Flea Treatment for Feral Squirrel(??)

[snowyowlcat]

PLEASE, HELP! THIS IS A DESPERATE SITUATION!!!

I have a family of Eastern Gray Squirrels (they go black in the summer) living around my backyard. They are not the flying squirrels.

The family consists of Sarah, the mother. She had 3 babies this past spring, which we named Ears, Bonkers, and one female, Angel. As soon as they were old enough, she brought them to our yard, and left them there while she went on quick hunts without them. Sarah's family has since adopted our yard as their "territory", and they chase two local Western Gray Squirrels out of our yard as often as they can catch them! We love them and feed them both equally.

Sarah has since given birth to her second litter of babies which we estimate are only about 2-3 weeks old. She moved quite far away to have this litter, as I am sure the spring group of babies might be aggressive towards them. We can only wait and see.

The problem. Bonkers appears to have a total flea infestation. He comes up onto our deck to feed (we were feeding them nuts and cherries, that morning). His ears and eyes are swollen and grey, kind of 'powdery', as if he has been in a really bad fight, or he has had a bad allergy reaction. While he is stationary he will constantly scratch, bite, flick his tail, and repeat the whole process over and over. He is eating what we give him, but we are very worried at the level of discomfort he must be experiencing. He looks awful! He is scratching so much.

I need your help. Does anybody have any ideas on what I could feed him, etc., that might help? Can I get a 'rat' size dose of the edible flea cure powder and mix it into peanut butter to feed to him?? We cannot pick him up, or pet him. Although he will sit beside us and watch us, he does spook when we move. I thought of spraying him, but what if it goes into his eyes?? This could even make him worse. I wish I could trap him, and take him to a vet to have him put to sleep, so they could bathe him and clean him up, but I feel this would not work well for him. He is, very feral.

Any suggestions, past experiences, etc.? Thank you very much!

HELP!!!

SNOWYOWLCAT

[Scooby4]

Try adding Brewer's yeast to the food. It comes in tablet form at Pet stores and other stores. However, I suggest going to your local Health food store and getting the powdered kind. It should be pretty cheap and in the weight area of health store.
It may take a few doses to get it to work. Expect atleast a week for a noticeable difference. It works by producing a "smell" that is secreted through the hair glands. Humans can NOT smell it but fleas do. They don't like the smell and leave. It also helps the animals coat and makes it much nicer.
You can also treat your yard with OUTDOOR flea treatment. I don't like the chemicals especially around pets. However, there is a "natural" option available. There is a treatment that uses live "nematodes". Nematodes ONLY eat fleas. They live until ALL the fleas die and then they die. You may have to treat the yard every month to 3 months. It is EXTREMELY hard to find this yard treatment. I think it is made by Bio spot or something with Bio in it. You may be able to find it online better. I know it sells out quickly.
My ferret has a flea issue. Using Cat flea powder is better for smaller creatures. Hope this helps!!! I am a squirell lover!!!

[snowyowlcat]

Thank you so much for that info.

How much would I mix in peanut butter to give it to him every day? It is awful. He looks like a beaten up old man, and I just want to pick him up and hold him, but he is too feral.

I will get the B.Y. but just don't know how much. I figure Bonkers weights 1 and a half pounds right now!

Thanks.