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London
Wildcare Centre in Surrey
Naturenet-
Wildlife & Countryside Act
The BBC is not responsible for the
content of external websites.
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| FACTS |
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Fact
1
Baby squirels are rarely seen unless they are in need
of help. If you see one on the ground it has probably either
been dropped by a predator or fallen from it's drey. Female
squirrels cannot easily transport their young and so if you
find a baby your local wildlife centre should be contacted
immediately for advice and help.
Fact
2
The odds against an all white squirrel being born are
100, 000 to one.
Fact
3
On average, a squirel costs up to £8 per week
to feed and look after. Persil and Daz have a daily diet of
fresh vegatables and nuts.
Fact
4
Squirrel pups require specific nursing, weaning foods
and a specialist thermostatically controlled environment to
survive in captivity. They also require calcium supplements
at a specific level in order to avoid Metabolic Bone Disease,
whoch results in fitting, britle bones and ultimately death.
Fact
5
Squirrels do not make good pets and it is illegal under
the terms of the Wildlife and Countryside Act to take any
animal from the wild without meaning to return it once fit.
Fact
6
The London Wildcare Centre is open for emergencies
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The emergency telephone number
is 0208 647 6230.
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He
came into us from Peckham with his brother Daz, about 5 days ago.
Their
nest (called a drey) was dislodged from a tree when a couple of
lads accidentally dislodged it whilst playing football.
A member
of the public gathered up the two baby squirrels and brought them
straight to us.
Both were a little concussed and Persil had a bloody nose but they
have recovered very well from the trauma and are now doing very
well.
They are around 5 weeks old and starting to eat their own solid
food (soft nuts such as pecan and walnut, chopped fruit and small
pieces of digestive biscuit).
They are still, however, being hand fed a reconstituted powdered
milk designed for kittens and puppies called Esbilac, which is very
good for squirrel pups as well as fox and badger cubs too.
The hand feeding is done from a 1ml syringe and both squirrels will
take up to 10 syringes at each feed.
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| Persil
is only 5 inches long and weighs just over 2oz (60g) |
Both
will remain with
us in our resident squirrel pen, where they may live for up to eight
years... significantly higher than the life expectancy in
the wild which, for Daz could be between one and four years but
which for Persil would be
unlikely to extend beyond a few weeks owing to
her increased chances
of being predated by
dogs or cats.
Squirrels are highly intelligent animals which actually would do
more to benefit the natural environment than they would to harm
it, were it not for the fact that forrestry is a very commercial
venture.
Over
50% of the nuts they cache (bury) are never retrieved and in a totally
wild environment this would serve as a very significant source of
new tree planting. they are very resourceful and, when in captivity,
rapidly learn to accept people as a good supply of food.
Contrary to poupular myth, the grey squirrel actually did nothing
to displace the native red, which tragically declined owing to a
parapox virus epizootic in the 1950's.
The
recolonization of former Red areas by Greys, coupled with a sharp
decline in suitable Red habitat and food source, means that a substantial
re-introduction of our Red squirrel throughout the UK can only happen
if major replanting of coniferous forests is undertaken with a guarantee
to protect the sites and provide supplementary feeding until any
newly introduced animals are full established.
Read Persil's
weekly diary or send Persil
postcards.
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