Baby Squirrel Rescue Transport, Coming Through!

Yesterday, I showed you a picture of one of the tiniest bunnies in our yard. As you can imagine, with such awesome cuteness on display right in my own front yard, I've been hanging out there a lot, stalking the bunnies with my camera, snapping photos every chance I get.

And that is what I was doing first thing Monday morning. There were several bunnies of various sizes hanging out, having breakfast. I was in the drive way, down on my knees, photographing rabbits.

When suddenly, the rabbit I was photographing gave a VERY startled look, and ran back under the hedge! Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of something gray, coming at us pretty fast. Turns out that the gray thing was a squirrel.

And so I snapped a few pictures. And thought - hmm, that's one big squirrel! And then I realized it wasn't just ONE squirrel. It was a squirrel CARRYING another squirrel in its mouth! A mama squirrel, with baby! The mama stopped every few feet to adjust her hold on the baby in her mouth. Every time she stopped, I took another photo. I have to admit I have never seen such a thing in real life! So I was very excited! And so glad I had my camera in hand, ready to document the event.

I snapped this final photo of the baby squirrel rescue transport just as the mama carried the baby under my husband's car, which was parked in the drive way; from there she and her precious burden disappeared into the woods.

What I have learned since then is that mama squirrels only move their babies if they perceive some threat to the original nest. I do not know what that perceived threat may have been, but obviously the mother thought that safer shelter was available elsewhere in our woods. And by the way, other than the fact that the transport seemed kind of awkward and uncomfortable looking (how would you like to be rolled up in a ball and carried by the base of the tail?), the baby did not appear to be in any distress whatsoever.

While I went out and looked again a few minutes later, I did not see any additional babies being moved; perhaps all of that happened prior to when I showed up, and I was just there for the final transport. I also did not want to do anything that might jeopardize the mother's transport process, so after checking once, I went back in the house and stayed there, merely checking from the front window, but I saw nothing more.

The song to accompany this photo of the rescue transport of a baby squirrel by its mother is a song that you just might imagine the baby squirrel singing. The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter. And I dedicate this song to my office-mate from the 1980s, as we swore that in our next lives, we would come back as Mick's back-up singers on this very song.

Oh, and P.S. I owe all of this to our yard rabbits, as if I hadn't been in the yard photographing them, I'd never have witnessed such a wonderful squirrel adventure. And that mini micro-bun from yesterday? I went out last evening and found there were TWO nearly identical mini micro-buns having an evening nibble together. So there are at least TWO of them, possibly more. So in yesterday's blip, you met either Teenie-Bun, or Weenie-Bun. Yes, and so - in the naming of buns - my husband and I . . . BOTH . . . prevail. <grin>