Swimming Squirrel?

I knew the Fox Squirrel was famous for the Geico commercial, but it seems that one in Russellville was trying out for some swimming pool commercial. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't swim well. Fortunately for him, the next door neighbor saw him and threw in the life rescuing floatation device. The poor little thing lay there lifeless and they paged our HAWK hotline pager for assistance. I was already enroute to Russellville for a presentation, so asked them to meet me there.

The presentation went well and the squirrel finders met me shortly after. Just as we were moving him from their box to ours, he seemed to come to life and jumped out of his box to the front of their mini van. I commented that he is indeed feeling better, but we'd still need to keep him for observation, so we attempted to retrieve him from his new hiding place inside their dashboard. Right as I reached up there, the squirrel made a mad dash to what he thought was his home.

Instead, he ran across the parking lot and into the trash reception area at St. Mary's Hospital! Not a tree in sight, we decided to pursue him and see if we couldn't at least herd him in the direction of some trees. We looked and looked and I finally found him, terrified, exhausted and panting, backed into a brick corner. I reached down and carefully picked him up and we brought him back to his box. He will still need observation and probably some antibiotics to fight off pneumonia.

The finder of this squirrel was under a false presumption that HAWK Center receives funding from Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. I informed him that we are a 100% volunteer organization and do not receive any funding what so ever. I told him we welcomed his contribution towards the squirrel he cared so much about. He was firm that he did not want to help us help the wildlife. I hope others don't feel the same way.

It does get frustrating sometimes to work so hard on animals people allege to care about, yet they are not willing to put their money where their mouths are. Caring for wildlife is not an inexpensive venture. We are not funded by anything but donations given by people who do care. We welcome the support of any and all who appreciate what we do.