Empty Nest

It has come time to say goodbye to all of the babies. The reason for breeding our Russian Red Tree Squirrels this year was to allow the Philadelphia Zoo the opportunity to have this spectacular species in their animal collection. Before the babies were even born, they had agreed to get up to three squirrels from us depending on the size of the litter. Since there were 5 of them, we began asking other zoos if they would like the other 2 squirrels from the litter. We were able to find homes for them right away. The Bramble Park Zoo in Watertown, South Dakota agreed to take the two boys, Oliver and Owen. We drove them down the end of June along with another one of the older male squirrels we had at the zoo.

Then it came time for the girls to leave. They were able to stick around a little longer than the boys since we had to wait for the right temperature for them to fly to Philly. Finally, the day arrived. Although it was very sad to see them go, I knew they would be going to a great zoo. The staff at the Philadelphia zoo is thrilled to have them! Here are a few of the final pictures of the girls before they left. My how fast they grew!

As an exciting side note...

It was to my surprise that ~ 10 days after these 5 babies were born, the parents reproduced again. On May 25, 3 more babies were born to "Peanut." They were also hand raised and are doing great! She had two girls, "Willow" and "Ruby" and one boy "Axel." The two girls can now be seen on exhibit with the baby girls from last year "Jewel" and "Greta."