Mickey has been evicted. I could tolerate when the one-time mother squirrel would tussle with these three orphaned babies when they dared to enter her squirrel palace. I thought she’d get used to them. Instead she actually followed one out of the house, went to where the babies were sleeping, picked out the one who had trespassed on her property and started slapping at him with her paws. Luckily, like most squirrels, she is an incompetent and half-hearted fighter.
So, I evicted her. Don’t worry; she still gets to have the house she has come to love so much. But she’s moved to another cage. And she totally knows what’s going on. After the incident of her pushing around the baby squirrel, I took all the babies out of the cage and put them in a carrier. She came out 10 minutes later and searched the area for them.
Meanwhile, the babies got another companion, a female baby squirrel of what seems to be their age. She’s from Stuyvesant Town and was climbing on people’s feet. She’s healthy but too young to be out on her own. She ate and immediately joined the pile of baby squirrels in the basket. She’s a little bit shy, which is understandable, but the group accepts her as one of their own. They invited her to their favorite basket for a nap.
In keeping with my tradition of naming the squirrels after successive U.S. presidents, I looked to the list and found we were back to Grover Cleveland, for his second, later term. I can’t have two Grover Clevelands running around. So, at my husband David’s suggestion, she’s named Baby Ruth, after Cleveland’s daughter, who also inspired the name of the candy bar.
Benji, the smallest one, seems to have had the worst injuries from the fire. One of her hind feet was singed. She lost one claw and two are precarious. She also has two fresh wounds, which I think are scabs that her overly helpful siblings licked too much. Grover and Alvin are competing to see who can be the most obnoxious and strong eater. After their formula they often go to a stuffed animal duck in their cage and, still having the urge to drink, try to suckle on him.
Cute cute cute. Do you think Benji’s wounds will heal enough to allow you to release her?
So cute. Glad to hear that they are doing well.