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12:28 a.m. - 2003-09-13
More Squirrels. And Even MORE Squirrels!!
I want a sticker for my car that says: "Squirrel Rescue Unit".

Yup, I am now a vortex for baby squirrels!

All day I have been stewing about my Post Office woes, to the point where I actually made myself physically ill this afternoon. By the time Bruce got home, I couldn't even sit still I was so keyed up and restless. So we went out to pick up chestnuts.

I had a whole shirtful when I looked down and saw a small but rangey creature rocking back and forth on the ground.

"Good God! It's another one!!" I cried. Bruce looked stricken. I scooped the baby up, and we ran in to call the wildlife rehabbers.

I got the same woman, Jennifer, who answered the phone last time. She took my number and told me she'd call Layla the squirrel rehabber, but in the meantime was I sure that there was only one more squirrel? "There's never just one or two squirrels in a nest. You found one two days ago so this is number 2. Did you know squirrels steal each other's babies? They like lots of babies. There's gotta' be at least one more."

She gave me instructions for taking down the nest. It's long and complicated, and involved Bruce and I going out with a ladder and a long pole and safety glasses and a hot water bottle and the other baby squirrel. But sadly it was getting dark and we realised that even if we did manage to get the nest down we'd never find the baby squirrel in the dark. Which would leave it open to predators. Better to just leave the nest in the tree for the night, and try to find Baby #3 first thing in the morning.

And besides, the second baby we found seemed cold and dehydrated. Best to get him over to Layla. So off we went to Madison, to the Squirrel Safe House!!

On the way I got a good look at little squirrel. He was a male, and was indeed "hung like a squirrel". He showed no interest in sucking on my ear though. Mainly he curled up on the hot water bottle and shivered.

Layla was unconcerned. She gave him some fluid for his dehydration and tucked him in the incubator with four other squirrels, including my first squirrel rescue. Miss Squirrel looked great - she was already chubbier and very active.

We heaved a big sigh and went home.

I couldn't stand it though. I just had this weird feeling I shouldn't just go to bed. So I went out with a flashlight, and after fifteen minutes of searching on the ground I saw something sickening.

A baby squirrel, all curled up and not moving, with an ant on its mouth. It was cold, and I thought it was dead.

When I touched it, its leg moved. I brushed off the ant, tucked it in my shirt and ran screaming into the house. We called Layla, fired up the hot water bottle, and off we drove to Madison once again.

I'm happy to say Squirrel #3 made it, and was actually crawling around by the time we got there. Layla was more concerned about him because he seemed unable to retain his heat, but she said he would probably be ok. We got to watch her feed them (including a very cute teenage squirrel) and I got to hold Miss Squirrel again for a bit.

Dang. It makes me want to become a squirrel rehabilitator. Those critters were almost as cute as rabbits.


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