Squirrel Puppy

[ET Awful]

Received in e-mail today . . . I loved it :)



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.



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.



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.



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



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



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



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



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.



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.



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



Finnegan naps after feeding.



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

[LynneSin]

1. AWWWWWW - keep the squirrel as a pet

hell the dog has already adopted the squirrel as one of her own

[ET Awful]

4. I mean, how could you NOT smile lookin' at the little guy all curled up

with the puppies :)

[El Fuego]

2. Awwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is so sweet!! :)

[NV Whino]

3. Awwww.

[DS1]

5. I don't know much about squirrels, other than I respect an animal

that will hook rocks and acorns at you from trees while talking all sorts of shit - but I have a feeling that releasing this guy into the wild won't be exactly fair to him.

[ET Awful]

6. Agreed after domesticizing him, releasing him just wouldn't be cool.

He's family now :).

I'm not sure where this actually is, but if I were the lady, he'd become a permanent part of the household :).

[LynneSin]

8. Unfortunately some states have laws about keeping wildgame for pets

About 10 years ago a baby deer must have separated from her mother and ended up being somewhat domesticated by the families in the area. I remember this cute deer would go from house to house looking for handouts and especially loved KIX cereal. (he'd eat it right out of the box while you could pet him - I have a picture of me doing that). One of the families ended up taking in the deer and taking care of him (so he could get some regular healthy food too). But this deer pretty much became a pet and at one point lived in the pens/stables setup for their 2 horses. The deer actually became one with the horses.

But this was PA and the state game land found out about it. They made them release the deer back into the wilderness (it came back) and again a second time (when they took it to a location away from where it was raised.

I'm sure that deer ended up getting killed by some hunter over a stupid law.

[ET Awful]

13. See, if that happened in MA, I'd take the deer down to Southwick's

They have their own enclosed forest with all kinds of deer that are domesticated and LOVE people :)

[CottonBear]

17. He can be released into the wild. Squirrels don't make good pets.

The baby Squirrel
needs a very special diet and the right kind of formula in order to devlop properly. I hope this person has done their homework. The baby must be stimulated to pee and poop. Many times, the adult will still come back to see their people but it is better for them to live in the wild. (I researched baby squirrel care when I found one in my horse's barn.)

That said, these are adorable pictures! :)

[Blue-Jay]

7. That might be the cutest thing I've ever seen.

awwwwww.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. That's very sweet, but the animal does indeed seem domesticated now

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. My insulin. Where's my insul *SPLAT*

[Sugar Smack]

16. Well put!

EXACTLY the way I'm feeling now. I almost died from the cuteness!

[miss_kitty]

11. It's Washington State

and the do have some wildlife laws. She could get a license.
She said on the news report when he got old enough she'd set him free-but she might have been saying that for Fish and Wildlife goons.

There was a highly publicised case south of Seattle, wherein a gal had a duck she'd rescued and now it was her buddy. They stormed her work, (it went to work with her) allegedly assauted her (on security camera) and took her duck.
She got it back, but she has to 'let it go' at some point. Yeah. Like the duck will let HER go.

[Shell Beau]

12. That is so precious! It just makes me smile!

:)

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

14. Thats one of the best stories ever!

so adorable :loveya:

[Darth_Kitten]

15. Who could not find this adorable?

:loveya:

I'm just a sucker for squirrels down on their luck, but in this case, he found a new family! :)

[myrna minx]

18. This is so adorable! n/r

[demnan]

19. That is so cute!

I hope she can keep the squirrel. He seems to have formed a special bond with that dog.

[redwitch]

20. I recieved this today too

from a friend who I was berating last night because she feeds the birds and tries NOT to feed the squirrels. These were some of the most adorable pictures I have ever seen.

[BrklynLiberal]

21. I would think it would be dangerous to release that squirrel. It has

become used to people and to dogs. It would not flee from them now. How could it possible survive in the wild?
There was a story on Animal Planet about a man with cancer that kept a squirrel named Rocky that he said helped him to survive cancer.
I think that little creature should not be released tot he wild. If she cannot keep it, it should be given to some kind of shelter.

Those are very, very sweet pictures. That Papillon must be one sweet little pup to adopt that squirrel like that.

[Rich Hunt]

22. look at that smile!

I found this hard to believe though, when it was first sent to me.

Perhaps they used stuffed squirrels to get the effect.

Any dog I've known has hated the things with a passion.

[SillyGoose]

23. Awwwww! This is the sweetest story and such adorable photos!

Little Finnegan and those puppies are so cute! :loveya:

We had a Papillon and she was such a love (we lost her last year at age 13 due to cancer).

Thanks for posting this...it made my day!