The Old Five Notch Farm: An Update on The Bonanza Bunch and...There is a NEW gang in town!

Well, about two months ago, we moved The Bonanza Bunch out into the woods into a soft release pen. That means the pen that they were safe and secure in on the back porch has now been relocated to the woods where will continue to feed and care for them for a few weeks until they get used to their new surroundings.

Two week passed and the squirrels were adjusting to their new surroundings. I had planned on opening the small door that weekend, but the weather man was calling for a lot of rain so we were going to postpone until the next weekend when the weather was more friendly.


"Little Joe" Enjoying a cherry <3

Monday morning I went down to feed them and opened the big door only to have Ms. Cartwright bolt out of the door! Well, I guess they decided it was time to go. I opened the little door and the other two also came out. I put their food on top of the pen and they ate a little and started exploring. I watched them for the longest time. They were so happy and run up and down the trees, out onto branches and were soon hopping from tree to tree.

I called My Farmer Man in tears. Bless his heart, he says, honey, you want them to be free. This is what all your hard work was for. It was still really hard knowing I couldn't keep them safe any longer.

We continued to put out seeds, nuts and fruit daily for over a month. I saw at least two of them most days and on occasion, I would see all three of them. One morning, as I was putting their food on top of the pen, one of the squirrels was already sitting up there eating. I dumped the seeds and nuts and then went to dump the fruit. The little cuss bit me! I knew then they were truly back to being wild creatures and it made my heart happy to know they were where they should be.

"Ms Cartwright" aka Baby Girl Squirrel

"Hoss"

"Little Joe"

A week or two later I went to feed and Hoss came down to eat. Bless his heart, he had been in a fight and his nose had been bitten as well as a huge scratch on the inside of his leg. It had already started to heal, so I was glad to see he was doing well.

"Hoss" and his nose injury :-(

As the days went on, I saw them less and less. Often only seeing one every couple of days. We started feeding every other day to allow them to learn to forage for their own food. A few days ago I went to the screened porch to take care of the keets and Rudy and noticed a squirrel hanging on the screen. I walked to the door and he hopped down, but did not run away....it was Hoss!

"Hoss" having a snack having found his way back to the stairs that lead to the screened porch.

The Big Man had found his way out of the woods, across the field, up the driveway and back to the screen porch! We got him some pecans and some seeds and he stayed right there on the steps and ate. I went back inside and got a little more and his favorite, apples, and took them out to find him at the bottom of stairs. We started putting some out by the bottom of the big oak tree just off the stairs and now it looks like Hoss has a friend! It isn't one of the others of The Bonanza Bunch because it scampers up the tree just as soon as she sees us.

It is so satisfying to see them doing so well. We continue to take food out to the top of the release pen every other day and will slowly decrease the frequency until we are putting food in a squirrel feeder once a week. We will continue to feed them through this Winter just to be sure they will have a good chance.

The Bonanza Bunch has moved on, BUT there is a new gang in town!

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Meet "The Boat Shop Babies"!

They were rescued by our nephew, Gideon, from the boat shop where he works.

They arrived at The Old Five Notch Farm June 20th