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It seems a squirrel will fall into our laps sooner or later, mine was sooner and what a miracle he was. Pure MAGIC!
I was overwhelmed with the soul of this little thing that came to me and looked at me with those round obsolete eyes and spoke something so deep I cannot recall. But I sure felt it and will never be the same person again. Welcome to "ALL THINGS SQUIRREL."
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| Infant Rocky Eyes Closed |
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| Avoiding the Camera |
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| Milky Time! Oh Boy! |
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Rocky on the left sleeping behind his chin bone (needed for grinding teeth down) while avoiding the light as well as my camera, little booger.
I would call "It's Milky Time Rocky" and Rock would come bustling from under his blankets. Not able to find his way out at first, he would bang around, this little lump of fur and cartilage ...bing~bang~boom! Then ...pop! Out would come his little head, heading straight for the mommy *smile*
I did much research about their diet and learned not too friendly things about puppy formula. Having always used boiled milk for rehab, the only difference with a squirrel is that liquid vitamin E needs to be added.
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| Nap Time! |
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| More Napping! |
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Favorite moments, Rocky curled up in my hand. Sometimes he would sleep in my pocket and travel around with me. Those pictures would be boring, just a 'Bump in a Pocket' next to my heart, so I didn't take any.
Rocky landed on the porch when his mother climbing down from the eaves shook him from her teat. I thought it was a pink, dead bat. When I picked it up to throw away, it moved! Scared the crap out of me, upon closer inspection I realized it was a baby squirrel, oh boy! I'm gonna be taking care of this lil' bugger.
It was September and chilly so I thought to keep it warm in a bowl with some linen in the sun on the rail, thinking when mom came back home she would pick it up. Noooooo way, she looked in at it and kept on moving back up to her nest. Oh boy! I'm gonna be taking care of this lil' bugger.
Young squirrels have a funny nose, especially when sleeping. Look like Jimmy Durante! *smile*
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| Moments of Pure Joy! |
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Little Rock liked to do gymnastics on my hand which I absolutely loved! Their ability to cling is amazing.
If you know how not to move, you won't get scratched!
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| Pizza! |
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While Rocky sleeps time for a snack! Pizza~yum~ Let's see... Tomato sauce, mushrooms, cheese, anchovies, more cheese, prosciutto, chopped artichoke heart and more cheese. Baked on homemade Focaccia. Ready set go, let's eat! Delicious!
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| More Milk! Oh Boy! |
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| Finally! Real Food! |
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Along with his milk regime it's time to start some real food. So here Rocky is getting a little apple which he loved like nobody's business. For a while anyway. Squirrels wean themselves off milk. Despite popular belief squirrels do not carry rabies. Squirrels groom as much or maybe more than a cat, they are very clean. Just messy with all the wood chips they flip all over the place. *smile*
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| Having a Pecan! |
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| Play Time! |
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Rocky eats one of his first Pecans, see the crumbs? Munch~Munch! Dancing on my shoulder and back then jumping on top of my head was a fun game for him, stinker. Squirrels claws are razor sharp, my hands were constantly scratched up.
Thank God this was last year. This year I can't even afford a steak much less Pecans, thanks to Obama's control of the banks hurting the small mortgage business. Banks who two years ago would not touch the wholesale business are now taking it over.
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| An Apple on My Shoulder |
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| Apple Wood! |
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I use to call him my lil' apple, he smelled of apple. He smelled of everything he ate!
Along with the exclusive vegetarian diet that squirrels require, they need wood and Rocky loved apple wood. Here he is munching happily, spitting wood shavings and splinters everywhere! Oh boy!
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| Picking His Food |
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| More Apple Wood! |
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Once Rocky weaned himself off milk, I had to start a regimen of nut balls made from scratch. These nut balls supply all of the nutrients Squirrels need and for strong bones. They cannot be served with calcium blocker foods, so in the morning he received the calcium blocker foods and then in the evening I served the non-calcium blocker foods along with his nut ball. He would roll the nut ball in his magnificent fingers, around and around licking it, then finally munch~munch ...gone!
Watching a Squirrel strip a piece of wood is something to see, much like a buzz saw without all the noise. Just a more pleasant sound.
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| Rocky's First Walnut in Shell |
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| Getting Ready For the Kill! |
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Up to this point, Rocky was getting shelled walnuts and pecans. (Never give pecans in the shell, the shells are toxic) Now I felt he could handle the shell of a walnut. Oh boy! Did he ever!
He rolled and rolled it licking the seam, actually licking the seam to soften it then crunch! He split that bugger and was on his way! Go boy! Yeah, that's a good nut!
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More journey to come, keep checking back...
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| Curled Top O'Blankets |
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| Tricks in His Cage |
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On warm days Rocky would curl up on top of his blankets rather than dig his usual tunnels in them. Fun to watch him burrow around under and in them. Sometimes he would get lost! I had to rescue him *smile*
Now that he has become a big guy, he loves to do tricks in his cage, back flips and hanging by his back legs seem to be the favorites. Big guy!
Squirrels bark when angry and purr just like a cat when happy and getting love. Now that Rock is more of a man he has tested me, funny I really didn't do anything but he did not like it and barked at me and it seemed wanted to bite. But once we made eye contact he was ok. Rocky never bit me the eight (8) months we spent together, even those last days when I knew he so desperately wanted to be free but the weather was so bad I knew it was not the right time yet. Finally freedom did come and it was a good thing.
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| Long Cool One |
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| Stop Looking At Me! |
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Watching Rocky learn to drink water was like watching a mountain goat climb the hill.
The older Rock got, the more he seemed to watch me. But, every now and then I would catch him off guard. So the LOOK.
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