Martha Stewart Rescues 3 Orphaned Baby Squirrels Found in Fallen Tree — See the Adorable Pics
The next slide showed all three squirrel siblings resting together, tucked in blankets. A single Cheerio was nearby in case they got hungry.
“They were inside a fallen tree,” Stewart said of how she discovered the animals.
“After making sure the mother was not around, the three squirrel kits were rescued and taken to wildlife rehabilitation veterinarian @shannonthewildlifevet who cared for them until they were released,” the caption added.
According to her social media profile and GoFundMe, Shannon Marie James is a federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator and wildlife veterinarian.
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Stewart continued to show pictures of their progress with a photo of one of the squirrels eating an avocado slice and another enjoying a bowl of sunflower seeds.
Her website, The Martha Blog, shared more information, including photos chronicling not only the actual rescue but the rehabilitation process as well.
“Three months ago, my outdoor grounds crew found three baby squirrels in the trunk of a fallen tree at my farm. They were just days old, hairless, and each only about one to two inches long,” Stewart wrote on her blog.
A photo of a fallen tree on a dirt roadway was the first of many images that Stewart shared from her journey with the orphaned baby squirrels.
She also showed a picture of Cesar, Adan and Pesang — three members of her groundskeeping crew — smiling as they worked to clear the roadway. One held a chainsaw to break the tree up and make it easier to move.
“They were preparing to clear the tree when they came across something very special,” Stewart wrote. “Baby squirrels. Three to be exact.”
A close-up shot showed one of the men holding all three newborns in the palm of one of his hands.
To make sure the mother was not simply away gathering food, the babies were put back in the fallen tree. Several hours went by with no sign of the mom, so Stewart stepped in.
Her property manager, Doug White, took the baby squirrels to James, who kept them “warm in a crate for several weeks, feeding them every two to four hours.”
Photo descriptions noted that the tiny animals still had no teeth and had not opened their eyes yet.
After a few weeks of weight-regulated feedings, their fur and whiskers developed.
All three girls — named “Maple, Magnolia, and Oak-ley after trees” — now have fluffy tails and have long-since left their crates and had moved to “a larger indoor enclosure where they can safely practice climbing and jumping,” Stewart wrote on her blog.
The squirrels have left their enclosures and gone out into the wild after being rehabilitated, but are free to come and go as they please.
“After the first day, the three did return and are still friendly and playful,” Stewart said, adding that all three squirrels are still “together” and have since “taken up residence” in a nearby nest.
