Art imitates life, I suppose, but not often enough. When I blogged earlier this week about the new Monroe automotive parts ad campaign, I noted the episode had a happy ending - a young squirrel trying to cross a busy street is spared fatal contact with traffic.
The young male squirrel who is lying on his side tonight, twitching in a pet carrier in our spare bathroom downstairs, was not so lucky as the one in the ad. The little fellow is my first wildlife emergency call of the new year, and his rescuer, a worker for the local telephone company, Verizon, saw him get hit by the car - and then bounce. He somehow managed to get the squirrel out of harm's way before a second vehicle could come and finish him off.
"I couldn't leave him there," he told me when he phoned shortly after 10 this morning, asking me to help. "He would have been killed."
So now he is home with us. Will he make it? I wish I could say. He has been given some fluids and an analgesic that is also an anti-inflammatory, on advice of the vet. No bones are apparently broken and I have seen no bleeding. But he has pushed himself in small circles, on occasion, seeming to indicate some neurologic damage.
Like Miss Daisy before him, who arrived flat and unconscious on our driveway mysteriously in October, he will get the best care and attention I can offer in my limited way as a licensed volunteer caretaker. Beyond that, his fate is beyond me.
As the Monroe ad campaign notes, "Squirrels make bad decisions." Surely, this fellow did.
The Verizon technician who rescued him clearly wanted him to live.
So do I. So do I.
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2 comments:
My heart goes out to you. I admire the fact that you care enough about these little guys to do whatever you can.
HI! I'm Damama T. I found you through Poetikat's blogroll.
I've had a soft spot for critters of all kinds for most of my life. The little guys just seem to find me. Hubby's learned over the years to just stop when we see one in need of assistance.
I noted the newer post about this little one not making it, but didn't want to read that until I read the first of the story. So now I'm off to read the end (no pun intended).
Thanks for your comment and your kindness. There are often times people question my sanity (and yes,I join them in that effort a lot of the time!) after a particularly hard loss. Sometimes it's easier to keep just walking away and not stop to fight the good fight. I've sworn rehabbing off a million times in the last decade. And then, of course, the phone rings and, well, I'm out the door again....
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