Just to look at him you would think he is just your average squirrel,but then you realize that he is on the inside of
the window looking out.
Marvin is a very domesticated squirrel. His diet consists of fruits, vegetables and nuts,all provided to him every day
in a big white bowl on top of the refrigerator. He drinks water(sometimes) from his own cup,but he mostly likes
iced tea from my glass. His bed is on top of the pantry made up of two rolls of shredded Charmin toilet paper.
He
shredded it himself. Squirrels are weighed in grams,because of their size,and Marvin weighs almost 100 grams more
than your average squirrel. He is very affectionate,he likes to play like a kitten rolling on his back and gently biting,
but never hard enough for it to hurt. He gives kisses and snuggles in my ear and sits perched atop my head,playing
in my hair.
Marvin's life started much like any other squirrel but at the age of four days old he fell from a rotted tree to the
ground
and our adventure began. He was about the size of a newborn kitten with no hair . Squirrels skin turns grey a day or
so before the hair actually comes in. So there he was this tiny little thing with no hair and his eyes weren't open
but he was hungry.
Not knowing much about baby squirrels I quickly went on the internet to find out all I could about
them. To my surprise, I found all kinds of information. I found out that you can't just give them regular milk or canned
milk because by four months of age they will get a disease called "metabolic bone disease" and they will die. They
must have a certain type of formula called Esbalac,and it has to be mixed with heavy whipping cream. So I went to
my local feed store and sure enough they carried it. We live in the country so we have a local feed store that carries
a lot of specialty foods for all kinds of animals. Esbalac is not only for squirrels,it's also used for other baby animals
as well. The internet also said not to use an eyedropper but to use a syringe,that way you can control the amount
they get in their mouth and it won't get in their lungs. So from the beginning Marvin was always starving,hence the
name Starvin Marvin,and we just shortened it to Marvin. The good thing about squirrels is they aren't nocturnal,so I
didn't have to get up for the 2:00 feeding.
Every day I could see the changes in him as he grew. First the hair began
to come in but his eyes still weren't open. On the internet it said their eyes don't open until they are five weeks old.
I kept him in a glass tank with a heating pad in the bottom for warmth. At first he would eat one syringe of formula
at a feeding but it didn't take him long to get up to 3 or 4 or even 5 . Then, one day I went to feed him and his eyes
were open. He looked just like a regular squirrel but smaller. He was very good at balancing even at such a young age.
He had to be fed every three to four hours and he was always impatient for the next feeding. As he now had his eyes
open,I started to take him out of the tank to play. I kept toilet paper stacked on the plunger handle in the bathroom
and wouldn't you know that was his favorite place to play. Maybe that's why he likes toilet paper so much.
He looked forward to play time everyday as much as I did. He would climb up my back and sit on top of my head,
squirrels go to the highest place instinctively. By the time he was six weeks old the formula just wasn't enough
anymore
so I started putting baby cereal in it but at his age he was old enough to start eating fruits and vegetables. So his first
real food was green beans,he loved them,and soon he began to chew on pieces of apple and carrot. He still took the
formula until he was about three months old. Squirrels usually stay with the mother until they are about four months
old and weaned.
I kept track of all the things I had learned about squirrels so that he would grow up to be a healthy adult. It was my
intention to release him back into the wild when he was grown but by the time he was grown there was no going back
for him. He had learned all the secret places of the house and it was winter and he just didn't have the instinctive skills
to be out on his own. Or maybe I was just too attached to him.
I've had Marvin for almost four years now and I couldn't imagine life without him. A squirrels life expectancy in the
wild is about five years,if they don't get hit by a car or eaten by a cat or fall from a power line,but in captivity they can
live to be about seven years old. I know that I will out live Marvin but my life has been so touched by him that even after
he's gone on I will treasure the time that I had with him. He has been a joy to own and I will always love him.
