If you found a baby squirrel, please do everything you can to find the mother. Raising babies in captivity should always be a last resort, and in most cases a squirrel mother will be desperate to find her lost baby.
To determine if a reunite is possible, first check:
Is the baby visibly injured or badly bleeding? (Bloody noses are common and are not necessarily a sign of bad injury- mom will often still retrieve them.)
Is it very cold to the touch? (Baby squirrels should feel warm.)
Is there a dead adult nearby, that you are SURE is the parent? (If you are only guessing, try the reunite still.)
Are there flies or maggots on the baby or in any of its orifices?
If yes to any of these, contact us or another wildlife rehabilitator.
Squirrel mom rescues her babies who fell from nest
If no, try to reunite the baby with its mother.
If you have found a single baby check the area for any siblings.
Place the baby in a small box surrounded by soft material (fleece or similar), with instant hand warmers or a tightly sealed hot water bottle.
Place the box near where the baby was found, preferably mounted as high as possible off the ground (wire or string can be used to affix the box to a tree).
Humane Wildlife Services removing three one-week-old squirrel babies from an attic.
Leave the area and observe from a distance- a mother squirrel won't return if people are nearby. The mother squirrel should return to retrieve her baby within a few hours. Mother squirrels usually keep several nests, so it’s not a problem if it was destroyed, they will simply take their babies to a different location.
Before giving up, play the baby squirrel calls at the bottom of this page which will help the mother find the baby. There are many more of these you can find on YouTube as well. They work extremely well!
If the mother squirrel still does not return, retrieve the baby, keep it in a warm place, and contact a wildlife rehabilitator. Do not try to feed or give water to the baby squirrel. Feeding a baby squirrel without the proper supplies and training can be fatal to the baby. Baby squirrels require a very specific diet and care protocol (most of the DIY recipes you can find online are extremely inappropriate for their proper development), as well as the fact that it is illegal to possess wildlife in NY without a license. Baby squirrels do not need to be cuddled, and they can have fleas and ticks on them. Just give them some soft and snuggly fabric and they will be fine!
HUGE thanks to Cruzzin with Crystal for following the reunite instructions perfectly, then also letting us share their videos!