don't do it. squirrels can be super destructive and crazy. it doesn't matter whether they're bonded or not, they're high-energy wild animals and can't be domesticated. it'll fuck all your shit up and keeping a wild animal like that in a cage is just cruel.
Do you guys know where modern dogs come from? Or house cats? Long ago we took animals from the wild, and made them fuck hardcores! Now we have breeds of animal that would die without us. If you ask me, thats more cruel than keeping 1 squirrel from your yard.
domestication occurs over time as a result of selection, not on an animal-by-animal basis. taking a squirrel out of the wild that isn't from a long line of squirrels selected for their temperament/obedience will just result in a crazy fucking squirrel running around your house knocking all your shit over because it's undomesticated. also, feral cats and dogs still exist, and domesticated breeds can survive easily in the wild. just ask all the fucking alleycats screwing and fighting outside my window when i'm trying to sleep.
Domestication may occur over time, but we still caused it. We still initially took wild animals and made them the way they are. Today we have breeds that don't serve a purpose. We started breeding animals for reasons like farming, but now we just do it for our own amusement. Tell me how thats not the same? My point was that the "normal pets" had to come from somewhere, why not start doing it to squirrels too? It has to start somewhere. Feral cats and dogs do still exist, you're right about that. Some domesticated breeds can survive easily in the wild. The ones I was referring to however, would not do so well. Exhibit A: Without a roof over its head this dog would get fucked so quick it wouldn't even have time to think about a condom.
domestication doesn't happen from a single person keeping a single squirrel. the original domestication of animals was because of feral cats and dogs hanging around human encampments. the friendly and obedient ones got fed more and therefore survived and interbred. nobody went and caught a feral dog or a wolf and taught it how to fetch. domestication is not the same thing as finding a wild baby squirrel and forcing it to stay with you when it would have been fine on its own (although now that OP has handled it and it sounds very young, it'll probably die ) i'm not denying that squirrels are cute as hell. i just think it's cruel to keep wild animals as pets when they haven't come to you on their own and are clearly born to live in the wild.
Obviously humans didn't go grab a wolf and say fetch. I realize domestication doesn't come from finding one squirrel and keeping it, I'm not even saying that. What I'm saying is its no different from the cruelty of the creation of dogs like terriers. You can differ in opinion all you want, but I think making dogs into decorations is just as bad.
funny, i was driving down the road the other day, saw a squirrel in the way so naturally i try to avoid it. of course the dang thing ran right under the tire so u hear bump bump. so as im looking in my rear view mirror to see if its ok, i hit another one! simply amazing i didnt know such a feat could be accomplished so easily.
They seem pretty stupid when it comes to cars. I often see two or more dead in the same spot. One gets run over, another comes to check him out and "Bump Bump"