Orphans and Squirrels

Lately I have had a few orphans on my heart and mind. My friend Julie found her daughter in Ukraine this last month and it has been quite a journey. Through her I have found a new friend Kelly who adopted two boys in February but had to leave a third in Ukraine. Her fight to bring him "home" is chronicled on this blog and also here. Warning... These blogs have produced spontaneous bouts of high blood pressure, tears, and hours of prayer in my life so... read at your own risk! :)

(Channeling my best Beth Moore) As God would have it, another little orphan wandered into my life this weekend. It all started Friday when Rob ran in from the backyard to get the camera because there were two baby squirrels in a tree and they were coming down to say "Hi!" to the kids. (See Rob! You started it!)

They were cute. They were playful. We told the kids not to get too close or to touch them. One ran up Rob's leg and took an acorn from him. They played around and scampered under the trampoline and we took pictures. Then one of them climbed out of the tree and just started yelping. It was the loudest and saddest cry! (Pictured crying for his mama!)


At that point I told the kids to stay away from the squirrels because they obviously wanted their Mommy and she might be too afraid of us to come get them. Then I left the backyard to do other things. Big mistake.

Kolby was just fascinated with these little guys. When one crawled in an old bird house that was on the ground, Kolby picked up the birdhouse and put it on the patio table so she could see the squirrel better. Terrified the little guy jumped out of the birdhouse and nosedived off the table. Limping it then scampered under some bushes. Hours later I came back to check on the baby squirrels, hoping their Mom had come for them. There was no sign of either of them.

I asked Kolby if she had seen them and she confessed what had happened. While we hope one squirrel did indeed find it's Mom, the one that dived off the table was still huddling under the bushes. Kolby and I both felt bad for it. But I was not taking it in. The Mom might still come back...right? Since it was really pretty chilly here Friday night, (45 degree low) I felt bad for the little guy and we put leaves all around the bush and over it to give the squirrels some warmth. And we named the squirrel Khaki. ( I know. Never name them!) I told the kids if Khaki survived the night and was still there in the morning, we would try to help it until it 's Mom came.

I did a little research Friday night and found this helpful site. Saturday morning I was very reluctant to go see if Khaki had survived. But I kept thinking of how loud and sad that little cry had been the day before. And since Kolby scared the baby squirrel into hiding and may have ruined it's chance reunion with it's Mom, I felt I had to check. Armed with dirty yard gloves and a soup ladle (to scoop it up if it hadn't"made" it through the night) I peered under the bush. Khaki stared back at me and didn't even try to run away. He had survived the night but was shaking. My "mama rescue mode" set in. We filled a box with old clothe diapers and a little flannel blanket I was planning on giving to Goodwill. We poked air holes in the lid and then I warmed up one of those casserole warmer packs, (that came in my Pyrex To Go set) wrapped it up and placed it under the blankets.
When we put Khaki in the box he immediately snuggled in next to the warm pack. (I am just assuming he is a he. I didn't really look. ) I closed the lid, put the box in our bathroom and we were off to get Sari from the airport, go to lunch and then to Rhett's soccer game. I was really hoping that I would not find a dead squirrel in my house when we returned. I didn't.

We gave Khaki some warmed up watered down Gatorade (I didn't have any pedilight like the web site suggested) and then I put some pecans and sunflower kernels in the blender to make my rendition of baby squirrel food. Khaki seemed to take to both. Since he was warm and had some food in his tummy... I thought he should try to find his Mama again. I put him back in his tree while we did yard work. Off and on from 5 to 7 the poor thing cried for his mama but... to no avail. Around 8pm, I gave him some more Gatorade and put him back in his box. Afraid of cats in the area, I put the box on a heating pad in the garage for the night. Again I did not know if he would survive the night.

Again he did. I gave him my version of squirrel food and drink and put him back in the tree. The little guy did his part. Off and on all day long I heard he called his Mama. ( I was not home most of the day) When I returned around 7, we could not find him in the tree. I was so excited hoping he had found his mama! But when I picked up his box that I had left at the base of the tree, there he was! I guess Khaki liked snuggling in his warm box better than dangling from a tree.

So despite my attempt at releasing him, Khaki stayed in his box on the heating pad again last night . This morning I gave him breakfast and called a local wild life re-habber whose number I found from this site. I am taking Khaki to her this afternoon.

My kids really want to keep Khaki but I refuse for many reasons. First, it s illegal to keep a wild animal in the state of Texas. Second, I do not know what to do for a baby squirrel. Third, the squirrel rehab site says you need to care for them for at least 4 months! FOUR MONTHS! And fourth... I am not really that fond of squirrels. As Rob has said time and again in the last 48 hours, I have too much to do as it is. There is no time for baby squirrel mothering. Besides, can you imagine all the squirrel jokes I'd hear? And yes, I have already heard quite a few.

So... Khaki is off to meet his new tempo-mama in a few hours. I will never look at squirrels like they are "bushy tailed rats" as I once did. My kids have learned some things about nature, wildlife and about what can happen when you interfere when you shouldn't. We have talked about showing love to all those less fortunate. We have talked about thinking of animals as God's creatures. Rhett especially has asked lots of orphan questions. And there is a baby squirrel who lost his Mama who still has a chance at life. Not a bad weekend all in all.





So. What did you do this weekend?