Squirrel Rescue Story

This past Friday, as I sat right here at my breakfast table, looking out the double window that overlooks nearly my entire back yard, I heard high-pitched screeching.  Horrible, high-pitched screaming, that could only be an animal.  I was pretty sure it was a squirrel and my assumption was that a roaming cat had captured one.  

I leapt to run out the back porch door. My hound Gabby was faster than I and already out the screen door. I closed the other dogs inside and rushed to the fence on my side property line to find a ball of screaming, gray fur.  With Gabby there, the ball came apart and two squirrels ran chattering and fussing up the nearby tree to their nest.  Suddenly, by my foot, a 3rd young squirrel bolted upright and ran through the picket fence posts to my neighbor's yard. As I watched I realized this squirrel was injured...it couldn't seem to stay on the post, or make it back to the tree.  It tried to climb on and in the black compost bin my neighbor keeps. In a matter of seconds, it hid against the bin. 

I ran inside, pulling Gabby with me.  I grabbed a towel, then into the garage for my cat crate, out the side door to my neighbor's front door, ringing the bell.  I explained there was an injured squirrel in his yard and I'd be there trying to capture it.  His daughter came out to help, thankfully, because I needed her.  With one of us on either side of the fence, our goal was to keep the squirrel from getting back to my yard, which is full of trees, shrubs and brush and would provide her with too many places to hide and die.  At one point the mother squirrel came rushing back out when the youngster began hollering again, only to leap on her baby and begin biting her.  At the time, I believe she was trying to pick her up as a mother cat carries her kittens, but the wound between the youngster's shoulder blades must have made the attempts painful.  So more screaming ensued and after a few seconds of tousling, the baby landed on her back.  I swooped in and grabbed her, but not well. The baby screamed again, the mother came flying and baby got away.  To shorten this part of the episode, I eventually was able to toss a towel completely over the youngster.  I let her rest for a few moments then gently picked her up and put her in the cat crate.  Of course, more screaming and mother squirrel was there for the entire process. 

If you've never heard a wild animal scream, it is unmistakeable.  I knew squirrels chattered, but the pain and fear this scream contained was blood-curdling.  It was a piercing sound, like a hawk;  a squeal, like a rabbit; and a growling, guttural sound like an angry cat all put into one. What hit me later, was that during this episode, the mother squirrel was the only one that responded (besides me) and my yard has no shortage of squirrels.  Mothers know the sounds of their babies. 

I was able to take the young squirrel to rescue.  Newly opened Richmond Wildlife Center, where she remains currently.  I don't yet know her prognosis - I won't be surprised to find her spine is damaged - but so far she is resting and alive.  If she will eat and heals well, we'd like to release her back here where her home is. 

The rescue, however, isn't the fascinating part. It was watching the interaction of the squirrel mother and her babies - yes there is another youngster that became part of this story.  And since no one likes a long blog post...that will be Part II.