Operation Save the Baby Squirrels

About an hour and a half ago Aubrey and I were enjoying a nice, quiet, albeit windy, Saturday afternoon. Aubrey was napping (post-call) and I was reading some articles for school. The enormous hickory tree in our back yard was standing upright, in the manner common to trees.

Then....
































The first order of business is to thank God that the tree fell the direction it did. Because the base of the tree is only about 20 feet from the corner of our house, and it easily could have put a sizable hole in the roof. Thankfully it fell in the perfect direction to avoid just about everything of value, except for several other trees.

I don't think either of the pictures really does justice to the size of this tree. It's huge. On its way down it took out another tree of equal size which fell further back into the forest.

I went outside to investigate. Neighbors Dave and Kimber were already out investigating. Amidst the wreckage, Kimber had heard the whimpering of several baby squirrels, and was gathering them up in towels to bring them inside.
















































These poor little guys must have had an awfully wild ride. Thankfully our neighbors (and Aubrey) are exceedingly kind hearted toward small rodentia, and they were getting taken care of quite nicely. We even called our friend Sally, who is a vet, and who lives just down the road, and she came and examined the squirrels. Our neighbors are going to consider raising the squirrels, and if not, they will pass them off to one of Sally's friends who does squirrel rehab.

Squirrel rehab. Who knew?

Comments

Melanie said…
so glad the tree missed the house ... and that Aubrey's already had her rabies shot.
5:16 PM
Ken said…
That's quite a story. Great job, guys!

It reminds me of this scene from "Seinfeld." The setting is a veterinary clinic. George wants his girlfriend to believe he cares about animals, and thus is willing to save the life of a squirrel they hit as they were driving... though he finds out it's going to cost more than he'd like to spend...

* * *

MIRANDA: Doctor is the squirrel going to live?

DOCTOR: There's been massive trauma. We could of course try to save him but, it would be costly, difficult and we'd have to send away for some special really tiny instruments.

GEORGE: Well, uh, are there any other options?

DOCTOR: We, could put him to sleep.

GEORGE: What might that cost?

DOCTOR: Well it's by the pound. So ... about 80 cents.

GEORGE: Well? (Miranda hits George) I was just - I'm curious, that's all. We, uh. We'd like you to, do everything possible.

DOCTOR: He, um. He's not going to be the same, you know?

GEORGE: Yeah. yeah. I-I know.
9:25 PM
Anonymous said…
hey, i did squirrel rehap once (a secret i will forever keep from basil)! from the pictures, though, i think my little squirrel was a lot younger than your gaggle (is that what you call a small group of baby squirrels?) mine didn't even have fur yet, so his membership in the rodent family was quite evident, but he was still adorable, like yours. his name was "hercules." it was during the summer i did wildlife rehab at a city park during college. i'm glad you have a friend who's a vet...baby wildlife issues are tricky. --hannah
9:28 PM
no longer working said…
When I was in the second grade, living in WI, we adopted a little squirrel that lost it's mom. My neighbors and cousins took Chipper's siblings home with them to do the same. The problem is that the other squirrels were fed normal cows milk and they died. We fed our little one baby formula and he did very well. I am sure your vet friend knows better than I do how to care for it. It was an amazing experience and I love saying that I had a pet squirrel.
1:46 AM
The Howell family said…
now I know why our baby opossum died-we fed him cow milk. Although, I think that is what the zoo said to give him so maybe it was natural causes. Our baby squirrel lived though. He did very well and would even come to visit for a little while to get the nuts we set out for him. He stopped when he became an adult, realizing it was time to move on. We could distinguish him because he would hold his tail down and out to the left.
4:12 PM
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