We found this amazing grove of Oak trees, off a path in a park near where this group of orphaned squirrels was found. We set their nest box down in the sandy gravel of the dried stream bed and watched as the wind whipped acorns out of the trees all around us. Squirrels love acorns….

They sniffed the fresh air and smelled the acorns and green leaves for a while before venturing out of their nestbox and into the trees.

Once in the branches, they went as high as they could go and looked out over the treetops all around them. Some let out a challenge and flicked their tails in something more than just excitement, as they experienced freedom for the first time.

And all the while, from his resting place in the dried streambed, a grinning buck watched over them…