...devoted to squirrels!

My love for these cute, furry little rodents came only after I raised an abandoned infant squirrel that my husband brought home to me to nurse back to health. I hadn't the first idea about what to do with a baby squirrel, hmmmm...to be honest I had never even seen one this young up close and personal before. Babies like this are usually high up in the treetops until mature enough to venture down with a parents permission. Cramming my brain with squirrel facts, I soon became the "Squirrel Mother" that any squirrel would be proud to have! I was learning more than most people ever care to know about squirrels, just by studying and observing his behavior from infant to adult and reading everything I could find.

I never wanted to deprive him of his natural habitat so while he was still very young I built him a cage (to keep preditors out) with a nesting box (to give him the sense of being in his nest), until he was old enough to open the door to the freedom of the trees. Soon the door was open all the time so he could mingle with other squirrels and learn the squirrel things that I was not equipped to teach him! He always made a daily appearance, making his presence known to me, he knew exactly what to do to get my attention!

One day when he was about a year and a half old he stopped coming, I searched for him everywhere! He just vanished! After several days had passed and my searches turned up nothing, I resigned myself to the fact that he wasn't coming back. I was heartbroken! I missed him terribly! He had become a part of my daily routine. I turned my focus to the other squirrels that had been witnessing my "Squirrel Mothering" skills first hand. And while the relationship between myself and the other squirrels is a friendly one, it will never be the same as the one I had with the squirrel I raised! After all...I was his Mother!

*PLEASE NOTE* While squirrels appear cute and cuddly, they are wild animals and it is in their nature to bite if threatened! So don't just try to go up to one and pet it! Their bites can be very painful, penetrating the skin very easily with their sharp teeth and strong jaw muscles!