Posted on 10/12/2005 4:38:47 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
SEATTLE - This is a story about a mother, a baby in dire need and how the two came together.
It didn't matter that they didn't come from the same place, or look at all alike -- they weren't even the same species! But instinct took over when the need was greatest.
Debby Cantlon of Seattle explains: "He doesn't know he's a squirrel; he thinks he's a dog."
She's talking about Finegan, the squirrel. He could be excused for thinking he's a dog, that's how he's being raised.
Rescued at just a few days old, Finegan had fallen from a tree, his mother beside him, dead.
"I didn't think that he was going to make it, he was so dehydrated," says Cantlon.
A friend brought Finegan to Cantlon. She has a knack saving injured birds, squirrels, and raccoons. But Finegan's eyes weren't even open yet -- it was touch and go.
Then Debby's dog Mademoiselle Giselle stepped in.
"Apparently she thought it was a puppy of hers and she was gonna have him, no matter what."
Debby continued to bottle feed the squirrel, but Giselle pulled the extra shifts. Finegan began nursing right alongside the five puppies -- just another littermate burrowing for position.
Now, at six weeks old, while the puppies are still barely walking, Finegan is a rambunctious juvenile. He's strong, can climb just about anything and is into everything.
Finegan was fascinated by KOMO 4 News photographer Randy Carnell and his camera -- he wouldn't stop crawling all over it, nibbling everything, including Randy.
All this is a sign, says Debby, that Finegan is close to being ready to go back into the wild. Once he can crack open and eat nuts and seeds, it will be time.
"My biggest reward is to watch them go free," says Cantlon. "It just makes my heart soar."
But, before then, there will still be a few last bottles and a lot of snuggling with his littermates. While they take a midday nap, Cantlon whispers in the background, "That's what I get out of this. What a gift, what a gift.
Reminds me of the story 'bout the Exxon Valdez sea otters that were "released" after having approximately $50,000.00 spent on their cleaning, as the band played and the kids cheered, only to have the killer whale eat them up.
Pity the story wasn't true. I thought is was the greatest example of irony.
Cool, I'm thinking a tribe of "attack squirrels" for home defense. Imagine the surprise of a thief, being attacked by an entire family of squirrels.
hehe
Not a bird story, but I thought y'all would like it. It'a always nice to see something warm and fuzzy in the news.
Good Morning Jet!
That is adorable! :)
Awwww. Thanks for that one.
Yep, it's amazing what stupid things people do these days, but I think it's largely because many people live so far from nature and farming, and don't realize the dangers of treating wild animals as domestic--everything from harm to humans, to harm to the animal itself, to harm to the population. I wonder about these "Animal Rights" activists who release caged research animals, or nurse animals back to health and release them, only to find that they carry a domestic disease back to their herd and wipe out many wild animals.
You don't have to be a Darwin evolutionist to realize that even intraspecies, nature's way is sometimes rather cruel...but messing with it can be crueller.
Thanks for the ping Sweetliberty.:) Too cute!
You owe me a new keyboard! LOL
But if this little nut-muncher runs out in front of my car, I'm still not swerving.
My wife hates to hear that "Bump-bump" when the tree rats miss their timing.
LOL! I might break, but not swerve.
break=brake. Spell check works, but proofreading pays.
I thought this was about John Kerry.
Anyway, last week I was driving with the whole family in the car when a tree rat scampered out in front of the car. "Look out!" said my wife. "Bump-bump" said the car. The wife gave me a sick look, but I thought it was a great lesson for my daughter.
This story reminds me of one of the funniest things I've ever seen...
My friend took in a couple of 3-year-old dogs, a Golden Retriever and then a Yellow Lab, and decided to put in an Invisible Fence(tm) to allow them to run in the backyard.
During the training period, a squirrel ran by, and the retrievers bolted for it, only to hear the warning and get zapped. They came running back to the porch.
The next time, a rabbit ran by, and again, off like a shot they went...and again, warning sound and a zap and they came running back.
But these dogs ain't dumb...they've learned.
Now, sometimes if I sit on my friend's back porch, watching the dogs playing, and a rabbit or squirrel decides to visit, I get treated to the rather pathetic sight of these two hunky hounds hightailing it to the house--scared to death of those dangerous little animals that they've learned can zap them with electric shocks! :-)
Carolyn
LOL!
Could someone explain to me what this thread has to do with Harriet Miers?
That is a sweet picture.
My pleasure. I thought it was cool.
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