Growing up Squirrel at the Red River Zoo: May 2008

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Let's Paint!!

Who knew we had a couple Picasso's and Van Gogh's on our hands?!?! The babies are 7 weeks old now. They had a busy day last Thursday the 22nd. They got up bright and early to be on the SAD morning radio show with Scotch and DUI on Rock102. They got to freak out all the dj's as they ran up and down DUI's arms. I never realized how scared people can get from cute baby squirrels. I think it just had to do with the fact that squirrels generally are not in a radio station. After that, the babies went back to the zoo and did an art project. The paintings were done to show them off at our "Creature Creations" event at the zoo coming up in July. They will be available for purchase if anyone is interested. Below are pictures of the babies and their paintings.

"Oliver"

"Owen"

"Grace"

"Tawny"

"Liberty"

Mastered the Art of Playing

Now that they have figured out what their feet are used for, they have began to play non-stop! At 6 weeks old they are still able to be handled, but very carefully. Their little toenails are getting very sharp and they can cling to anything! They have even gotten enough confidence in themselves to start leaping from place to place. One evening "Oliver" was sitting on my legs as I was feeding the other babies and he jumped from them onto my shoulder! Very impressive! I think he even surprised himself on what he could accomplish! Right now they are still eating every 4 hours and have worked up to eating 8-9 mL of formula at each feeding. They have also started nibbling on some rodent chow and yams. Here are their pics at 6 weeks old...

"Oliver"

"Owen"

"Grace"

"Tawny"

"Liberty"

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Eyes Opened!

The babies have their eyes open!! They are now able to see the world!! At about 4 1/2 weeks old their eyes finally opened. They are at such a fun age right now. They are trying to figure out what their feet are used for. Its fun to watch them hop around and trying to walk, they are quite awkward! Here are some updated photos of them. I finally named all of them as well. So instead of numbers, they have names. Enjoy!

"Oliver" weight = 128 grams

"Owen" weight = 128 grams

"Grace" = 114 grams

"Tawny" weight = 114 grams (named after my friends dog who passed away recently - she LOVED squirrels)

"Liberty" weight = 116 grams

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Babies are 4 weeks old!

Hard to believe how time is flying by and how fast the babies are growing. They are all doing amazing! At 4 weeks old they weigh around 100 grams. Now they are eating between 3-4 mL of formula every 2-3 hours. The babies also made their media debut. On May 1st, they were on live TV with Valley News Live. It was a big moment for them and for the zoo.

Here are pictures of them...