to us outside.

So yeah...

 

[sandstorm320]

I have a whole bunch of squirrels that will come right up to me in my backyard...the trick is practice, and patience. It will take a while but if you put food out and then stay by it, eventually they will come right up to you (by eventually i mean several weeks, if not longer depending on your squirrels). Please remember that while they may come up to you they will never be your pets. It's neither sanitary nor safe to pet them, but if you do get bit there aren't many diseases that can be transmitted from squirrel to person. They frequently have flees so if you have other pets prepare for that, and the area that you feed them in will be a mess. If you like squirrels and want to hand feed them persistence will pay off and it can be alot of fun if you have the time to do it, just keep in mind that they are actually a wild animal

 

[ConnerFish]

The squirrels on campus where I go to school will come up to and take food from your hand. I think if they get used to it they will do just about anything for food!

 

[captmicha]

Oh please no. As some one who volunteers at a wildlife rehabilitation center, I can see all kinds of things going wrong. Please leave wildlife in the wild. Alone in the wild, as in please don't bother them. They're not tame, domesticated animals. They're not suitable for captivity and they're not meant to be eating out of your hands. Get a ferret or something if you really need another pet. Lord knows there's enough of them in rescues and shelters for lack of homes.

 

[jbowzer7]

Ferrets are from the wild also! I do not see anything wrong with trying to feed squirrels from your hand. I would still leave outside and would not capture them. Leave them run free, but it should be fine to try and get them to eat out of your hand. I have not tried to tame the ones in my back yard, but I still have one that lets me get to within two or three feet when I am filling my bird feeders and squirrel feeders.

I used to have a aunt that would feed chipmunks peanuts in her yard, and you could feed them out of your hand. There were close to fifty that would eat out of your hand.

 

[Rbishop]

sooner or later, a good startle can cause them to bite the hand that feeds them....I wouldn't attempt to get them to do that...ever hear of rabies...?

 

[captmicha]

To tell the truth, squirrels aren't the usual rabies vector species but there is a small possibility that they can carry it. And yes, they can and do bite extremely hard. As well as scratch.

Yes, ferrets came (and some still do such as blackfooted ferrets) from the wild but the ones you see in pet stores, shelters, and rescues have been in the pet trade long enough to become at least partially domesticated.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a squirrel in my area was maced by a police officer because it was approaching children. Some one probably tried to make it a pet or tamed it previously to this happening.

We get in squirrels all the time that have been mauled by cats and dogs because people messed with them and they don't know to stay away from pets. We also get in squirrels that kids decided to harm because they were fed by people and thus never learned to keep a distance from people.

Wild animals are always best left wild.

 

[Rbishop]

"aren't the usual"...lol.....ks....but I think different from my experience.

 

[toasty]

Meet Hyouta-sensei.

He's 17 years old and lives in Japan.

I heard squirrels are actually very tame and able to be raised when they're very young, but they're like people - once they hit puberty/teen age (squirrel years), they become their own individual and want to get out ASAP and don't want to be a "pet" anymore.

 

[jbowzer7]

I don't suggest holding any wild animals! But feeding squirrels is fine. As long as you have a open hand they will not bite. I think that story I saw on the news about that police officer that maced that squirrel is stupid. Apparently that officer was a city slicker that he first did not attempt to chase the squirrel away by some other means. And as far as someone trying to make a pet out of that squirrel, you can only assume so. I do not try and make pets out of my squirrels, but like I said, one will come to within a few feet of me before it will run away. I have never tried to make a pet of it. It of course is not stupid, it knows where easy food comes from. I have the same thing happen with wild turkeys in my back yard, because they eat spilled food from under the bird feeders and they know there is food there. I have a fenced in backyard (only about five feet high) that more than once I have chased deer out of there. A couple of times I have gotten within five to ten feet while making noise before they get out of there (they also try and get at my bird feeders). I am currently trying to live trap a raccoon that is giving me headache going after my bird feeders (currently I have to take five of my feeders in every night or else they will knock them down, the rest are raccoon and squirrel proof). People have taken a lot of natures habitat, so they go where they can get food. Now I would not attempt to tame a raccoon once it has been in the wild, a squirrel eating out of my hand would be a different story. I would not attempt to keep it as a pet, or hold it for that matter. I know of people who feed squirrel, chipmunks, birds, and even deer out of there hand, with no problems. I myself, just like seeing them in nature, and am content with that. In the summer, nothing is more relaxing than sitting by my pond, listening to the birds and water from the waterfalls and kicking back and have a cold one. But I still say if someone wants to hand feed a squirrel, more power to you. Just do not try and hold them or try and make them your pet. Enjoy nature!!!!