In article , dragonlady
says...

I've never dealt with this before, and have no idea where else to go to
ask, so I'm asking here!

A baby squirrel seems to be doing it's best to adopt my 18 year old as
it's mommie. It came out last night and climbed onto the laptop (she'd
taken it outside to watch a DVD in relative coolness) then stayed with
her and her friend, eating a tangerine they fed it (off our tree) and
eventually falling asleep on the blanket they were sitting on. She
covered it with a corner of the blanket before she came in for the
night, and this morning it was still there. It likes to be petted, and
climbs onto her lap and snuggles in -- more friendly than my older
daughter's cat! I have no idea how old it is, except it is obviously
not yet fully grown -- this year's litter, in any event.

My brother had two pet squirrels, raised by hand after he discovered a litter
one morning when he was out on an HVAC (heating, venitlation, air-conditioning)
call. There's a barrel-shaped finned air-moving device called a "squirrel
cage", and that's where he found them in a nest - really! Squirrels in the
squirrel cage. The mother had chewed on some wires and was electrocuted - that
was the root cause of the HVAC problem. He put the babies in a shoe box with
some tissues, and put it in his truck, and went on the rest of the day's calls.
He didn't expect them to survive, but didn't have the heart to dispose of them.

Well, four were alive at the end of the day, and he and his girlfriend managed
to get two to thrive. And they grew up! They're pretty intelligent and
affectionate (like pet rats with hairy tails), but he put up with a LOT of house
and furniture damage before he put them outside after a few months. They hung
around for about a year, one drifted off, then the other. He still talks about
them.

Banty