One squirrel, two squirrels and a rat!

When snow storms blanketed much of Boulder in late February and early March, I assumed that there would be many orphaned squirrels at Greenwood.  I don't know how squirrel parents keep their tiny, hairless babies warm and dry in the nest when the weather outside is so harsh!  They must do a great job, however, since there was only one  squirrel in residence at Greenwood in the first week of March!  His name was Boy or George but he was just cutie to me!  He and his brother were found in a tire wheel well of an old  car and brought in at about 3 weeks of age.  One of them died shortly after arriving but the other one was doing well and is pictured here.  Since Greenwood runs on reduced staff/volunteers and hours in the winter months, this baby went home with one of the wildlife rehabilitators every evening so that care could continue around the clock.  Here are a few more pictures of this photogenic 3-4 week old baby Fox Squirrel .  Notice how his feet are built for tree climbing!

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3/18/2015
On my next visit to Greenwood, spring was definitely making an entrance but the squirrel deluge had yet to make a presence.  There were two squirrels in residence and a baby rat -- probably a baby Mexican Wood Rat -- but he'll need to grow into his shape a bit more for rehabilitators to make a positive ID.  His mom was most likely killed by a dog and he had a little chunk taken out of his backside but he ate well and slept like a baby...rat.  There were two new squirrels who had arrived to Greenwood.  Their eyes were open so they were probably 5-6 weeks old.  I learned that these squirrels will be ready to release in late May or even early June.  That's a lot of work for Greenwood!   On the day of my visit, staffers were also busy trying to determine why a pigeon wasn't doing very well.  I was impressed by the amount of information they could obtain!  They ran blood work, took a throat culture and were quite thorough in their analysis so that he/she could get the best possible treatment.  I didn't take a picture of him/her but here you see the blood work chart.  Thanks for reading!

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