Sunday, November 16, 2008

Wild Animals As Pets

In case anyone gets soft warm thoughts about raising a wild baby, keep this fresh in your mind. If the baby you get is too old, they will not tame down. I got our squirrel so young, her eyes were not open yet, and she looked like a bald rat, no fluffy tail. I tree blew down with the babies in it. I took Munchy to raise. In raising a baby like this, you have to get the right formula, and be prepared to feed her every couple of hours. To get her to use the potty, you have to stroke her tummy and rear end, to simulate the mother licking her. I didn't lick. I tried raising a couple of new raccoon babies when I was working, and left them at home. They died. I would gather acorns for my Munchy, getting only perfect acorns without holes in them, as holes meant a worm was insides them. One day I missed the hole, until she had it in her grip. I tried to get it back, and she growled at me. She gnawed it open, grabbed the larva and devoured it with relish. My little darling got out of her cage when we were gone for a short time. When we got back, we found chewed wires to our VCR, a rose bush with the roses chewed off, a few bites out of an antique liquor cabinet, and frayed drapes. I let her out to interact with us when we were home. She liked to jump up on Jerry's shoulder and grab his cigarettes, and run in mad patterns around the carpet, scattering them. He had to get down and gather them back up and hide them from her. Then she would sprawl across his head like a Davy Crockett cap, to let him know they were still friends. After she was released in the park, we visited her to be sure she was okay. She knew us, but kept her distance, thinking we may take her again. Jerry was in a bow club that met in this park for a competition, and he spotted her. He held up his hand like he used to, and said, Munchy. She ran up his arm, and sprawled across his head. Everyone was amazed. Some one asked, "How did you do that?" He said,"You gotta know how to talk to animals." A legend was born.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh!!! That is hysterical!

Tonigirl said...

I would love a baby squirrel to raise...I bet John would love that (not really). But I have never found a down nest...My cat on the other hand has killed and eaten plenty of baby fur balls. She likes to keep an eye out on their nests and tease them till they leave the nest. This year she killed two of the four babies that emerged to play among the trees. I keep track of the critters in trees. I hope we have more next year. Zella is getting older and I hope slower.