After a while of doing this work, rescue stories all start to blend together.
From time to time there are some rescues that stick out in one’s mind. The 3 boys on this last release were one of those memorable rescues. It was harrowing too!
They were eyes-closed babies – but HUGE. Unusually so.
Their mother had done an miraculous job – she must have produced TONS of milk for her beautiful boys. Unfortunately, they were taken from her and she was chased off, injured, when the tree she was nesting in was cut down, somewhere in East Oakland. Her babies were grabbed because they were cute and they were crying. A girl who lived in the housing project nearby called me and gave me the address, concerned for the babies. By the time I got there, the girl was gone. She had been told not to talk to me. The adults, staggering and wild-eyed from being under the influence of something, didn’t want to give me the babies and were annoyed that I was there. They wanted to sell the cute little squirrel babies as pets. After 45 minutes of negotiating, explaining that squirrels need very special care and that they are not legal pets, the owner of the property showed up to supervise the tree removal and intervened. I had the babies at last and I snuggled them and looked them over as soon as I got into my car.
They were gorgeous. HUGE! Only 4 weeks old but the size of an 8 week-er.
Not only were they big but they were also really sweet.
Grunters and players from beginning to end. They were extra-special.
They grew and grew and after the normal course of things, were ready for release.
Here are the photos of their victory towards freedom.
My husband carries them to their new home, in a park off of a cul-de-sac.
We enter the park through a small footpath at the end of the street and travel through a glowing gate of greenery, into the park…
We travel for a time, til we find the Right Tree. And here it is…
Once settled, we set the nestbox at the base of the tree and scatter fresh nuts and goodies all around, so they have food when they need it. There were so many acorns and other natural foods around that we realized the scattering of the food was more a ritual for us than for them.
Once the food was scattered it was time to open the nextbox and step back to watch what happens…
They sniffed and watched for a moment, they one by one, my 3 boys jumped out of the nestbox and up into the tree! They frolicked and danced in the treetops for 3 hours before heading off deeper into the woods. A few times they looked back at us, as if to say goodbye…
Goodbye my friends. Thank you for your gifts and lessons. Be safe!
