I have never gone out to pick up a pet or any animal.
They tend to come to me in a round about way.

I have 2 squirrels that i have raised and released,  Rocky my Black one
is 5 years old and still comes to me for treats,
Wally my gray i let go this summer he is just over a year old and yes
he comes back to me as well.

They are so cute. I picked up a squirrel a couple years ago on a walk that had fallen from its nest. It didn't make it but I had high hopes. That's so neat they retain their bond with you even after release.

Some people are just animal magnets, not sure why that is.

Here in at least some states you cannot keep squirrels. My mother in law had an injured squirrel (one of her own cats injured it) that she kept for a few days until she could get it to a licensed rehabilitation person. I know that in FL it is not legal to keep a squirrel, not even for rehab. Always good to check local laws when dealing with such situations, I say this for anyone else that might find them selves in a rescue type situation with an atypical (non-traditional pet) animal.

That's well worth noting, Val.  Here in Texas animal rehab isn't too tightly controlled - however if you're found to have one of the, as you phrase it, "non-traditional" pets you'd better have a license or a really valid reason for having it.

On one hand they allow individuals to rehab things like squirrels without too much control, on the other hand if you're found to have a bobcat or coyote (or a 'cute' raccoon), you'd better have a rehab license.  This quote pretty much sums it up here.

Jennifer.Brennan@tpwd.state.tx.us wrote:

“It is not legal to keep fur-bearing animals (fox, otter, raccoon, opossum, skunk, etc.) as pets in Texas regardless of where they came from. Furthermore, the state health department has instituted a rabies quarantine on foxes. This pretty much restricts the movement of live foxes to animal control officers and zoo employees.”

I will note that the fines for having an unauthorized "pet" in Texas are atrocious - they start at, I'm told, about $5,000 and go up from there.  I don't know about where you are, @bluesnewhuman, but I'd be careful about keeping such.

Laws aside, I'd be afraid to house a squirrel under any circumstances. I know Misty would just love to nab one. I've had dogs catch squirrels and it's never been pretty.  Heck, Kiki, my Shiba Inu, once killed an opossum that was unfortunate enough to wander into our yard. I think the 'possum was bigger than my dog, but Kiki didn't have a scratch on her.  Plus I won't revisit what happened to my birds ...