WEIRDest Thing I've Seen All Week

[Deactivated member 42515]

Okay, here goes the story of My Pet Squirrel

My grandmother and I were out in the yard one day, she was watering things, and I was doing whatever it is you do when you're nine. We heard a high-pitched squealing that seemed to come from the garden hose. Turns out, my grandmother was running the hose over a tiny baby squirrel. We looked up and saw the nest he had fallen from. We moved the hose, went inside and waited a few hours, but the squealing continued and Momma squirrel didn't seem to be anywhere. I begged and pleaded until my grandmother said we could go out and get him, it was getting dark and he sounded weaker. We brought him inside and he quieted right down, and we put him in my doll carriage in the kitchen (of course! Where else would you put a squirrel?). He seemed happy, cuddled in the blankets and went to sleep. He slept all night and the next day, first thing, I went to the kitchen to see him.

His eyes were open! He looked right at me and made a "humph" noise. I jumped ten feet. He got up, and then my grandmother said it was time to feed him. We used a medicine dropper and feed him Product 19 cereal sludge with milk. He stood on his little hind legs and held the dropper like a bottle. He was tiny, not as tall as the dropper. Satisfied, he looked sleepy again, and we put him back in the carriage.

Then it was decided the carriage and the squirrel would live in my room. His days were feeding, and sleeping, for about a week, then he started to explore my room. He climbed all over things, and seemed completely at ease with me. I would scratch under his arm and he would raise his little arm and close his eyes in bliss. One day, when I was at school, he gnawed the toes off all my dolls. I got mad at him, and he seemed to get mad right back. He chattered at me, and I chattered at him. Over time, I learned what his different sounds meant, and to this day, I talk to squirrels in parks and they look a bit surprised that I can "understand" them.

He got bigger and bigger, and one day he looked curiously at my window. I opened it and out he went. He came back a little while later, and that was added to his routine; eat (mostly almonds and peanuts at this point), sleep, go outside. We leaned a 2 x 4 outside my window so he could come and go as he pleased. His trips outside lasted longer and longer, sometimes all day. Then a couple of days. Then a week. One night, it was pouring rain, and my window was closed, but he sat on the windowsill squealing until I let him in.

The next day he went outside and I didn't see him for a couple of months. Then one day, I heard him chattering outside. He was up on the telephone line, and behind him was a lady squirrel and a row of three baby squirrels. I waved, and he and his little family loped off down the line.

NOTE; my grandmother was scrupulous about cleaning up after him. She was one of those extremely clean people. We never intended to keep him, it was strictly a rescue operation. I enjoyed my 6 weeks with him tremendously.

Ahhhh! Best story ever! Brought goosebumps! Thanks for telling us iLander! I love that you guys argued!

 

[Enerchi]

Thank you iLander! that was a wonderful story - what a great rescue mission and what an AWESOME grandmother you had, who was cool enough to let you go thru the process of caring for a wild animal... and letting it ultimately "go". Thanks for sharing!! (my foot is now officially under control... no more tapping! )

 

[GemFever]

What a sweet story! Thank you for sharing it.

 

[Gypsy]

Aww iLander, that's a great story.

I have a squirrel story too. When we lived in Florida (I was younger than 5.5 years old) my grandfather and I used to help out injured animals. We helped out a squirrel that lived in our front yard tree. Well, after he got well, he used to come in when the door was open and we'd give him a but or two out of a jar. One day we were outside and heard a loud rolling sound. Somehow the squirrel had gotten the jar of nuts the the ground and was rolling it out the garage door. Log roll style. My grandfather picked up the jar, scolded the squirrel (who objected strenuously) and then he and took it back into the garage, locked it up in a cabinet. Every day after that the squirrel would go to the cabinet and wait for a treat. And when I would play outside sometimes he'd come watch and chatter at me.

 

[NOYFB]

Ok...I have squirrel stories too. When I was 21 my boyfriend at the time found an abandoned baby squirrel outside and brought him into our apartment. I named him Pepper and fed him Grape Nuts and tried to teach him to use a litter box (didn't work so well). He loved to hang out in the top of my closet and jump on my head while I choosing my clothes. Unfortunately, I had to go out of town and asked a neighbor of mine to watch Pepper. Well...when I returned home my friend had informed me that his cat had eaten Pepper. I was heartbroken.

Fast forward to many years later. DH and I lived in an apartment where a curious squirrel would come by our deck all the time. We started giving him nuts on a daily basis. DH named him "Squirrely Joe". He got so friendly with DH that he would come up, sit on his leg and take the nuts right out of his hand. I have pictures of this We were so sad when we moved out of that apartment, so we left a note for the new tenants asking them to please be nice to our squirrel friends. I hope they were.

Last fall, a new squirrel befriended me in the front yard of my building. I chirped at him and told him to "wait here" while I went upstairs to get some nuts. To my surprise, he was waiting for me right outside the front door when I came back down. I took pics and a video of him that day. Ever since then, he and 1-2 of his friends/family members have been greeting us outside every morning, just like before. We give them nuts (usually unsalted peanuts or hazelnuts) every day...and they will sometimes follow us, all the way to our car. We keep nuts in our pockets and cars just in case this happens - LOL! They are very friendly. We love it!!! Squirrels are such awesome little creatures!

 

[GemFever]

Well... I too have a squirrel story

One time my dad and I were walking in a park and spied a bunch of horse chestnuts on the ground. We like them because of how pretty and smooth they are, so we picked a bunch and brought them home. Since we had a lot of them, we decided to share a few with the squirrels in our yard. Maybe it was a lean year for them, but they *really* liked the chestnuts. When we made the mistake of leaving the deck door open, a bunch of them snuck into our dining room and kitchen and raided it for chestnuts. It was a quite a scene. Eventually we put the leftover chestnuts in a bedroom, behind a closed door. A brave squirrel (or two or three, not sure) made it all the way down the hall and to the bedroom door, and scratched the carpet by the door (back when we had carpeting) to the point of ruining it. We finally gave up the rest of the chestnuts and never brought them near our house again! The squirrel terror was over.

Nowadays, my brother lives in that house, and he has a friend squirrel too. He calls him Bob. Bob got spoiled with hazelnuts last year, and would it them out of our hands.

 

[Gypsy]

Lil... Boo to squirrel eating cats. But I am glad you have new squirrel friends!! I hope your old neighbors treated the squirrels well.

Gemfever, your squirrels were as bold as mine!!! I had no idea that horse chestnuts were so popular though. It makes sense though-- all that meat for so little effort.

 

[partgypsy]

Ilander, those kind of stories warm my heart.

 

[iLander]

Lil Misfit, Gemfever, and Gypsy,

Gypsy, that's amazing that the little guy was log-rolling the nuts out of the house. Cheeky little bugger.

Lil Misfit, That's so sad! What an awful thing! So many squirrels just flock to you, how cute!

GemFever, I can just picture the squirrels raiding your house! That's so funny.

What awesome stories! We should start a club: "The Squirrelly Ladies of PS".