My Day...

[panamag8or]

I went outside this morning in time to see a squirrel nest fall from a tree across the street into the road, caused by a hawk landing on the branch looking for a snack.

There were 3 little babies in it, and one didn't survive the fall. I put him on the side of the road, and put the other two in a box with some shredded paper. Then I called the local wildlife rescue place and left a message. While I was waiting for them to call me back, I saw the mama come over and pick up the poor dead baby and go back up the tree with it until the hawk hassled it, then it came down and hid under some bushes.

I read about how the mamas will come after babies that fall, so I put the box at the base of her tree. She came over and looked inside, so she knew her babies were in it. She even sat there and guarded the box for a while. In the meantime, a second hawk had joined in, both of them circling above, so mama went back under the bushes. After 3 hours, they were still in the box, but the next time I checked, the hawks were gone, the box had been tipped over, and the babies had been gently removed, as the paper inside wasn't disturbed. Yay, Mama Squirrel!

So, sometime in the next few months, I fully expect to see a squirrel or two bouncing across the lawn, stop, and look at me with a "Thanks, Mister!" look.

Anyway, that was my good deed for the day.

 

[ohairas]

Hurray for you! Too bad the one didn't make it. Glad I'm not the only one frou-hawing over squirrels! Did the wildlife people ever get back with you? We had another litter fall out of a tree a few years ago.. and unfortunately they fell on top of our camper shell. My hubby had to *take care of them*, so sad.

Here's some pics of babies I tended to for a bit this spring. I'm pretty sure they all made it, whew!
Nikki

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Panamag8or that is such a good deed Wouldn't it be great if they did in fact remember you!!

Nikki, those pictures are just too darn cute!! I love the last one. It's hard to believe those are actually wild squirrels, they are behaving more like something out of "Over the Hedge"!!!
Living in the city, I would never think of actually nursing a squirrel, that might be because we probably have more rats than squirrels, and I won't be nursing any of those back to health, even if they are babies
But, I think that if I had a yard (a concrete roof deck doesn't really count even if it is filled with flowers) and saw something like what you two saw happen, my mother instinct would kick in and I would do everything in my power to take care of the animals. You two are good samaratens and those squirrels are lucky. Who knows what would have happened in somebody else's yard. There are some real nuts out there!!

 

[ScionPI2005]

What a cool story! And those are awfully cute pics!

 

[Nashoba]

Oh that's so wonderful! In my parent's area though the squirrells are evil. they taunt the dog and throw things at my parents windows and back doors. I'm glad that yours are nicer gentler creatures

 

[Novella]

Too cute!

 

[MrNewportCustom]

My younger sister, who lives in Canada, has saved a couple squirrels from harm. I don't know the full story, but I do know that she has at least two of them as in-house pets. She says they're cute and funny, and they've never given her any trouble.


Lee

 

[J. M. Stovall]

It's always a good thing to build up some Karma!

 

[carter]

Perhaps hiding from bats in the belfrey?

 

[MagistrateChris]

Once upon a time, I was with my grandfather and a friend of his in a rural area of Kentucky, enjoying a walk. we saw a large snake crawling on a branch, headed towards a nest of baby birds. Glenn, my grandfather;s fried, reached in hos pocket, took out a gun, and shot the snake. My grandfather said something to Glenn about the snake being just a part of nature, playing its role. Glenn said to my gradfather that he, too, was a part of nature, and that day, the snake lost.

 

[imoldfashioned]

Oh, so cute! Good on all of you for taking care of the squirrels (and other little animals).

 

[pigeon toe]

How cute! The squirrels at UCLA are totally psychotic so normally I hate squirrels (they are ballsy! They'll go right up to you and try to snatch your food away!), but those pictures are too cute.

A similar thing happened a few years ago, only with quails. We have these grates along our driveway for the rain to go through, and one afternoon a mama quail, with her babies trailing along, walked over it. She got past it just fine, but the babies fell in! My parents and I rescued them one by one with a pool net, and I put them beneath a tree. Right as I put down a few a blue jay swooped down and snatched em right up! It was awful. But I guess that's just how nature is.