Sometimes it falls to humans to care for the animals in our world. Occasionally, we end up harming them from our activities (deforestation or driving cars) and then feel responsible for it. Regardless of the reason, there something innocent about taking care of a little animal and then releasing it to live its life.
The story of one little animal shows us just how wonderful they can be.
Of all the woodland creatures that capture our hearts, squirrels may be the cutest. They are found almost everywhere in the US and are crazy little animals. Jumping, climbing, and squeaking, the little fellas are intelligent and wary. It is rare that we are able to get close to them because of how careful they are around humans.
One man decided that he wanted to raise one himself.
Squirrels can only be “tamed” when they are raised since birth. Knowing this, the man decided to go about the business of raising a baby squirrel completely by hand! The process is quite arduous but pays off in the end with a little friend forever.
Taking us through the process, we get to see how to raise a squirrel first-hand.
It’s an interesting process that few should attempt. It takes a special kind of person to spend the time and energy caring for a little creature like this. For all of us who just want to watch and not participate, the whole thing was filmed!
The man had wanted to do this since he was a kid.
You can see his dedication in wanting to raise this little squirrel! Our first look at the little guy is in a little shirt pocket, all snuggled up and cute as a button. That clip is from later on in the process, however. The first stage of squirrel care is the feeding process. It takes 4 weeks of special milk every two hours!
All day and night the squirrel needs to be fed.
Using a little syringe, the baby squirrel drinks the milk that he needs. In combination with the gentle music, you can see just how cute he is. After the milk, however, comes what happens to everything after they eat – Bathroom time.
Mother squirrels need to make sure their babies and the nest stay clean.
In order to make sure the nest stays clean, the mother will normally lick their babies in their bathroom areas to stimulate them to go. The entire process is a bit gross for the mother, I’m sure! Using a wet paper towel, a human can simulate the process artificially. Interestingly enough, kittens and their mothers do the same thing!
A week later, the squirrel opened his eyes and started crawling around.
He seemed to LOVE to snuggle right up under his “dad’s” beard and hang out. It must be a warm and comfy spot! Whether sleeping under a beard or in a little pile of lint, he is always safe.
Getting bigger every day, it was time for a new home!
Getting upgraded to a new home, he got his first nut! Taking it in his little mouth, he didn’t know quite what to do with hit. He decided to hide it and save it for later. As he gets older, he will get a name and a bigger place to live. Who knew that squirrel parenting took so much work! Even after his new cage, he still preferred to sleep in his “dad’s” hand.
Check out the video below!
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