A true story I wrote.

[ROCKMAN]

"Knucklehead's story”





So as you may know, I am an Arborist.? One day while on the job I was
removing a tree from a customer’s yard. So I felled the tree and on the way down a squirrel leaped from the tree and was killed instantly by the tree falling on her; yes, it was Momma squirrel. What I did not notice is that this tree had a hollow cavity where a squirrel family had lived.
Inside the nest were 6 tiny pink baby squirrels? All six fit in the palm of my hand.


It’s hard to believe, as a hunter I? Would even care about them, but who wouldn’t?


So I took them home, put hot water bottles wrapped in a towel in a box with an old t-shirt I had. That was home for them for a few weeks.


I researched what it took to take care of them, with full intent on releasing them back into the wild. Puppy milk was the closest to squirrel milk as there was available for them. They took to it right away eating every 3 to 4 hours, and reloading the hot water bottles. I have to tell you it was not cheap? Just powdered puppy milk cost more than $500.00 until they were all weaned. They also needed to learn how to pee and poop.
Let’s just say there were? Explanations on ? Ways to help them with that and leave it at that! (lol) Ok, a few days had past and sure enough it happened to me again. I removed a tree which had a squirrel family in it!
Sadly it was the same scenario Momma squirrel did not survive the fall. So now I have 13. Yes, I said 13 pink baby squirrels. As they were growing larger I made them a big cage so they would have plenty of room. They were
always very sweet to me; climbing on me, always wanting attention. Then
they started eating solid foods and they did not need milk anymore.


So one night I decided the next weekend I would take them outside and
open the cage and allow them to come and go as they pleased.


They would have it made as I live on a thirty acre farm.


It was that night! I was at my desk and they lived in their cage which was
in the shed that is attached to my home.? I had heard one of them scream
like never before.? This scream scared all the others into the bedding
area. When I approached the cage I noticed one of them was on the bottom
of the cage crying. So I went to pick him up.? He bit me over and over
thinking I am sure I am the one causing him this pain. I positioned him so
he could not bite me anymore.? I? realized he had a dislocated or? a
broken? back. He could not move his lower body at all and had a curvature
to his spine that looked bad. At that time I was ready to put him down to
end his suffering. I gave it a shot to straighten his back, grabbing him
from under his front shoulders and by his rear legs I gave him a yank! To
my relief he stopped crying immediately. He looked up at me with such
relief and I at him and just said you knucklehead! That’s how he got his
name.


He was still paralyzed and could not move his rear legs or had any feeling
in his lower body. He needed baths often to keep him clean and got rub
downs every day? to help him stretch out.


What I believe happened to him is that his sister, who was much bigger,
had? picked on all the others.? She? may have been the culprit.


Just a few days before one of the squirrels had been hanging upside down
in the center of the cage chewing on a nut and big sister leaped across
the cage hitting him in the middle of his body rather violently causing
them both to land toward the other side of the cage!


Seeing this I thought to myself it was time to let them go!


Months passed.? All the squirrels had been set free except Knucklehead.


It was cool to walk in the woods days later after their release and have a
few come to me and climb up on my shoulder as if to say hello or maybe
thanks. Either way I had a friends that now lived in the wild.


Months had gone by and Knucklehead slowly regained the use of his rear
legs. Today he climbs runs, jumps all over but he does so with a bit of
crabwalk. He’s happy! I think he loves me! He climbs on me often and tries
to groom me. He nibbles off the little hairs that grow on my ears. Yes, it
tickles! He gets nuts from trees all over the world!


He eats spinach and apples, as well as Brussels sprouts.


His favorites are seeds.


When he has a full belly and gets a snack, he tries to bury them around
the house. It’s funny to watch him! In my carpet there is a bold pattern.
He believes the dark spots in the carpet are holes and tries to put them
in this hole and then cover them up. After a few seconds of patting them
down with his front? hands, he feels they are secure and moves on. I know
they are not hands but he grabs things just as we would. Yes I allow him
to run around the house. The most asked question I get:? where does he go
to the bathroom?


