What Dan Found on Top of the Barn

The other day Dan was working on floor joists for the new barn’s hay loft. He has floor boards laying across one section of them, and when he climbed the ladder he found this lying on the boards.

A teeny tiny brand new baby squirrel! Alive! That section of the barn-in-progress has a huge magnolia tree overhanging it. Birds and squirrels shelter in it, so likely that’s where it fell from. The magnolia leaves are so thick that he couldn’t see where a squirrel nest might possibly be hidden, but between crows flying around and cats and ducks frequenting the top of the barn, he didn’t feel it was safe to leave it there. So he brought it inside while he did some research to find out what to do.

A squirrel website told him there was a possibility that the mother may return for it. They advised making a nest of grasses and leaving it where it was found. Dan did that and kept a distant eye on it for the rest of the afternoon, but no mother squirrel returned to claim it.

When the afternoon temperature began to drop for the evening, he brought it in. I found an eyedropper and gently heated some goat milk. At this age they need to be fed about every two hours, so Dan had nursery duty all night.

Early the next morning Dan called our vet, who gave him the number of an exotic animal clinic. He gave them a call, and they told him to bring it on in. The clinic works with animal and wildlife rescue and would make sure it was properly taken care of. All projects for the day were abandoned as we took a spontaneous trip to deliver the baby squirrel. Then we did some shopping and pricing at Tractor Supply, and I got taken to lunch!

It was actually pretty amazing that Dan happened to go up on top of the barn at that time to find it. We didn’t realize that August was still squirrel baby season, but obviously it is. So alls well that ends well, especially for that baby squirrel.