The Great Squirrel Rescue

Monday it got cool out (FINALLY FEELS LIKE FALL!!!) and rained cats and dogs.....and squirrels....all day. I heard this strange, loud sound and finally figured out it was coming from outside the boys bedroom. It ended up being a baby squirrel in distress. It was crying on and on. Apparently it had fallen from the pecan tree and landed on the chain link fence and was scared or disoriented and cold and wet.

I got a shoebox and raked it off the fence into the box (no, I didn't touch it). It quit crying so I got a towel for it to dry off with. NOW... remember, my husband is the enemy of all squirrels. According to him I was committing a gross act of treason by bringing this poor innocent squirrel into his home....home of The Squirrel Assassin. He demanded I get it out of the house before he put on a pot of dumplings in preparation for his meal of squirrel-n-dumplings. I quickly let him know just how comfortable our couch is for sleeping. Mind you, he's been home for several days with a hurt sholder and at this point, he has cabin fever and is increasingly annoying with each passing minute. Once we established the squirrel was not to be his next meal I added a few cracked acorns, pear slices, and sunflower seeds to the box... info I found when I googled "feeding a squirrel". You'd be suprised at how much information is on the world wide web about taking care of orphan squirrels. I eventually moved the box outside. By nightfall the squirrel was starting to get frisky and was not very inviting when I checked on him so I put the box in our Live Oak tree. The next morning I went to check and the lid was off so I reached in and picked up the towel and the squirrel, much to my surprise, was still there...clinging for dear life to the green hand towel... his new security blanket. I shook and shook the towel to get him off but he just wouldn't let go! I took the box away and put the squirrel and towel in the tree. A few hours later I went back to see if he was still there and Yes! He was. He hissed at me and scurried away this time...the last time I checked on him. Apparently he realized that I was consorting with his enemy and thought better of having me around. Much to James' dismay the little squirrel survived with my help. The boys thought all of this was great... and have now given me the name "Animal Rescuer". In case you haven't watched it, Animal Rescuer is from Dora & Diego. Well... that is our latest adventure! Here are pictures of the squirrel.