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The CFW phone rang and staff rehabilitator Lorisa answered. A
woman frantically asked “Are you the place that takes wild animals?!
I have five baby squirrels here: they have no fur, and are only
about the size of a hamster.”
Baby gray squirrels – the first call of the year!
Lorisa is widely known for her inexhaustible adoration for baby
squirrels (unconfirmed rumors even suggest that she was abandoned as
a baby and raised by squirrels). But even she admits that baby
season is a gigantic workload, and this is awfully early for our
first call. But before unpacking the syringes and heating pads, she
needed to determine if these babies really needed her foster
care....
The woman described how she had found the squirrel nest in her barn,
and - not wanting squirrels there - she removed the nest and then
discovered the babies. “How long ago did this happen?” Less than
half an hour before: she had rightly called CFW immediately, which
is exactly what Lorisa wanted to hear. Even better, she said the
mother squirrel was still anxiously running around looking for her
babies.
Lorisa explained to the concerned caller that squirrels are
excellent mothers and, given a chance, they almost always retrieve
babies from a destroyed nest. Mother squirrels usually have one or
two back-up nest sites in mind, so if one nest is ruined, she can
have a second nest up and running within an hour. Mom then returns
to gather the family once she has a safe place to move them.
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Under Lorisa’s instructions, the woman improvised a hot water bottle
using a couple of zip-lock bags and an old towel. She put the babies
and their warming bag in a box (open on top so mama could get
inside), carefully placed as close to the original nest site as
possible. The woman and her cat then retreated inside, having
learned from Lorisa that mothers won’t come for their babies while
people are around, and that cats are a death sentence for helpless
babies crying for their mother. She agreed to give the squirrel two
hours to come back for her babies and, if she hadn’t returned in
that time, to call back.
Forty-five minutes later, the phone rang again, and a very excited
voice cried, “It happened just like you said it would!” At that very
moment, the caller was looking out her window at mama squirrel
moving baby number three from the barn, over the road, and into a
large chestnut tree. As she spoke, mama went back for baby number
four and then five. Then she exclaimed, “Oh, but she’s going back
into the barn again – I only counted five babies!” Lorisa reassured
her, “Squirrels don’t understand numbers like we do, and they don’t
count – she’s just going back to make sure she hasn’t missed
anyone.”
A happy ending for all! Mother and babies were safely reunited, the
barn was squirrel-free, and we didn’t have to take on baby squirrels
just yet! No matter how much we enjoy them, we are always happiest
when they’re in the wild where they belong, receiving the best care
possible: their mother’s.
Copyright © 2008 The Center for Wildlife
P.O. Box 620
Cape Neddick, ME 03902
(207) 361-1400
