Help with arizona desert ground squirrel ?

Question

Hi, about a year ago my lab was in our backyard and when she came in she had a squirrel in her mouth. the squirrel had several bite marks on it and ruffed up fur and was just barely alive. well for about two months we got it a cage, fed it milk and slowly it recovered, but appeared to limp a little. we then started giving it seeds and other foods such as carrots, grapes, and greens. eventually, it showed lots of improvement and did not limp anymore, but couldn't stand on its hind legs like i'd seen so many others of its kind do. its a natural thing they do to look around and scout there surroundings out. so we would take vegetables and bring it over its head and eventually instincts took over and it stood up and began holding its food in its hands while it ate. we know that you can not legally keep wildlife more than 48 hours but it was dying, and has now become so domesticated that you can pet her. well now it is fine but something has been troubling me these summer days, for hours she sits in a corner at the top of her cage in a ball seeming asleep. she has always been so playful and energetic ive never seeen this before. and if she's not in a ball, she chews on the top of her cage which leads into the other thing she does: she climbs the top walls and circles around it until her feet bleed from the sharp edges, i want to get her a new cage but i just dont have the money for the type of space she needs. can anyone explain why she behaves like this? and how can i help her???

Answer 1

its called

(wrong spelling i know)

estivation...my god Its spell wrong but this is what it is (I learned it on a trip to arizona as a kid) The ground squirrl goes into (during the hot summer days) what is called estivation....its like a deep sleep ( meditation basically) they do this because the AZ summers are so hot and its almost impossible to look for food during this time of day...they meditate underground during the days and wake up at night to look for food. Nights being more busier and safer etc.

as for why she's doing the crazy stuff is beyond me. she probably was out of sync after the injury and now is feeling better and is stress by the cage? I'm no animal expert but i do know about their day habits because as i said i learned about this on a trip to AZ.

hope that sheds some bit of light.

good luck

Answer 2

it is a wild animal and it is very bored living a life in a cage . you should put the cage in a safe place outside and continue to keep food and water in it and leave the door open and when it is comfortable enough it will again become a wild animal and live the life it was intended to.By the way, you did the right thing by saving its life but now its time for you to let it "live it"