Jewel the Squirrel

I took our dog outside to go to the bathroom and I noticed him playing with some sort of bug or warm.  I didn't have my glasses on but I went and got them so I could see what he was playing with. As I walked over there I got totally freaked out to see this pink thing jumping all over the ground. At first I thought it was a worm then I thought it was a naked mole rat (both super gross) but as I go closer I realized it was a baby animal of some sort.

I put it in a little plastic container with a wash cloth and texted a few friends to see what I should do. One of them said to take it to PetSmart so that's what I did. I didn't plan on leave that place with this critter I just wanted to find out what it was and give it away. 

I went up to the cashier and said "okay I know this is strange but I found this and I have no clue what it is or what to do with it and I don't want to keep it." She took one look and fell in love. She told me it was a baby squirrel and one of the employees there had a pet squirrel. I was so excited to know it wasn't a baby rat and I was hoping this would bet the babies new owner.

He came up and told me all about how to raise baby squirrels and how much work it was. I told him I didn't want to keep it and he said "well I don't want to either." haha

Just at that time someone walked up to pay for their things and the cashier said "hey do you want a baby squirrel? It is super cute...) He said he didn't but his in laws raised squirrels and released them back into the wild in Oklahoma. I said "well would they want to come get this one?" No luck he  called them and they were about to go out of town :( 

The guy with the pet squirrel gave me the number to a vet that takes in squirrels and I was excited for this glimmer of hope. I called them and there wasn't anyone there who could take him until tomorrow morning. The lady asked if I could care for him for the night and bring him in the morning. You all have to understand something before a few months ago I was not an animal person at all. I didn't like dogs, or cats, or really any pets. Then we dog sat for some friends and I fell in love! I never understood how some people were "dog people" but something clicked and I got it. We have now welcomed Dallas into our family and we love him. I will blog about him later let's go back to Jewel the Squirrel. Before I became a... oh man it's still kinda hard to say... before I started liking animals I'm not sure what I would have done with Jewel (Kenya named the squirrel) I might not have done anything but now I knew I had to do something. Jewel was fresh out and still had the umbilical cord attached. I decided to keep the squirrel until we could drop it off at the vet in the morning. 

We did everything they told us to do. We wrapped Jewel in a wash cloth and put her in a box on top of a heating pad set on low to keep her warm.

I feed her cat formula every 2 hours.

Kenya is having so much fun helping with the squirrel. 

Looking at the squirrel in person it is so cute but after looking at these pictures I realized it is pretty ugly. Still we will love and take care of it till tomorrow. Look how tiny it is in Kenya's hand. We are thinking it is only a few days old.

This is my friend Shannon holding Jewel. We didn't hold her with out the cloth at first but after reading more information we decided it was safe to hold her.

Here we are the team of two ready to wake up every 2 to 3 hours through the night to feed Ms. Jewel. Kenya wants me to wake her up so she can help. I figure if nothing else this will be a great learning opportunity for Kenya. She loves animals and wants to be a horse doctor one day so I guess we can start small like with a squirrel. 

I am about to wake Kenya up and feed Jewel one last time before my alarm starts waking me up. I am really hoping she doesn't die tonight.  I will update in the morning after we take her new home at the vet.

If for some reason you too find a baby squirrel HERE is a great website with TONS of information.