Q. Is My Orphaned Squirrel Blind?

Posted by Mia Carter Oct 11, 2008

On October 10, 2008, a reader of Care for an Orphaned Baby Squirrel asked the following question: "Hi there! I too have a baby squirrel courtesy of Hurricane Ike. She seems very healthy and eats well but seems to have at least 1 if not 2 bum eyes. One eye has a glaze over it and I'm pretty sure she can't see out of it and I am beginning to wonder about her other eye. I've raised baby squirrels before and this one is acting very different. I really don't think she can see me. I can almost poke her in her eye before she blinks and I think she feels me almost at her eye and doesn't see me. Anyhow, can you give me some hints at what I can look for to determine if she is blind or not? I figure she's 6-7 weeks old and otherwise healthy. (She explores some, but not very much and seems to go to the same places after each exploration, like she's memorizing the area. She just yesterday began walking off of a towel on the floor. She holds her head down to the ground a lot and scoots most places she's never been.) The more I write this down the more I think I'm answering my own questions. Suggestions?"

This is a great question. And I think you're right - it does sound like she has at least a moderate degree of blindness. Often, orphaned baby squirrels are physically handicapped as a result of the situation that led to their orphaning (i.e. a fall from the nest or attack from a predator). In other cases, baby squirrels are thrown out of the nest when a parent squirrel detects a physical handicap or illness - I know it sounds a bit cruel, but nature is often "cruel" by human standards. A blind or otherwise handicapped squirrel will not reach adulthood in the wild, so throwing it from the nest is the mother squirrel's way of speeding up the inevitable, while giving her other healthy babies a better chance at survival (more food to go around, more room in the nest, etc.)

That said, it does sound like this little squirrel is sight-impaired, if not completely blind. The cloudiness in the eye that you describe could be one of a few things. It could be cataracts, which can be inherited and therefore can appear in young animals, as well as elderly animals. Cataracts are certainly treatable, and this would enable her to be released into the wild, providing she has at least some sight at the beginning of her life. A baby squirrel (or any other animal for that matter) whose eyes never experience vision will loose the ability for vision as time progresses. If unused from day one, the portion of the squirrel's brain that oversees vision will not develop and the squirrel will loose the capability for vision.

It's also possible that the clouding in her eyes is due to some sort of scarring or infectious process - it's difficult to determine the precise situation without a visit to the veterinarian.

The behaviors you suggest are very consistent with a vision impairment in your squirrel, though I should note that squirrels, like all other animals, learn to adapt over time. They will use their other senses, like hearing and smell to compensate. So much so that it's difficult to tell if an animal is blind. I have two blind dogs and you'd never guess they were blind unless I told you. The degree of compensation from other senses is incredible.

Testing for Vision

To confirm whether an animal is blind, a visit to the veterinarian is essential. The veterinarian will have the ability to look inside the eyes at the inner structures, in addition to performing some basic tests if it's suspected that there is at least some vision capability present. Here's a few tests you can try at home - it's not a diagnosis, but it will give you a better idea of her visual abilities. I learned these through my work with special needs animals, which includes several blind or partially blind animals who are currently in my care.

• Drop a few cotton balls at the very edge of her visual field. She should react and turn her head toward the cotton balls. They're light and soft, so they shouldn't make any real sound or wind as they fall (though she may smell them).
• Bring her into a dimly lit room and shine a flashlight into each eye. The pupil should immediately constrict if the eye "sees" the light. If it constricts only slightly or if the pupil remains dilated, there is little or no sight in that eye.
• If you suspect that only one eye is sight-impaired or more severely affected, try the flashlight trick but look for something different this time. In a healthy animal or human, both eyes react uniformly. So if the pupil of one eye dilates, they both dilate and vice versa. Shine the flashlight into the right eye, and look for a response in the left. If the right eye is "seeing," the left eye should constrict, even if it's not exposed to the light. When you shine a light into a blind left eye, there will be no response in the right eye because the left eye is not "seeing" the light and therefore, it's not getting the message to the brain that both eyes should be reacting. This is how you determine if one eye is more affected than the other.

Blindness in an Orphaned Baby Squirrel

For obvious reasons, a blind or sight-imparied squirrel cannot be released into the wild. So alternate arrangements will need to be made to keep the squirrel in a captive situation, either as a pet or in a wildlife sanctuary. In fairness, all available options should be explored with the squirrel's best interest in mind. It can be tempting to just keep the squirrel as a pet, but this is not always the best option. When considering making a squirrel a "pet," I urge squirrel caretakers to at least visit a wildlife sanctuary and research it as an option.

I should also reiterate that all orphaned squirrels should be examined by a veterinarian prior to release into the wild. Problems like partial blindness and other physical disabilities that would make living in the wild dangerous, if not impossible, and these problems are not always this obvious. And after spending so much time rehabilitating and caring for an animal, it would be a shame to release her into a situation where she's doomed to failure and very unlikely to survive.

Visit my Squirrel Care Page for more articles on squirrel care, more answers to baby squirrel questions, and more.

Have a pet question? Or a suggestion for a pet care article? Send your questions and suggestions to Mia.Carter@Suite101.com

Disclaimer: I have extensive experience in caring for animals, including sick and special needs animals, but I am not a veterinarian. I can provide information and advice based on research and my many years of experience with pet care and training, but it's not a substitute for seeking medical attention from a veterinarian.