Feeding a squirrel This squirrel has been sitting outside my glass patio doors staring at me. Every so often she bumps the door. When I went out to check I found her to be unusually scrawny and missing a leg. So I'm thinking she needs some food. I have on hand bird food and deer food. Which should I give her?

Let her choose. Give both

Both are OK for her to eat?

For sure bird food is. They are notorious for feasting on bird food.

And are you ready to feed her forever? :-)

If that is what it takes, Yes. There are a number of animals on the dole over here. Why do you think I have food available?

Who knows, maybe you like nibbling on seeds :-) Lucky squirrel, knocked on a good souls door.

And, don't let Landonewts near it! Might just end up on a shelf

This is a legitimate concern.

Ha! No, I don't kill 'em I just buy 'em on eBay! I actually have a soft spot for all living creatures. The occasional taxidermy purchase is an odd aberration, I will admit....

where's the picture?

Yes, just leave it all out there buffet-style and I'm sure she'll get to it on her own. Squirrels scare the crap out of me and what's worse, some of them carry the plague. :x So, just be careful.

Nuts!! Um, squirrels like nuts. What do squirrels eat? Most squirrels eat nuts, seeds, grain, and fruit. By far their favorite food would be nuts, followed by sunflower seeds. Urban squirrel have adapted to eat just about anything, including pizza, luncheon meats and all forms of snack foods. Squirrels have been known to eat bird eggs, but this is a last resort. When natural food is scarce, they will eat anything they can find. From this website:

I thought that was just Rocky from the cartoons. Thanks for the links. She is eating. Apparently I can feed her nuts but not salty ones as those will speed up her little heart and defeat the purpose of me feeding her. She seems happiest with almonds, tho I don't think that will continue for too long. Shelling almonds for a squirrel, while fulfilling, is time consuming. I think there must be a sign in the woods pointing all three legged animals to my patio doors. The guy at the feed store is gonna love this.

my friend buys hazelnuts for them, drives her husband a little nuts....heh heh heh.

Understandable. Husbands drive me nuts. ;-)

Ha!! Me tooooooo!!

awww - we have a three-legged kitty - once a bird got into the house and Akasha cat was bound and determined to get her. We caught the poor bird before she did (barely) and let her loose outside. I'm afraid Akasha would most likely try to catch the squirrel at your house ;) I'd leave whatever you have out there, the squirrel will decide what it wants.

…there are lots of differing opinions on this... My opinion? Any wild animal that has a missing limb is a wild animal in trouble. The poor baby is missing a leg? Or maybe it’s got a broken leg (ow!) and is holding up because it hurts? How did it lose it? And what sort of infection may be brewing there? I’m no squirrel-rehab-person, but I would recommend that you someone who is used to working with wild mammals. In the SFBay Area, I recommend contacting one of many (SF is pretty cool because there’s so many) wildlife rehabilitation organizations. Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek is awesome. Their website is www.wildlife-museum.org. They’re great people, who give great advice and work tirelessly to rehabilitate x,x’s of animals a year (native wildlife only). If you them, they’ll be able to give you excellent advice that I surely can’t, as I know next to nothing about the life and times of squirrels. Also, (and I may get myself in trouble here - this is only my opinion) feeding wild animals may teach them (they’re smaht) to rely on humans for food, and as we all know, not all humans are interested in the animal’s best interests – they (the animals) can then become “pests” when they encounter another human who doesn't feel as you or I do, and may actually go out of their way to cause harm or "deter" it. Oy, do I ramble too much about this or what? Good luck with the squirrel, and thanks for trying to do the best for him/her!