Late Summer is the beginning of hurricane season. It's also the time that late-season baby squirrels are born. Unfortunately, most of these babies are birthed in nests made of leaves. The high winds of hurricanes rip these nest to pieces displacing thousands of newly born squirrels all over the ground.
Most people in hurricane-devastated areas are so occupied with gathering up what is left of their own belongings that they totally miss the naked little bodies of these precious mammals laying among the rubble. Those that are found are often taken to local wildlife rehabilitation services that rapidly become inundated with hundred of tiny little hungry mouths to feed.
After Hurricane Irma hit Florida this year, one Northern Florida rehabilitation facility had over 500 baby squirrels dropped off at their facility. They were so overwhelmed with babies that they were begging for local residents to come and foster these infants. Unfortunately, most were given only basic instructions on how to feed them which left them to struggle with the many unanswered questions that come with trying raise and release a squirrel back to the wild.
Many people don't realize the role and impact a healthy squirrel population plays in keeping the overall ecology healthy. Squirrels are near the bottom of the food chain. A healthy population equals a healthy population all the way up the food chain. When this population is devastated by storms like Irma and Harvey when they ripped through Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, the whole population of wildlife suffers! It can take years for wildlife numbers to recover.
My wife and I have spent the last 10 years rehabbing squirrels and returning them to the wild. We also assist people who are raising squirrels by providing online advice, recipes and education about how to raise and release healthy squirrels. We answer every e-mail and question that comes to our e-mail address, and have helped thousands of individuals with their squirrel questions.
We have a dream of taking this service on the road. To have a mobile classroom that we could take into areas of Natural Disasters to aid in the rescue of orphaned squirrels by educating the people who are willing to foster these babies. To be able educate caregivers by "hands-on" demonstration in the care and feeding of babies and answer any and all questions about their care.
This is a monumental task and something that we simply cannot do on our own. What we need are sponsors who have the love and vision of wanting to help these forgotten victims of storms. At present I bring in only a little over $1200.00 between my Pension and Social Security and the little we make by selling our Squirrel Nutrition Products. My wife and I want to spend the rest of our lives helping people help orphaned squirrels!
We've set up a "Go Fund Me" account to raise money to provide for a Toy Hauler trailer set up as a mobile classroom and a truck big enough to haul it wherever we need to go to save baby squirrels.
The title of our Go-Fund-Me is "For the Love of a Squirrel." We are passionate about squirrels and hope that you will find it in your heart to share our passion. Please come visit us at our website, http://www.SquirrelNutrition.com.
If you have any questions or comments you can always reach me at [email protected]
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