The pictures on this page are of a Euro Red Squirrel that were photographed by Heidi Tanumihardja from Germany.

The photos on this page were sent to me by Heidi and are copyrighted by her. Please do not use the photos without her permission.

Many thanks to Heidi for sharing these photos, because without her, this page would not have been possible. These photos may take some time to load, please be patient.

The Euro Red Squirrel can be found thoughout Europe and Asia to the Japanese Islands.

Their head and body measure 205 - 220mm, tail is 170-180mm and ear tufts 20-30mm. The male's adult weight range is 230-435 grams and the female's adult weight range is 220-355 grams.

Their coloration is generally a rich chestnut color and every shade thereof. Some may be a ginger red while others may be almost black. Sometimes, as in other species of squirrels, siblings may even be different colors.

They do shed their body hair twice a year, while their ear and tail hair only shed once a year. The fall shedding is from September to November. The area of the country they are in will determine when it actually starts. The shedding starts at the base of the tail and proceeds towards the head, while the spring shedding, which starts in March, moves in the opposite direction from the head towards the tail. The ear tufts are generally shed when the shedding has proceeded half way along the back. All hair on the soles of the feet are lost during the spring shedding.

Heidi received "Goofy" when he was about 3 weeks of age. The mother was carrying him in her mouth when they were attacked by a cat. The mom let the baby fall and she took off. Heidi made some loud noises and scared the cat off. She did wait for the mom to come back, but the mom did not get the baby when she did return.

This photo is of "Goofy" when he was about 25 days old.

She found him on May 5, 2000 and got in touch with a knowledgeable vet about wildlife and got him started on a special formula. Thankfully he had no injuries from his ordeal with the cat and the fall.

At this point she is feeding him every 3 hours. He weighed 68 grams when she first got him.

You can see in this picture how nice and round his tummy is which indicates that he is well fed.

You can see all of his toenails and whiskers and the very faint beginnings of the ear tufts if you look very close.

Here is "Goofy" at 6 weeks of age. You can really see the ear tufts now. He is really enjoying the formula that Heidi is feeding to him from a syringe with a nipple attached to the end. His tail is now big and bushy and notice how he uses his front paws to hold onto the syringe. He definately does not want to miss this meal.

Here is "Goofy" at 8 weeks of age. This is a good view of his whole body and how thick and gorgeous his fur is.

"Goofy" is now up to 300 grams, or .66 pounds. Heidi and her family have done an excellent job with this squirrel and he was very lucky that she was there to save him when his mom did not take him back and that she knew who to go to and get some good advice on how to take care of him.

Here are a couple of pictures showing "Goofy" getting a watermelon treat.

      

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