The Baby Nutt Chronicles: Baby Nutt says, "Hello World!"
written by: Lisa Morgan 2/28/2017
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Baby Nutt |
It has been a rather warm February this year despite a few cold snaps that lasted a mere one to three days. Today was no exception with the mild temps, thus I decided to open the backdoor from my master bedroom leading to the veranda (that's back patio for those above the Mason Dixon line). My dogs had just finished their afternoon snack & were eager to stretch their legs while doing some business outside. The fresh air welcomed itself into my master bedroom & I was obliged to prop the door open with a chair, so the wind would not slam the french door shut, when I turned my back on it.
I noticed one of my tuxedo cats named Nemo scurry into my master bathroom. Nemo is a gentle giant of a cat, who is basically still a kitten although he is 18 months old. After maybe five minutes I noticed Nemo had an object he was playing with on the bathroom tile floor. Nemo stood next to what appeared to be a dead field mouse. It dawned on me that Nemo had scurried inside with a prize, which I was going to immediately dispose of properly. Nemo then scooped up the rodent with his paw & threw it on the floor. I saw it move slowly. I shooed Nemo away with my hands & I then eased closer to assess the situation. Upon closer inspection, much to my surprise the field mouse was an infant squirrel.
I gently picked up the squirrel with a clean washcloth. I observed there were no cuts, blood or visible injuries to the tiny light grey baby squirrel. My next move was to place a chenille blanket around the baby squirrel to warm him or her up, as the infant was cool to the touch. I told my husband & he immediately went to the most knowledgeable & nosy busy body on earth to get further information....Google. What do you feed a baby squirrel? How often do you feed baby squirrels? What formula do you feed a baby squirrel? Sol my husband had found a website
www.squirrelnutrition.com that had a wealth of information on the topic of rescuing, feeding & loving squirrels. Who knew? The all seeing all knowing busy body Google that's who knew. William Sells & Squirrel Haven Rescue many thanks to you, for your helpful information on squirrels. I read as much as I could on baby squirrels in between his first feedings.
Luckily we had whole milk, coconut oil in the house & my husband only had to purchase heavy whipping cream from the store. The formula is 1 cup whole milk, 4-5 tablespoons heavy cream 6-7 drops of coconut oil or about 1/2 teaspoon, then you heat all ingredients in a boiler on low heat until it starts to get frothy. You will need to stir often while cooking to keep the formula from scalding. Remove the boiler from the heat & allow it to cool to room temperature. As with a human baby you will need to test the temperature before placing the formula in a syringe to fee the baby. Never feed a cold baby squirrel You must have the squirrel warm before heading him/her.
I swaddled the baby squirrel & placed him/her in a pink milk crate atop a twin sized ivory colored chenille blanket. My brother had once raised a baby squirrel & he also gave me tips for the newborn. My next move was to heat up a bag of uncooked rice for a minute & then place the rice in a small cotton zippered pillow cover. It was warm & would bring the baby squirrel's body temp up & stabilize it, while I mixed & heated the milk recipe to feed the helpless creature. I mean how hard could this be to keep this helpless animal alive? You feed it, keep it warm, stimulate it as it's mama would to encourage it to move it's bowels & kidneys & you repeat. Wow I'm attempting to nurture this squirrel to save it's life. God please help me!
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Baby Nutt being fed by syringe in my studio |
Baby's need food, diaper changes, to be warm, to be held & loved. I can do this because in the past I have raised three kittens with eyedroppers, syringes & bottle until they were old enough to eat food. Surely this could not be much different. I know the routine of 2 hour feeding around the clock & setting my alarm to wake & feed the kitten or in this case squirrel. Luckily for the squirrel I don't sleep more than two to three hours at a time nightly, without waking to the urge to go potty, thanks to menopause & being just slightly over 45. Whatever...I'm 53 but I digress from the story. I can handle this responsibility of keeping the new edition to the Morgan funny farm alive. Our animal menagerie just grew by one more. Lord above please guide me & bless this baby squirrel to survive.