I burn wood to heat my home so he loves to hang out on the wood pile which
I have in the house with the occasional slip that’s were he goes.


He happens to be sitting on my shoulder while I wrote his story. I wonder
if he approved of it?

 

 

 Steve, aka ROCK

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gatorgirl]

So cool, you should post some pics!!!

[LordOfChaos]

Yes this is VERY COOL!!!  We are the stewards to this planet, and rule over all animals.  We must care for them when wee upset their habitat. 

 

Coodoos on you for doing the right thing. 

 

I once had a simular thing with a baby Raccoon.  Trust me... be happy with 13 baby squirels, rather than one Raccoon!!!

 

And like GatorGirl says... WE WANT PICS!!!!!

Edited February 11, 2014 by LordOfChaos

[ROCKMAN]

Edited February 12, 2014 by {BHF}ROCK

[Noears711XI]

That is so cool you big mush. I knew I liked you and I always thought it was for the BHF in the front of your name AKA: Big Headed Fucker: LMAO you did the right thing may GOD Bless you my brother.

[eidolonFIRE]

That's so cool!

 

 

 

( but you know squirrels are basically rats... with fur lol)

[Scoarch]

wow.   so cool.   really nice story

[Bushape]

That is way cool. I tried to do that with 5 barn owls. At the time I was contractor doing roofing. We tore the roof off of an old barn and there were 6 Barn Owl eggs in there. The owner told me to break them (they can be a big problem around active farms). I put them in my hat and took them home. I was raising exotic pheasants at the time, I had some nice fancy incubators to put the eggs in. After a week or so the eggs hatched. This was back before I had the internet so I didn't know what to feed them. I figured they needed some high protein meat and vitamins, I bought beef liver and mixed it with avian vitamins. But soon they all died. I felt bad so I had to figure out why they died. I found out that liver was toxic to young owls. I gave it my best shot.

About a year later I did the same thing with some Canadian Geese, I was doing a roof that had a pond right off the front deck. I snuck over there and swiped 4 geese eggs. Three of them hatched. My grandson was about ten months old and he lived with us. Every morning he went out with us to feed the birds. He made good friends with the baby geese and they grew up together. It was really cool, the geese would go crazy when they seen him. Too bad I didn't get pictures. 

[El Presidente]

Can we give Rock a Medal for this outstanding work .

 

love it M8

[wildthing]

If it was not for the pictures i would have said you are full of shit. Good job man and you are one reason that humans can get along with the wild life of the world.

[Boomer]

thumbs up!

[hxtr]

That was a great story. Thank you for sharing. 

[Wild Fire]

A pretty cool story Rock, thanks for sharing.

[codpiece]

Nice!

[Unchileno]

This story just needs 7 dwarfs and a Prince charming..

 

 

Good job man..

[google]

really verry  nice story...I know one thing...those who love animals are definitely good people

love animals...not killed..I hate hunters...kill for pleasure  FU

[Gunny]

way to go rock

[KaptCrunch]

Bless you Rock on your achievements,  caring  heart medal is needed for you

[google]

no no..revocation medal...rescuing squirrels  .was washing the sins...for killing animals that he had hunted:)))because it is a hunter    fu beech

[Roxy!]

OMG!.. u make me cry... That is so sweet Rock!!!  Rock you rock!!!!

[Wild Fire]

I think Chle just called you Snow White.

 

This story just needs 7 dwarfs and a Prince charming..

 

 

Good job man..

[iboomboom]

Good job man..!

 

wait wait, hold up, hold up, didn't you kill their mommy? 

[dadda2]

unlocked

[BUDMAN]

Awesome ... thanks for sharing

[HellTiger]

I didn't realize this post was from 2014 until I came across the banned account.

 

Awesome story! Thanks for sharing! Really cool you guys brought this post back so newer members such as myself can read this very touching story.