Squirrels are wild creatures. The normal North American grey squirrel grows up so fast, anything older than 12-14 weeks is impossible to catch. We usually catch animals that are to be released back into the wild at night when they are kind of slow and cannot see too well (unless they are nocturnal animals). Greg stepped into the cage with a net in hand and gloves for protecting his hands.
He caught one squirrel carefully and put it (err….him) in the smaller cage normally used for transport, as he was about to catch another, it jumped on his face, scratching his left eye and cheek narrowly missing the pupil of his eye. He saw blood on his glove as soon as he touched his jaw. He stepped out and I followed him inside, he examined his face in the mirror and was back at the cage in a minute. “Let’s give it another try”, he said and went in again with a pair of goggles to cover his eyes.
I was simply amazed, there’s so much to learn everyday about people, about animals. Things can go wrong in an instant without following proper safety protocols. Every time I have to get an injured owl or hawk out of a small cardboard box, I hold my breath in anticipation, 5 seconds of stillness is what I need, and I need to bring this time frame to a lesser time. Experience, truly teaches many things. I won’t forget an injured person walk back again into a cage and catch the remaining three squirrels so that they can be transported back to the area where they were found 2-3 months ago under a tree without food, water and protection.
Alabama Wildlife Rehabilation Center
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