I decided that if we named the infant, then we would be attached to it, as if I weren't already at first sight. Since the mama squirrel never showed back up, we named the new edition "Baby Nutt" & it appears he/she may be a boy. Baby Nutt gripped my finer as I fed him, while I sat on the floor of my art/writing studio; afterwards he slept until the next feeding.
I repeated the routine to heat up his pillow of rice, heat his formula & allow it to be warm to the touch before attempting feeding number two. As I picked up Baby Nutt he screamed at me like a puppy or kitten would, which I took as a sign of determination & possible hunger. I fed him but he was not as eager to eat as he had been initially. Despite Baby Nutt's less than receptiveness to feeding number two, I proceeded slowly urging him to finish his 2 cc of formula. I cradled him in my cupped hands to give him security & warmth. Oddly enough I gently swayed him like I would a baby, then I kissed his tiny head, after which I placed him on the warm rice pillow & covered him back up with the chenille blanket. Day Three I remembered that I had a heating pad in my bedroom dresser drawer. I placed the heating pad on the lowest setting & replaced the warm rice bag with the heating pad. It did work better, but if you don't have a heating pad then the rice in a cloth bag will work. 2 cc- 3 cc every 2-3 hours around the clock until baby is 4 weeks old then he/she will up the feeding amounts to 4-6 cc every 3 - 4 hrs until the baby's eyes open at 5 weeks of age. Then you can feed 8-10 cc every 4 hrs, but the baby will vary slightly with amounts but 8- 10 cc is average. If baby wants more to eat then allow him/her to eat these are suggested amounts to make sure baby does not get dehydrated & is healthy.
How weird is this that just as I was wondering what do with my afternoon today, God gave me the answer. Today you will do your very best to save the life of an infant squirrel. Now here we are at sunset with Baby Nutt resting in his pink milk crate in my art/writing studio. Well I suppose that's the way life goes. We never know from one minute to the next what will happen. We can make plans, schedule appointments but life will intervene to remind us that we are not ever in control. I'm fine with he acceptance of God's plan over any idiotic plan I had. Life is about to get more interesting with the addition of Baby Nutt.
I wonder if Baby Nutt likes music. After all Sol is a musician & I listen to music everyday in my studio, while I'm cleaning house, in the car or outside in my backyard. Music soothes all creatures large & small, so it would make logical sense that Baby Nutt would enjoy some music turned down low. Let's try my favorite stand by album Laid Back by Gregg Allman, as the beginners introduction into music for Squirrel 101.
Apparently Baby Nutt either is enjoying the blues music or maybe his ear are not open yet or possibly he's deaf, but either way he is sleeping as the Laid Back CD is playing. Who knew Baby Nutt was a blues fan? Just call #BabyNutt the Allman Joy Nutt...LOL, then again maybe it's my way of justifying listening to the Laid Back album yet again. It relaxes me what can I say? I'm going to put on some Etta James music to see how Baby Nutt responds. Nobody sings the blues like Gregg Allman, Ms. Etta James, Marvin Gaye or Ray Charles. After Etta finishes "At Last", I'll have Ray Charles sing few tunes. Does that sound nuts?
If anyone has ideas, tips or stories to share on their experiences with rescuing, saving or raising infant squirrels please let me know by adding them to the comments or adding them to my Twitter @thebeachwife & use the hashtag #babynutt to your posts or comments. I'm going to do my best to ensure this small furry baby has a chance at life. I appreciate all information that might assist me in nurturing Baby Nutt. Are squirrels supposed to be blues fan? Am I a little squirrel-ey? Maybe so! Stay tuned for the next installment of the Baby Nutt Chronicles.
Thank you for taking your time to read this blog,
Lisa Morgan
Author of the reality check humor book "Get Beach Slapped" available on Barnes & Noble, Google play, Amazon & other book outlets. Download the ebook. Follow my Twitter page @thebeachwife
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