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How do you care for a Baby Chipmunk

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Steve Reiser

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Jun 14, 1991, 10:39:06 AM6/14/91
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I live in the country in the northern Rocky Mountains (Idaho). One of
our cats caught a baby chipmunk, which my wife rescued from our pet with
a broken leg. She took it to the vet, who braced it. The real problem
was feeding it and giving it water (very difficult). 6/12/91

Yesterday, 6/13, returned home and the chipmunk was sick -diarrhea and
dehydration according to a second trip to the vet. The little guy died
lastnight and I buried him in the yard.

I felt frustrated that I couldn't manage to care for this little
creature to bring it back to health. Does anyone know how to feed a
baby chipmunk. I just want to know in case I ever find an injured one
again.


Steve

--
Steve Reiser (rei...@pmafire.UUCP or ...!uunet!pmafire!reiser)

Chris Lewis

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Jun 14, 1991, 9:42:29 PM6/14/91
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In article <1991Jun14....@pmafire.inel.gov> rei...@pmafire.inel.gov (Steve Reiser) writes:

>[describes attempt to rescue and feed a baby chipmunk caught by a cat]


>The little guy died lastnight and I buried him in the yard.

Probably shock was the main reason. Really small animals can't
take much in the way of handling or stress from an injury.

>I felt frustrated that I couldn't manage to care for this little
>creature to bring it back to health. Does anyone know how to feed a
>baby chipmunk. I just want to know in case I ever find an injured one
>again.

The best way to handle it is to start asking your vet or SPCA or
humane society, whatever, to find out who's doing animal rescue
in your area. Two good sources would be vets that deal with
exotics or a local naturalist group.

There'll usually be an organization (often informal) somewhere near you that
will either take them and care for them, or give you the information you need
to nurse it back to health and release it when it can fend for itself. If you
do it now, and then phone the rescue organization, you'll be all set with the
number you need to call when you find an injured animal - of whatever type.
These numbers also tend to be the member's own homes, so you can usually
call them anytime (within reason).

In our area (rural, 30 miles outside of Ottawa) there's quite a
well developed group that handles the usual things - raccoons,
skunks, rabbits, porcupines, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, and
occasionally deer.

Don't expect too much from the SPCA or humane societies, they, themselves,
aren't usually capable of handling such things. Especially the odd-ball
things. Like when I rescued a baby least weasel from a pool skimmer.
Our vet (exclusively exotics - we have a ferret) put us on to someone
who had dealt with one before, and was able to photocopy us some
literature on weasels specifically. We managed to raise it for
2 months before it escaped on its own - a day or two before we
were going to release it. (I expected that 2 ounce ball of fury to have
eaten me within the first week)

And finally, if the animal seems quite young, it will often take
to one of the canned baby breastmilk substitutes. Either by eye-dropper
(if *very* young) or in a bowl. Catfood for older carnivores. But you
should get more detailed information as quick as possible. And, give it
lots of quiet and no kiddies until it's healthy again.
--
Chris Lewis, Phone: (613) 832-0541, Domain: cle...@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
UUCP: ...!cunews!latour!ecicrl!clewis; Ferret Mailing List:
ferret-request@eci386; Psroff (not Adobe Transcript) enquiries:
psroff-request@eci386 or Canada 416-832-0541. Psroff 3.0 in c.s.u soon!

Charlie Prince

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Jun 17, 1991, 1:25:14 PM6/17/91
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No, I don't really know any more than you and your vet did about
taking care of baby rodents. But it reminded me of an experience
I haven't thought about in a long time.

My dad was mowing the lawn and he almost ran over two baby rabbits
which had been abandoned (one of them was injured). My mom and I took
them to the vet, who did his best to bandage the injured bunny and told
us to give them a mixture of honey and water through an eye-dropper.

The injured one died right away, and the other one lived a few days
before he died of dehydration.

So try not to feel too awful (I remember how I felt when those
baby rabbits died). It's really difficult to take care of a baby
animal that really needs its mother.

--
: "I'd call him a sadistic, hippophilic : Charlie Prince :
: necrophile, but that would be beating a : pri...@tusun2.mcs.utulsa.edu:
: dead horse." -- Woody Allen : University of Tulsa :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

mpe...@oavax.csuchico.edu

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Jun 17, 1991, 1:22:17 PM6/17/91
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I'm not sure I would want to get too close to a sick chipmunk or ground
squirrel. In this part of the country, they have been known to carry
bubonic plague. A man became infected in the Northern California area
a few years ago after having been bitten by fleas. He had made camp in
an area overrun with ground squirrels. Fortunately he survived.
Margot Peter

John Horeth

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Jun 19, 1991, 1:35:36 PM6/19/91
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You might try calling your local Zoo or wildlife organization. Sometimes they
have people who re-hab wild animals and they can give you the names of the
people or useful information on how to care for that animal.

Remember the main goal in the case of a wild animal is to get it ready to go
back to the wild if the animal can get well enough to do so.

jo...@DRD.com | John M. Horeth, II
{uunet,rutgers}!drd!john | Horeth Programming Services, Inc. - (918)622-5594
| c/o DRD Corporation (918)743-3013

dezer...@gmail.com

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Jul 9, 2020, 12:27:37 AM7/9/20
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I Rescued a baby chipmunk when she about 2-3 weeks old she’s now getting ready to be released into the wild again. I’ve been taking care of her since I found her. I followed the directions from this site which was very helpful. Thought you might find it useful as well just Incase you ever do encounter another one :)

http://www.orphanedwildlifecare.com/chipmunkcare.htm

dezer...@gmail.com

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Jul 9, 2020, 12:28:26 AM7/9/20
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But I also just realized how old this post was. My apologies.
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