Can squirrels harm parrots?

[Leena]

Rio and budgies are out in the cages on our balcony grill for sunlight. Today I saw a squirrel come to Rio's cage, stick his head in and pull the paper at the bottom of the cage and was busy eating the scraps of food.
Rio was not bothered at all but what was scary is that the squirrel did not run away when I came over to drive it away. It took some effort to do it.This makes me think the squirrel is a regular visitor.

Can a squirrel harm an Alex? Even if Rio is safe I don't think the budgies will be able to defend themselves.

Any suggestions? The parrots enjoy their time out in the sunlight as I believe it is healthy for them

 

[itzjbean]

Yes, squirrels can and will attack parrots!! Do not let them around your bird ever, or their cage!

My advice, hang outside with them while they are in their cage outside (with door closed). Stay with them, never leave them unsupervised and squirrels won't approach.

Edit: I read wrong, glad to see birds are kept in their cages.

 

[BoomBoom]

Hi Leena! I think it's great your giving your birds access to sunlight and fresh air while keeping them safely in their cages. I'd be wary of the squirrel getting too close to the birds even though they're in their cages. Some have bitten humans and other pets with bad bacterial side effects. By all means continue to take them out to the balcony in their cages, sounds like a great time! Very healthy too (vitamin D). Just be present to supervise to make sure sir squirrel keeps a safe distance.

 

[bigfellasdad]

If my CAG is outside, in her cage, I never leave her alone even for one minute. Grey squirrels in the UK carry a disease which kills off the indigeounous red squirrels.... Damn the romans!

 

[Sandy19]

If they are in their cage supervised I think it's fine, but I wouldn't trust them out there alone. I found a baby squirrel hiding under my husband's truck shaking and scared because the other squirrels were attacking him. He must have gotten separated from his mother somehow. He came right up to me like please help me. They were being extremely aggressive towards him so I'm sure they would do the same to a bird. They can be very nasty.

Anyway that evolved into the baby squirrel becoming my outside pet, he sits in my lap and lets me pet him. When he plays in the flower pot my Senegal copies him and plays in her herb pot. She never messed with the soil before until she saw him doing it. I had to take the plant away because I was scared she was going to eat the dirt and get sick.

 

[EllenD]

Oh my, please do not allow their cages to be in a place where any wild animals can get into them! This is incredibly dangerous. Many parrots have been killed at night while sleeping by rats in the house, and yes, absolutely, a squirrel could easily bite/claw your birds, so could a larger bird, or any other wild animal that might be to them. If a wild animal can actually "reach into the cage and pull out the newspaper from the bottom", then this is totally unacceptable, and the cage cannot be there anymore!

And forgetting that if a wild animal can actually "reach into the cage and pull out newspaper" this means they can also touch/hurt/kill your birds, but wild animals also have many different types of insects/parasites, like ticks, fleas, mites, and god knows what else. And even if these parasites don't attach to your birds, they will end-up inside of the cage, and then inside of your house!

This is just common sense here, I'm sorry, but it is. If you actually saw a squirrel reach into your bird's cage, then you obviously need to move the cage away from that area. I know you meant well because you wanted your birds to get sun and fresh air, but this is totally unsafe and you need to not do it anymore. Common sense here.

 

[ChristaNL]

I can see yet another balcony being turned into an aviary in the near future.

That will not solve the possibility of wildlife visiting entirely, but it will get parrots a safer place to be.


Squirrels look so cute - untill you realise they eat eggs and babybirds as well as their more famous nuts and acorns.
All wild animals have parasites etc. that should not be an your bird (or yourself!).
(just think ticks and borellia & q-fever for example)