This Week’s Creature Feature: Special Will
Patricia Terrant of Blue Angel Rescue in Lusby — featured in the August 28 Bay Weekly — is in the process of a difficult rehab of a baby squirrel. It appears to Pat that the mother squirrel tossed the little one from the nest when it was about two weeks old, or less. At that age, the baby was about the size of the last joint of her thumb. For several weeks, she has been hand-feeding it a homemade nutrient solution. But the little one is barely growing and appears weak and poorly coordinated, hardly crawling. It also has very little fur and under-developed claws. It appears that the squirrel has a genetic defect and is unlikely to ever be released in the wild.
Another squirrel of the same age she is caring for is at least three times the size and can run and jump. Terrent will continue to feed and care for the little one, named Special Will by a neighbor.
Compare the photos of Special Will, top, to the normal squirrel of the same age.