Raining Squirrels

Just so you know, I posted this on Saturday, May 2nd. My sister-in-law (who is much more the blogger than me) saved my photo in a draft so I could get to it easily.

At any rate, let me tell you about the day it rained squirrels...really and truly.

It was spring and I was home doing nothing for once in a blue moon. I was actually enjoying the act of being still and then the phone rang.

"Jan," said my friend Anita, "Can you come over here right now?"

"Why?" I asked as I gulped the last of my iced tea.

"Because," said Anita, "Squirrels are falling out of my tree and landing on the glass top table on my deck!"

"What kind of squirrels?" I asked, still feeling a bit lazy.

"Naked baby squirrels!" Anita shrieked. "Get over here now!"

That was the beginning of a long day. Somehow (and I'm still not sure how) I found the number of a squirrel man. I called and asked him the best course of action.

"Get the babies and put them in a shoebox at the base of their tree. Keep an eye on them to make sure no cats or dogs get too close. Their mother will come get them," the squirrel man assured me.

So, I did as the squirrel man said. I got the three naked babies and put them in a box at the base of their tree. Anita and I stood in her kitchen window and waited and waited and watched and watched.

In about an hour, the squirrel man's prediction came true. The mother squirrel inched down the tree and one by one, took her babies in her mouth, back up to their nest.

Inside, Anita and I were thrilled. We actually clapped with joy but our elation didn't make it past a high five. Plop. Plop. Plop. Just like big raindrops, the babies fell again. It wasn't a short fall either. These babies fell from high up in the treetop. I couldn't believe they weren't hurt, but they weren't, so we began the process again.

And again.

And again.

We were finally exhausted. We had had enough. I was just getting ready to tell Anita that I'd take the babies home and bottle feed them when (you're not going to believe this one) another squirrel came from the yard next door and took the babies to a nest in a different tree.

I called the squirrel man back. "Squirrel man," I said. "What's going on here? Our babies have just been squirrelnapped."

The squirrel man was as calm as Anita and I were frantic. "It's not unusual for a squirrel father to get involved," he said. "He probably found a bigger nest and decided to move the whole dang family."

The squirrel man must have been right. The mother squirrel and her babies settled into their new nest in an upscale tree and lived the high life.

Anita went back to whatever she had been doing and I went home. After it quit raining squirrels it was a good day to do nothing.