Tonight, a call came in. A scream in the dark, and cries of pain and fright.

A baby squirrel lost his mother and met a cat instead, when he left the nest to search for her.  His cries of terror were heard by a good Samaritan who, dropped everything to find out who to call on a Sunday night, when all veterinary hospitals were closed or too busy to tell her where to go. Finally she found Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue and, at 5 minutes to ten at night, made the call and rushed this traumatized baby to me.

He is hurt. He doesn’t move right. But more than, that he is just so frightened. Nothing comforts him.

He is not alone. Several days ago, a little female squirrel came in, the same age. She was starving in North Berkeley and spent days with her sibling, sitting on the ground in a playground. Her sibling didn’t make it but we got her. Depressed and lethargic, she has lingered, unresponsive to food or water. Minimal interest in the grapes. A few half-hearted grunts in response to my poor attempts to comfort her.

Tonight, Scared Little Boy and Sad Little Girl meet up in their kennel. Having never met before doesn’t matter.  She is Squirrel. She is home. He runs to her and buries his head under her body. She, who did not noticed when I gave her subcu fluids a moment before, lifts her head and I saw the light switch back on. Her interest flooding back. Life. Love. Feeling. She grabs him in a desperate embrace and rubbed her nose into his hair. Now there is reason to get better. Now there is hope.