Ira The Squirrel

This is going to sound nutty (hee, hee!), but I fell in love with this little guy.  Evie the Cat brought him into the house, dropping him at our feet.  Cesar swears up and down that she was doing a good deed and had no intentions of eating him, well, at least not until he put on a few pounds.  I'd like to believe that Evie took pity on him, thinking he needed help, but I'm not convinced.  She's murderous remember.

Cesar named him Irene after the Hurricane, but upon further inspection it was discovered that Irene was a little boy, therefore he became Ira.  He could not keep his body temperature regulated so I wrapped him in a tea towel and tucked him in my shirt, and later in the evening my robe.  I fed him milk from a medicine dropper and he wrapped a paw around there of.  He snoozed and snoozed.  His eyes were still closed and his bottom incisors had just cut so he must have been around 20 days old. 

I wasn't sure what to do with him when we went to bed.  Away from my body he quickly lost heat and curled into a tight coil.  The heating pad was missing, can't even remember the last time it was used.  I tucked him into a tiny shoe box of the girls with two tea towels and brought him under the covers between Cesar and I.  The little rascal woke me a few times by climbing out of his box.  He wanted to cuddle.  I wanted to cuddle.  But I also wanted sleep and was terrified of smooshing him!  It was a long night.

Cesar left for work admonishing me to get a heating pad and the dry puppy supplement food for Ira.  I called around to see if any friends had an old cage we could borrow to house him.  No luck.  I also called a few Veterinary offices looking for people trained in rehabilitating wild animals.  Again, no luck.  No one was answering their phones due to all the power outages from the storm.  I started to panic a little because I was beginning to love this wee creature and was afraid if he spent much more time under my care that he'd become quite the pampered squirrel and never, ever leave our house for the great outdoors.
 
It was warm out so I dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.  Where was Ira going to snuggle up?  I tied a ribbon around my torso at about the bra line and tucked Ira in.  He snuggled right in.

Finally I got through to a woman who is certified in wildlife rehabilitation.  I tossed the kids into the van and drove as fast as the fallen trees and branches, detours, and men with flags on the roads would allow to her house.  I leaped from the van, pulled Ira out of my shirt and handed him over.  I didn't stay long to chit chat either.

I'm now suffering squirrel withdrawal.  I miss him.  I even called this morning to check on him.  The lady spoke to me, but sounded a bit annoyed.  I bonded with a silly squirrel!