Monday, October 6, 2008

A baby squirrel!

Meet Chippy. Our cats killed his mom. Rose found him laying on the floor of the barn. We decided to try to save him. We warmed him and fed him a salt/sugar/water solution with an eyedropper. He swallowed it. I got up at 2am to feed him last night, telling myself that he is probably dead. He wasn't. I drove to the vet early this morning to buy some puppy milk replacer. That's what was recommended on the internet by people who have done this before. We never have. Chippy took his new formula every 4 hours today, which consisted of 2 parts water, 1 part puppy milk, and 1/2 part heavy whipping cream. I'll have to feed him at 2am again tonight. I feel like a new mom. The kids are absolutely thrilled. They have been praying that Chippy will live, and acknowledging that it was a miraculous find. I must admit that this is exciting for me, too. I plan to teach at least two of the children how to feed him so I won't have to do it every time. But the first day I wanted to make sure he was eating. Cami, 5 years old, thinks it is so cool that you have to stroke his bottom with a tissue to make him go potty. I explained that the momma squirrel would lick him instead. Gross, but true. If anyone out there has raised a squirrel before we would be appreciative of your advice.

3 comments:

Katie said...

"Chippy"?

Sarah said...

WOW!!! I have NEVER seen a baby squirrel!

Jennifer Sikora said...

Taking care of baby squirrel is really fun. If he lives, it won't be long until he will start running around all over you. That is the best part! My mom and I raised one when I was young and she finally let it go when it got to big to stay in the house. He stayed around for years and then one day disappeared! Keep up the good work, and I LOVE your blog!

Jennifer Sikora