Maternal Instinct at it’s Finest

All female mammals have maternal responses. Even if that maternal instinct is there, it is up to the individual animal whether or not to listen to it. As we see on various job sites there are many fierce animal moms that will go to extremes for their young and we can’t blame them for that!

Although we see strong maternal instincts in all animals we deal with, squirrels are notorious for being extremely persistent if they are ever separated from her babies. Our customers will report seeing the mother squirrel on their roof all day long calling out for her young. Upon our return visit, we are appreciative for the mothers strong instinct. We often rely on a mother’s behaviour cues that inform us that her babies were not old enough to exit through our one-way-door. In such cases when we can not locate the babies in the attic, we will let her back inside the attic to continue raising her young until they are old enough to forage with her. 

With this aggressive mother showing her desire to get back to her babies right away, we placed her young on the roof for her to collect. She quickly made her way over to them and relocated them off the roof one by one to her secondary den site in the neighbourhood.

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.