Many people keep squirrels as pets. These tiny animals are very cute, docile, and non-aggressive, but this isn’t always the case with these cute balls of fur.
Regardless of how cute these tiny animals are, they are still wild animals. If they’ve been raised in the wild, they will act like wild animals.
If you raise them in your home, they may still act like wild animals on occasion, even though they’ve been socialized to live with humans. If your pet squirrel is getting aggressive this article will help you figure out why
Squirrels are wild animals, and if prompted, they will get aggressive. Reasons why your pet squirrel may be acting aggressively may vary from the animal feeling threatened, the animal having rabies (which changes a squirrels mental state), or as a result of humans feeding squirrels and it acting entitled to food from us.
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Pet squirrel getting aggressive:
A pet squirrel becoming aggressive can be pretty dangerous. These animals have sharp nails and sharp teeth. In addition, squirrels aren’t shy when it comes to biting.
These wild animals are unlike domestic pets who have been bred for generations to live in harmony with humans.
For this reason, it is very important to get any aggression under control. Here are reasons why squirrels may be getting aggressive
It feels threatened:
Squirrels are pretty low on the food chain.
They are aware that many predators will be more than happy to attack and eat them, thus they may get aggressive as a means to keep a predator (sometimes a human) away from them, this includes getting aggressive and biting, squirrels will only bite if they feel threatened
They are infected with rabies:
Normally, squirrels are very docile animals. They will only attack and bite if they feel threatened.
However, if you’re not threatening the animal, and it attacks you unprovoked, then the reason behind this attack may be that the squirrel has rabies.
Rabies changes a squirrel’s behavior for the worse. The disease affects the animal’s central nervous system and causes it to become aggressive and unfearful of humans.
It’s looking to you for food:
If a pet squirrel becomes aggressive and attacks you this may be because it’s used to being offered food and you aren’t offering it any.
Squirrels can become dependent on humans giving them food, this happens in instances where humans constantly feed squirrels making them lazy to find food for themselves.
Squirrels will eventually expect food from humans and get aggressive when food is not offered.
What to do when this happens?
A wild squirrel is just that, a wild squirrel, it is impossible to completely get the animal to stop biting you as this instinct is natural to them.
That being said, there are ways to get these animals to become less aggressive if the reason for the aggression happens because of the reasons above.
If the squirrel is feeling threatened, keep your distance from the squirrel and even back down, this will help it relax.
If the animal has rabies, you’ll also need to keep away from it, call wildlife control to let them know that there is a rabid squirrel in the area.
If they are dependent on humans to give them food the only way to get them to stop being aggressive is to feed them through an appropriate squirrel feeder
What do you do if a squirrel bites you?
Squirrel bites can be very painful, squirrel teeth are surprisingly sharp, they can dig into you deep enough to draw blood.
If this happens you would need to go to the doctor to make sure the squirrel hasn’t infected you with anything.
Thankfully squirrel bites are generally harmless but it is important for you to have them checked out.
If the animal is sick with rabies, or some other illness, the wound needs to immediately be treated at a hospital. If you can, use lukewarm water and mild liquid soap to clean the wound.
You would then need to disinfect the wound with hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol. Then proceed to cover the wound and visit a hospital to have yourself checked out.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if your pet squirrel is getting aggressive this may be because of one of three reasons: the animal feels threatened by you, because it feels entitled to get food from you or because it’s carrying rabies.
If a squirrel bites you it is important to have the wound checked at a hospital
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other squirrel related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Squirrel barking at me, why this happens, Do squirrels eat other squirrels?, Do squirrels fight?, Do squirrels eat their dead?