There is something very special in saving a squirrel’s life and then getting the opportunity to appreciate first hand, its gentleness, intellect and attachment. Leonardo Da Vinci had said “Great love springs from great knowledge of the beloved object, and if you know it but little you will be able to love it only a little or not at all.”
People who know nothing of squirrels ask if I am afraid of Rabies? But squirrels do not carry Rabies! They ask if I am afraid of the sharp nails and teeth? Should not the one pound vegetarian be afraid of the 200 pound meat eater?
People ask why I love squirrels, and I ask if history has not taught them that one always fears what one does not understand, and hates those that one wrongs!
Are People in New York different from those in Florida? We must be. Because squirrels are the same. And in Florida, unlike most of the United States, squirrels are legal pets. Their teeth are no shorter in Florida, their nails are just as sharp. They can bite right through bone and can scratch you deep.
But unlike a domesticated animal, that gets everything provided for it by its owners, in the wild, squirrels have to find and fend for themselves. They have to stay as warm as you in the coldest of nights, and have to feed their babies, when they themselves cannot find food. Every day they must flee hungry predators, speeding cars, and men mad enough to have convinced themselves that it is sport to kill someone who could never kill them. Like you, they feel pain, need food and shelter and crave affection from someone they trust! And like you they will miss a brother or mommy, who fails to return home at night.
After studying them for nearing a decade, I continue to marvel at how much we can learn about ourselves, about others, and about the world we live in by studying these industrious, talented, creative, and amusing creatures. Humans use irresistible force and high tech deception, to kill and maim innocents who in the face of traps, weapons and chemicals, do the best they can, and still continue to hope for another day.
Yes squirrels nibble your flowers, devour your bird seed, and find the weak entry spot in your attic. But are they any less entitled to life than birds? Is a flower really more beautiful than a fully functioning small mammal? Perhaps we understand neither.
As for the attic that should have been properly maintained? They cannot be expected to know it’s your home. But those that cut down trees every day for frivolous reasons, don’t care about the nest that a mother and its helpless babies call home. And then feeding it into the wood chipper, quite well summaries our “humanitarian” nature.
If there is any hope at treating world problems, and domestic ills, it will come from people like Abby, who had the courage and concern to see what an injured squirrel could become, and the patience and love to demonstrate to the small mammal, that we do not have to be wild!