From the Pipsqueakery:

Grinch is an Eastern Gray Squirrel - don’t let those colors fool you! - who is a permanent resident and even has his own Educational Ambassador Permit!

This means Grinch gets to go with me to educational events where his sweet presence makes up for whatever squirrel-related info dump I have prepared.

Why is Grinch non-releasable?

That’s actually a very good question. Grinch came in as a late season baby in 2025, and had some struggles putting on weight and hitting developmental milestones

He also spent the winter without any other squirrels, because by the time he was big enough to join my other groups, everyone was in the ihaha no thanks stranger danger" stage. Grays really don’t give me much of a window in which to work.

Nevertheless, we tried to ready him for release.

When Spring came around, he went outside into a pre-release enclosure… where he promptly said, 'No thank you, absolutely not," and refused to eat for multiple days.

Despite finally getting him accustomed to being outside, he refused to wild up. After months of being as hands off as possible and hoping those wild instincts would kick in, they just never came online.

Grinch is an anomaly.

Squirrels sometimes imprint on the person who raised them, and will sometimes remain guardedly friendly with that person, but even my friendliest releases are not squirrels I would want to pick up, unless absolutely necessary. Grinch though? Grinch loves me. Grinch loves other people, even people he’s never met. Grinch loves kids!

So after making it abundantly clear that he wasn’t suited for life in the wild, Grinch now lives a spoiled life with me, where he happily snorts away like a little piggie, and gets all the best treats and toys.