Squirrel Needing Help Shows up at Doorstep of Family that Once Nursed it Back to Health
When I was little, I always wanted a pet squirrel. I loved all animals (and still do), but the tree critters so close, yet so far, felt like the closest thing to an exotic pet I could possibly have.
Because, you know, what parents are gonna buy their kid a pet tiger? Imaginary ones.
My parents told me once that when I was really little, we actually rescued a little baby squirrel who had fallen out of a tree and hurt its leg.
Even my parents were hoping we could help it recover, but the little dude didn’t make it out of the vet’s office.
I’m glad I was too young to remember that.
But one family was lucky enough to help a baby squirrel who’d survived an owl attack. Brantley Harrison and her family nursed her back to health and kept her safe until she was fully ready (and old enough) to return to the wild.
Named Bella, that’s exactly what this grateful squirrel did. But she didn’t just vanish into the woods like you’d expect.
She came back often enough for her family to recognize and expect her. She’d sit outside the glass front door, waiting for someone to notice her and come say hi.
She would even get feisty enough to jump into the window flower bed outside one of the windows, tapping with her little claws and demanding attention. Someone would see her and, though it isn’t directly mentioned, probably fed her or at least said hi.
Bella loved her family so much that she would hang out with them in their backyard on their patio, enjoying shoulder time and some fruit and nuts. She did this for eight years!
One day when she came to visit, though, she wasn’t behaving normally. Her family noticed she had an injured foot, and so they took her in again just like they did when she was little.
Bella must’ve known she’d be safe with the humans who’d cared for her for so long. But she must not have been thinking of only herself.
When Harrison went to check on her the next morning, there were three more squirrels than there were the night before! Bella had come home to have her babies.
The family was obviously surprised, but overjoyed and honored that their little friend had come back and trusted them with her own sweet babies.
We can assume the Harrison family will be helping to raise this itty bitty family until they’re ready to go out into the world with their mama.
What an incredible experience! I hope my future kids can be as fortunate as Harrison’s to have such an intimate relationship with a part of nature.
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