Saturday, September 5, 2009

Temporary Squirrel Mother

It was an afterthought to take a photo, so I have none to share...I was a squirrel mother for about 30 minutes today. As David and I were driving home from lunch with the kids, we saw a baby squirrel in the middle of the street. We pulled over, and as we sat there for, oh, 30 seconds, a mail truck drove right over it! It didn't run the poor thing over, thankfully, so I got out and picked it up. I didn't really know what to do, so I got back in the car with it. Yeah, smart. My two young kids in the back seats and this tiny wild animal seemed to have stuff crawling on it. But, it was so cute, and seemed so sweet. We drove around the corner to our house, put it in a basket with some carrot tops and weeds, and called the animal shelter.

Based on my quick search of squirrels, I think it was only about 2 weeks old. It didn't seem like it was injured, but when I picked it up, it didn't resist. It even seemed to like it when I gently stroked it's little back. Vincent was really excited to see it, and REALLY wanted to hold it and bring it in the house.

So, the animal shelter told me to call this other number, but said that they will likely euthanize it. She suggested that it be put at the base of a tree nearby where we found it, and hope that its parents will find it. And, that's just what I did. I hope it lives a long, happy squirrel life.

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