Sunday started out well…after sleeping in, it was decided that I would be making breakfast this morning. So I got up, started the coffee, cleaned the kitchen, fed the fish and the cats, then started breakfast prep.

While I was cooking, David went outside to water some newly planted flowers. I noticed him walking toward me with a concerned look on his face. He asked me to open the kitchen window so he could talk to me. He had found an injured squirrel in the yard, that was trying to crawl up behind our a/c unit to hide. I wrapped up some things in the kitchen and went outside. Sure enough, the poor thing was huddled behind the unit, breathing very quickly but not moving much.

It appeared as though it had broken a leg or two, because it was just dragging itself around. So I went inside and got the number for Sacramento County Animal Care and Regulation. (google search: sacramento injured animal)

I contacted them via phone, and spoke with the dispatch operator, who was very helpful, as I explained the situation to her. She said that she would get an officer to the house to take care of things, as I did not want the squirrel to lay there and just starve to death.

So I went about my business, continuing to prepare breakfast. Finally it was done and I carried it out to the cabana to eat. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and slices of avocado…yummy stuff.

After breakfast, we were puttering around on the cabana when the squirrel suddenly limped its way across the yard, down near the plum tree, finally stopping to rest just before the brick planters. I went inside and prepared a little dish of cat food, and another of water, and set it next to the squirrel. It barely looked at me while I did it, turning its face toward the brick.

We stepped back onto the cabana to watch it, and it slowly turned, then decided instead of eating, it wanted to climb up the brick into the flower bed. Usually this would not be an issue, as it’s only about 1.5 bricks high, but this poor broken creature couldn’t even get up before it fell back down. At this point, I was started to get a bit emotional.

But then, it tried again, and this time, it must have hit a nerve because it started crying. Well that was it for me. The squirrel pulled itself up into the ivy at the base of the plum tree, and curled into a little ball. I went inside, grabbed Rowen, pulled him onto my lap and curled into a little ball, balling my eyes out. I can’t tolerate seeing an animal in pain, and not being able to do anything about it.

Rowan eventually tired of my attention, so I got up and went to wipe my eyes…and then, the doorbell rang. Animal control was there, and I showed him to the back yard where the squirrel was still curled up in the ivy. The very kind gentleman got some heavy gloves, picked up the squirrel and put him in a box. He told me that he would take it to the nature preserve folks, and they would determine if the squirrel could be saved, or whether it would have to be put down.

Frankly, as long as the squirrel isn’t going to be laying there in pain, either option is ok with me. I’m not against euthenasia in situations like this.

Anyway…squirrel is off to be evaluated, and my eyes are only vaguely bloodshot. This should not come as a surprise to any of my readers, since you should be aware by now that I even save worms from dying during heavy rains. Hopefully I’m racking up billions of Karma points.