Yay! Good ending to what could have been REALLY sad. On our way out to run this evening, my wife and I walked down the sidewalk, and I saw what at first appeared to be a squished dead bird or something out of the corner of my eye, right in the curbside edge of the busy street we were walking down. Sometimes that happens, of course…and I don’t usually point it out. But as we continued walking, my brain started thinking about what it had seen; no wings, I think no visible damage…and had it moved a bit just as I passed?

I finally stopped about 50 feet along, turned around, and went back to check. It was indeed alive, and not visibly hurt…and in fact, the animal was flailing further into the street! Only about 18 inches from total squishdom. It was definitely a very baby…something. No fur, eyes closed, tiny…not a kitten, I didn’t think. But what? And what to do?

So I went back to the house, got a box and some tissues, and we scooped it in. No way I’m letting a baby anything just roll out into traffic! We looked about (without much hope) for a mother animal trying to get to it, but no luck. I tracked down a local 24 hour vet, though, that accepted wild animals for rehabilitation…so even if it wasn’t a baby pet, it wouldn’t just get killed.

On our way to the vet, we decided it was almost certainly a baby squirrel, and the vet confirmed it. They took the little guy and assured us that it would go to rehab first thing…they have a wildlife rehab specialist on staff that specializes in infants, in fact!

I tossed some money in the Wildlife Fund for the little guy’s future nut stash, and we headed home for a late run. Thanks very much to Cobb Emergency Veterinary Clinic for taking in the little fella!