Finnegan , the squirrel

[trifive]

Finnegan , the squirrel
http://www.trifive.com/squrril/1.jpg


For about as long as she can remember, Debby Cantlon says, friends and strangers have brought her animals in need. So it wasn't much of a surprise when someone asked her if she'd care for a newborn squirrel found at the base of a tree somewhere near Renton.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/2.jpg


Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Finnegan, the young squirrel, back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house. Cantlon, who has cancer, says rescuing injured animals is therapeutic for her.

http://www.trifive.com/squrril/3.jpg


When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him, she found herself with an unlikely nurse's aide: her pregnant Papillon, Mademoiselle Giselle.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/4.jpg


Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/5.jpg


Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel's cage - twice - to her own bedside before she gave birth.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/6.jpg


Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out - and the inter-species bonding began.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/7.jpg


Finnegan rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, and eventually working his way beneath his new litter mates.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/8.jpg


Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Finnegan to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups.



http://www.trifive.com/squrril/9.jpg

Now, Finnegan mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his "siblings" in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies and sinking in deeply for a nap.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/10.jpg


Finnegan and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/12.jpg


Finnegan naps after feeding.


http://www.trifive.com/squrril/13.jpg


Finnegan makes himself at home with his new litter mates, nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after feeding.

[Randy 57]

That is way to cool! I'm surprised Animal Planet hasn't done a story on them yet. What a great lady that Deb is too.

[1quick57]

Cool pictures. Nature does strange things that one wouldn't believe without seeing it.

My parents nursed a baby squirrel a long time ago when I was in college. The mother fell from the tree outside the house and broke its neck. The baby ended up coming down and somehow they got a hold of it. They would bottle feed it, etc. I was visiting one weekend and that little SOB decided to attack. :eek: Guess who it went after? You guessed it -- the stranger (me). If they weren't so attached to it, I would've had a baby tail for my '57's antenna.

But, I have to admit, it was cool.