Last night my husband and I were walking to go see a movie. We were on a busy 5 lane street in the middle of West Los Angeles when I looked down and saw a TINY baby squirrel. He was barely starting to have fur and his eyes were still closed.
He was about this big: http://www.cwrc.net/squirrel_01.shtml
I was sure he was dead so I got closer and he was breathing! Then the little guy started trying to crawl and nose around (but obviously not getting very far because his little legs weren't very developed yet). He tumbled over onto his stomach and let out the most pitiful (and LOUD for such a tiny little guy) screams that you've ever heard. We stepped way back waiting to see if a mama squirrel would come to help the baby. We waited.... No sign of one. We even looked up in the branches and no sign of even a nest. No idea how this little baby got here.
So we put in a call to our local animal control and they said they would come as soon as possible to pick the little guy up and take care of him, but that they were going to be a while because their only guy on duty was held up somewhere else.
So we went across the street and got a clean kitchen towel from a restaurant and wrapped him up in it to keep him warm and snuggled him for an hour and a half on the sidewalk until animal control showed up. Thankfully the officer was nice and genuinely concerned about the little guy so we didn't hesitate turning him over to someone who knew far more about baby squirrels than us.
Wish we could have raised him but I don't think Anya would have been too friendly with a baby squirrel. He sure was a cutie though. Even though, I feel like we did a good deed.
He was about this big: http://www.cwrc.net/squirrel_01.shtml
I was sure he was dead so I got closer and he was breathing! Then the little guy started trying to crawl and nose around (but obviously not getting very far because his little legs weren't very developed yet). He tumbled over onto his stomach and let out the most pitiful (and LOUD for such a tiny little guy) screams that you've ever heard. We stepped way back waiting to see if a mama squirrel would come to help the baby. We waited.... No sign of one. We even looked up in the branches and no sign of even a nest. No idea how this little baby got here.
So we put in a call to our local animal control and they said they would come as soon as possible to pick the little guy up and take care of him, but that they were going to be a while because their only guy on duty was held up somewhere else.
So we went across the street and got a clean kitchen towel from a restaurant and wrapped him up in it to keep him warm and snuggled him for an hour and a half on the sidewalk until animal control showed up. Thankfully the officer was nice and genuinely concerned about the little guy so we didn't hesitate turning him over to someone who knew far more about baby squirrels than us.
Wish we could have raised him but I don't think Anya would have been too friendly with a baby squirrel. He sure was a cutie though. Even though, I feel like we did a good deed.