New Year's Eve was terrifying for poor Squirrel. Squirrel has lived in captivity since April 2004 when he fell from his nest during a renovation, his mama never came for him as we left him on a warm rock to be collected. The wee pink one week old squirrel at the end of the day was orphaned, so onto the internet we went & with an eye dropper, he was fed every 2 hrs. & his bassinet would be a peck basket sitting on my dresser, being close by for the midnight feedings. I called him squirrel, not naming him because I wanted him to be released back to the wild when me was ready. However when the time came his injury from falling out of his nest, the cut had healed but his leg was maned, so no jumping without falling was happening & our neighbourhood is full of outdoor cats. So a cage was build to house him for 10 yrs -that's the life span of a squirrel in captivity.
Well this New Year's Eve was a home evasion for him! Two very large raccoon's chewed the nylon cable ties off & entered his home, he fled his sanctuary. Now with two huge raccoon's in Squirrels cage, my husband Bill, & son Nick grabbed brooms-yes men with brooms, poked at those large raccoon's till they fled squirrels home.
Squirrel has been outside of his cage before, 3 years ago he escaped from a hole at the back, made by a large tree stump that had been added to his cage & returned after three days, all beaten up with scratches. This time Squirrel returned by early morning, there he was on his feeding perch, drinking from his water bottle. A happy ending & a wonderful way to start 2012!
I'm glad that the squirrel came back home. I've been feeding squirrels too and they have a beaten path from the feeders to the tree in our yard. As long as I feed them they have left my bulbs alone all these years. JB
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