Third one saved!

I kept close to the window all morning, hoping I'd hear a familiar scream. I'd go outside, too, and peer way up into the live oak branches. Finally, about noon, I spotted the little fellow about two stories high on a thick limb. He just huddled there, all alone. I called to him and stood there for the longest time, looking up. (The neighbors probably thought I was nuts.) I went inside and threw a tortilla with cheese into the toaster oven. Then I went outside.

"C'mon, baby, c'mon!" I said over and over again. He looked at me curiously from high atop his perch. Around and around I went at the tree's base, keeping my eye on him, talking gently but loud enough for him to hear me.

Then he carefully climbed head first part way down the tree!

I was flabbergasted. He seemed to be coming toward me! Forget lunch. I had to save that baby! Nearly an hour passed while he sat in the crook of the live oak, probably about 12 feet high. He'd look at me, and I'd look at him. "C'mon, baby. C'mon! C'mon, baby. C'mon!" I said those words over and over and over again. How I wanted him to come DOWN.

And then he did! He started edging head first down the oak to where I leaned against the tree, calling to him gently. I was amazed. "C'mon, baby! C'mon" Here he came, slowly, a little uncertain. Finally, I could stretch my hand just enough to barely touch his tiny nose. His little brown eyes stared at me. I stepped up on the oak, stretched some more, and quickly put my hand around him. He struggled, but I hung on tight. I knew if I lost my grip, he'd surely try to escape.

We did it. In a few seconds, I had him safe against my neck.

Inside the house, I placed him in the same towel that had covered his sisters the evening before.


Once again, Lindsey and I loaded up for the trip to Wildlife Rescue near Kendalia. Diane, who'd been there last night when we delivered the other two, accepted our third sibling. Yep, a boy, she pronounced. However, this little guy had an indelicate health problem .... seems he'd tried to nurse on himself, and his penis had scabbed over. The staff vet would likely have to give him some anesthesia so the wound could be doctored. Otherwise, he likely couldn't urinate. Poor baby. But Diane seemed to think he'll heal just fine. And when the time's right, the three will be released back into the wild, probably on the Wildlife Rescue's acreage.

She also said it's not usual for baby squirrels to seek humans when orphaned. Still, seeing that little baby inch down the tree toward ME felt like a divine miracle .... and an answer to prayer.



Monday, August 25, 2008–UPDATE–I called Wildlife Rescue this morning and left a message, asking how our squirrel children are doing. A volunteer called me back this afternoon with a status report. "Katie says they're GREAT" exclaimed Sally, who was just as excited and happy as me to get the good news. They're ALL such nice folks at Wildlife Rescue!

Another wildlife rescue

Yesterday midday, I stepped outside in the front yard for a break and heard a terrified scream from somewhere high in one of our live oaks. I squinted up at the branches but couldn't see anything. I didn't hear anything more, either. Must have been a baby bird that got eaten by a snake, I thought sadly. I went back inside and didn't think anything more about the incident.

After supper, as usual, James and I went outside to check on the yard. I told him what I'd heard and what I'd concluded earlier in the day. All the sudden, there went the very same screech! But in a different tree. We looked and looked but couldn't see anything. Then I noticed Gabe, one of the boy cats, staring into a live oak on our adjacent lot. I looked up, and there was a tiny baby eastern fox squirrel, clinging to a thin branch at the end of a limb. We watched it for the longest time, and it screeched some more. It even almost fell a few times. Why didn't the mother squirrel come?

Then another screech sounded, this time from the front live oak again. Lo and behold, another baby was clambering around branches! And another one, too! We had thought about going inside the house and let nature take its course, but instead we opted to sit on the porch and watch. Thank goodness we did because a movement in the grass caught my eye. A baby squirrel had fallen to the ground! I ran inside the house for a towel. Then I gently captured it, and we put it in a plastic box. While I was calling Wildlife Rescue, James found another baby on the ground. Two! A third remained high in the tree.

After we got home and looked at photos, we noticed this little baby
had a nose injury from falling. So I called Wildlife Rescue and told them.

This time, Lindsey and I loaded up and headed for the animal rehab center located near Kendalia. They do wonderful work here. The volunteers gladly took our babies. "Little girls!" Katie pronounced after lifting them both out of the container. "Oh, you're going to be a friendly one," she added, after one climbed onto her shirt and into her hair. She told us that they were also not yet weaned so it was good that we brought them to the center.

James told me later that he had seen a dead squirrel in the street earlier this week. So that's probably what happened–the mother died and left orphans behind.

A sign at Wildlife Rescue asks visitors to watch out even for my favorite creatures–spiders.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to crack a window and listen for screeches. I'm praying the other one (or maybe two) will come within reach, and we can rescue them, too.

Wildlife Rescue 24-hour hotline 830-336-2725

Roadside rescue

This isn't related to our Wildscape, but I thought it warranted telling since the story is very nature related.

Yesterday, on our way north to Dallas via U.S. 281, I spotted what I thought was a dog in our lane of traffic, apparently trying to cross the highway. (We were just south of Hamilton.) The animal was still pretty far away. Naturally, I slowed down. As we got closer, I realized it was a FAWN! A tiny one, tottering on its little legs. I veered off the highway, pulled to a stop, punched on my emergency lights, and jumped out of the car. There was a vehicle coming up behind me but no oncoming traffic. I waved and motioned to the van to drive around, then I shooed and corraled the baby back onto the shoulder and into the grass. It stumbled up the slight incline toward a fenced pasture. But as it attempted to climb through some shrubs and under the barbed-wire fence, its hoof got stuck. I tried to untangle it but could see it was going to take a little more effort. So I ran back to the car and told my daughter, Lindsey, to turn off the motor. She ran back with me. I think it was a small hackberry tree that was growing in the fence. Lindsey held down limbs, and I reached down and gently picked up the fawn. It bleated and hollered. I carried it further down the fence line, lifted it over, and set it gently on the ground. It toddled over a few yards, then stopped. We ran back for our cameras. By the time we returned, it had plopped down in the grass and could barely be seen. I snapped a picture, but I don't think the fawn shows up much.

Anyway, that's our "roadside rescue" story. Typically, white-tailed mothers leave their babies hidden during the day. I'm just hoping so much that she heard this little one holler and found it after we left. I knew we had to let Mother Nature take it from there after we left.

Just the day before, I'd seen a dead fawn on Highway 46 near New Braunfels. It had been about the same age of this one we saved today. Each and every dead animal I see on the highways just breaks my heart. Today, I'm so glad and grateful that we came along when we did. Or this deer child would have been just another road kill.