Recently, while at Sweetbeau Horses (like them on FB – they rescue and thoroughly train previously rounded-up mustangs – and they have an absolutely gorgeous facility!)

Anyway, recently while there, some of the girls there stumbled upon an injured tiny baby ground squirrel!

I was around the corner and didn’t notice or hear the shrieks until one of them had Alvin securely settled in her hand – holding him up ala The Lion King.

“He’s injured!”

“What do we do with him?  Should I put him near his hole?”  Which one is his?!

After that, there were a series of ideas yelled out and the sounds of boots shuffling as everyone moved forward and back and around and back… trying to decide what to do with something we’d never encountered.

With a Genius idea, someone called Pacific Wildlife Care in Morro Bay – which I knew was not very close by.

During the call, I could hear a series of questions being answered… and then the head trainer say, “OK, I’ll be there in an hour…”… and she kinda winced.

UhoH.  I knew she didn’t have time to drive Alvin to the rescue center.   It seemed obvious that her time was better spent training horses, and my time… well,  I wanted a happy ending for Alvin, too.

So, I said that I would take him.

Relieved, the head trainer ran around looking for any type of container.

We ended up with a plastic Juice container – like the one your Mom would use to mix Minute-Maid Orange Juice.  It didn’t have a lid.  First, they put a little rag at the bottom, added Alvin and then put saran wrap over the top of it all.  I punched holes in the top of the saran wrap.  Then we tied it together with baling twine, of course.

OK!  I was off!  I put Alvin in the passenger side footwell and beat tracks to Morro Bay.

The road to Morro Bay is curvy and mountainous.  I must admit, a few sharp rights in there I lost Alvin sideways, but we both recovered before I could careen us off the windy road.  Listening to Alvin scramble against the plastic was somehow comforting.  He was alive enough to know I was driving like a maniac!

Once in Morro Bay, I absolutely COULD NOT FIND the place.  Fretting because I knew Alvin’s time was running out, I drove around and around – as GPS sometimes guides one – and I was baffled.  Of course, PWC doesn’t have a manned phone, so I left several stressed messages as I drove around in a clueless rush.

Finally, I drove into a nearby feed store, taking Alvin with me, and asked if they knew where Pacific Wildlife Care was located.

Yup.  They’d heard my same story before and were prepared on how to direct the lost.

Note to self:  Suggest that Pacific Wildlife Care creates bigger/better signage.

Anyway, Alvin and I were off!  I found the hole in the fence that was their entrance and two-wheeled it up to their front door.  I rushed Alvin in and the volunteer immediately took him into ‘the back’.

About a nano-second later, a lab coated female rushed out and asked if a cat had gotten to him.  I told her that there were no cats at Sweetbeau Horses.  She seemed very relieved.  She told me that he had been grabbed by the head and had sustained an injury to the right side of his face.  But, if he makes it through the night, ‘he might just make it.’

I asked the volunteer what was ‘back there’ and he said volunteers and paid vets … and lots of seabirds and raccoons and owls and possums and a stork.

And now, one baby ground squirrel named, Alvin.

FOLLOW UP

So I called to inquire about Alvin on the following Monday.  And, surprise of surprises, they said that he made it and is now in Foster Care!

Yahooo!  A job well done by all involved.