Where should I relocate a trapped squirrel?

Live trapping squirrels put you in a position where you have to responsibly displace them and find a new home. As with any other animals, new environment can pose threats that you are unaware of and intensify the sense for survival. We can be able to help them in some ways to lessen their stress and fear for relocation.

Relocation techniques
Squirrels can remember how to go to places. They have a heightened sense of smell and sense of feeling which they use whenever they know they will be away from home. Here are two relocation techniques that can be used after catching the fur balls:

• Straight-line pattern is the quickest way to bring them to their new home. It is done by walking a few miles from their original habitat with less turns.
• Zigzag pattern is a more complicated relocation technique since you need to be able to go from where you trapped them to their new home in a zigzag pattern to confuse them how to go back. The short and quick turns will make them feel like they went too far from the neighborhood.

A safe place to possibly call home
It is important to relocate our uninvited visitor to a habitat that can welcome them. In urban areas, safe bets are open field or uninhabited lands. For those with a nearby forest, it is recommended to bring them there. Their new place must be at least 5 miles away from your home to discourage them from coming back. In addition, uninhabited lands and forests will help them adapt faster because our furry creatures are designed to live there.

Season for relocation
Spring and fall are the best time of the year to relocate our fur balls. These are the seasons which they do not have new babies and will survive relocation due to weather conditions. Relocating them on winter time will cause their death as they do not have any food supply stored in their new place.

The dangers
Squirrels have a hard time adapting to a new habitat if it is so different from where they came from. They are territorial creatures. As with any other animal, moving them far away from home will remove them from a familiar place for food, shelter, and possibly their offspring. It will cause them too much stress finding ways to build a place for protection if there are other wild animals. That is why it is very important that you choose a suitable relocation area for them. Assisting our fuzzy dwellers, despite the hassle it may cause us, is also helping out ourselves achieve peace in our home while bringing them back to where they are supposed to be living. That is the real meaning of us, humans, being stewards of nature.