by Sue

Angus is the latest arrival in the Red Squirrel Captive Breeding Programme on Anglesey. He reached there on 15 November after an eight-hour drive from Scotland. He was delighted to be out of his travel box and quickly explored his wonderful new surroundings. He was to share his enclosure with two other squirrels - life was looking up for Angus! He had had a traumatic and painful early life: at times it seemed very unlikely that he would live to see the beauty of Newborough forest.

On 9 August, a family of holidaymakers found him and two dead siblings while exercising their dog in a forest. The baby squirrels were about three weeks old and had apparently been dragged from their drey and dropped on the ground by a predator, perhaps a crow.

Angus's rescuers called the Scottish SPCA and an inspector took him to the SSPCA wildlife hospital. Weighing only 50g and with eyes still closed, it was clear that he would need intensive individual care and I was asked if I would take on the task. I was delighted to accept - this was my first red squirrel. Little did I know the challenges ahead for both of us.

Angus had been thought to be largely uninjured, but on arrival it was clear that he had a serious injury to his right leg, which was hanging down and rotated inwards at the foot. In the course of his first day with us several puncture wounds became increasingly visible. Like his siblings, he had been savaged by a predator.

Despite his injuries, he felt vigorous when squirming in my hand and was quite clever at taking his milk from a syringe and teat. We kept him warm on a heat pad and with a hot water bottle in a small pet carrier, lined with towels, yellow dusters and a soft-toy rabbit that he could cuddle against.

Worried about the risk of infection from his wounds and wanting advice on how best to manage his damaged leg, I consulted our local vets. They recommended Baytril (an antibiotic) to deal with any infection in the wounds. I was concerned that this was not appropriate for such a small, unweaned animal, but was assured that it was the right drug in the circumstances.

This quickly proved a BIG mistake. Angus developed horrendous diarrhea and had episodes of severe dehydration. I had to battle for several days (and throughout two nights) to keep him alive. He spent this time in a box on the kitchen table or in my pocket, being checked every few minutes. I had learnt by bad experience that within half an hour he could go from a comfy, dozy, warm bundle to a cold, clammy, moribund creature, barely breathing.

We had a very worrying few days but Angus pulled through, thanks to lots of good advice from squirrel people and from specialist wildlife vets at a practice 40 miles away. After about ten days he was much improved and gaining weight.

Then, to my horror, I discovered that in addition to a broken leg, Angus also had a significant injury to his left arm. I am right-handed, so held him in my left hand while feeding. In this way his left arm was hidden and supported. It was only when he started stretching out for the syringe with his right arm that I saw he couldn't stretch his left arm. Realizing that in ten days his young bones would already have calcified and stabilized, I started gently stretching and bending his damaged limbs. The best time for this was after meals, when he was contentedly dozing. Slowly, his range of movement increased.

On 18 August Angus opened his eyes - so we knew he was about 30 days old - and took on a whole new personality. He graduated from the small pet carrier to a much bigger two-level chinchilla cage, and from a towel nest to a nesting box, still full of home comforts, as sleeping quarters. We introduced obstacles to encourage him to use all four limbs. At about seven weeks he weaned himself. Being a good Scottish squirrel, his favourite food was porridge, which he continued to get twice a day until he left for Newborough.

Angus was very easy to feed and was happy to try all kinds of nuts and fruit, showing amazing competence dealing with pinecones, beech mast and acorns.

Once fully weaned, we started putting him into our small aviary (2m x 2m x 1.5m). Initially he was scared so I took a chair in and sat and played with him for a while, but he quickly got bolder.

After a week he would happily stay outside all day, though we visited him regularly. From ten weeks old, he slept outside. After about six weeks I was fairly confident that Angus would survive, albeit handicapped, and I began worrying about his future. I sought advice from my widening circle of squirrel contacts. Given that he was a seriously injured orphan who had never seen another squirrel and had of necessity - given his health problems - been much handled, and with winter approaching, it was clear that he could not be released for a long time, if ever. However, once he was in the aviary, my “poor handicapped baby” started leaping from me to branch, branch to wall, doing somersaults, hanging from fingertips or toes from thin twigs and generally showing off increasingly amazing acrobatic skills. After he had spent a few weeks outside it was impossible to detect any trace of his earlier handicaps.

Even with this wonderful improvement in his condition, the advice I received was that Angus should not be released before a period of adaptation. He would need time in a much wilder environment with much more space and the company of other squirrels. We searched first for suitable facilities in Scotland but to no avail. I was fortunate to be given David Stapleford's name and telephone number. A mine of information on all things red squirrel, he not only gave great advice on many aspects but also gave me Craig Shuttleworth's name and number. Craig was happy to take young Angus (and his good Scottish genes!), and hopes to breed from him and maybe release him when he appears ready for life on the outside. We believe we have done the best for him, and know that he is in safe hands with Craig.

Having had Angus with us for over four months we miss him dreadfully - he really was an absolute delight and it was very hard to say goodbye with no prospect of ever seeing him again. HOWEVER, a few days after leaving Angus I called Craig for news and Craig told me that a BBC film crew had been visiting Newborough and that Angus had delighted everyone with his antics. So maybe we will see him again next year - on television.