The Squirrel Part I

I know people wonder "How in the world do you keep a pet squirrel in your house?"

Well, I'll tell you.

First off, this is as close as he gets to "posing" for a picture. He is always at mach speed.

This story starts off with me noticing a dead squirrel in the road just as I was pulling into our driveway on a Friday afternoon. The sight traumitized me. Oh, little did I know what was coming...

The next day, my husband was working in the yard, drinking beer as he merrily mowed, weed-wacked, shoveled poop, etc. , you know, man stuff. I was in the house doing my thing and after a few hours, I noticed him going back and forth from the garage to the way back of the back yard holding something long and weird-looking. I went to the back door, and saw my husband standing on a step ladder up against a tree with a contraption I had never seen the likes of, and likely will never see again. Or at least I hope. The long, weird-looking thing was actually 2 paint roller poles tied and duct taped together, end to end, with a crab net tied and duct taped to the end of them!! Can you image? If only I had the sense to break out the camera at that time, but I was in a state of shock. How could I not be in shock? Surely I had fallen and bumped my head so hard that I was hallucinating, but then my husband saw me, and proceeded to wave me out back. So out the door I go, not really wanting to know what on earth was going on.

Then, I hear it. A baby. Had to be a baby. Sounded just like a baby. But louder.

It took me a good few minutes to focus my eyes where my husband was pointing way up in the tree, but finally I saw him. There was the cutest little thing you ever saw, hanging on to the tree limb for dear life. His back feet and tail were dangling, and he was only hanging on with his two front feet. Screaming at the top of his lungs. Poor baby!! I almost started crying. You could see the nest, and apparently the dead squirrel was his mama, and got so hungry without her that he took off, up the tree instead of down, trying to find food!

My husband was trying to get him in the crab net, to no avail. After trying (and falling off the ladder) for 2 hours, finally the squirrel just got tired of hanging on and fell. I ran and got a towel, and thankfully he was not hurt in the fall, so I put him in the towel. He was so cold, and little. His eyes weren't even open yet! Regretfully, I only have his "baby pictures" on my cell phone, and I can't figure out how to get them off. His little belly was bald, and his tail looked like a rat tail with very little hair on it. He could hardly walk because he was so little and wobbly.

Now, not to leave you hanging or anything, but this is getting a bit lengthy, and hopefully your still awake! I will continue the story tomorrow, I promise.

Trust me, it gets better from here!