Judith Davidoff
Home-based animal-rehabber Holly Hill-Putnam
Holly Hill-Putnam administers pain medication through a syringe to an injured squirrel.
We saw her through the glass storm door, a small squirrel, struggling to walk. She shimmied down the front steps when we stepped outside, but didn’t go far.
My first thought: Poor baby! Second thought: There goes my morning.
I’ve been through this drill before. There was the young hawk we found in our backyard, nearly frozen one winter day. The sparrow by the lake who was hopping but could not fly. And others.
I called the Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center (I have the number in my phone), but my heart sank as the recording went on. They were not taking in squirrels at this time. The recording offered two numbers for the Department of Natural Resources and soon I got a call back from the customer service representative. She gave me the number for Wisconsin WildCare and I left a message. Holly Hill-Putnam, a home-based rehabilitator who lives in Windsor, called back within 30 minutes and said she could help.
She suggested that I get a live trap from her in order to catch the squirrel. Squirrel bites are no fun, she says. But the squirrel was now hiding under our car, and did not seem to have much fight in her. So I grabbed an empty box from the basement, cut a couple of slits in the top and put a towel in. My heart pounding, I managed to get the critter in and I hit the road.
Kendra, an extremely friendly rottweiler, meets me when I pull in the driveway. Hill-Putnam takes the squirrel and brings it to the “wildlife room” — a converted bedroom. She says she likes to give animals about 30 minutes to get used to their surroundings before trying to handle them.
After I fill out some paperwork, she shows me the other animals she is caring for, including a chipmunk and a litter of two-week-old squirrels, rescued after the tree they were living in was cut down; their mom did not survive the fall.
It’s potty and feeding time for these babies. Hill-Putnam sits in a chair, spreads a towel on her lap and places one of the tiny creatures in the palm of one hand. “They can’t go to the bathroom until they open their eyes, so we have to help them go potty,” she says. Hill-Putnam gently rubs the squirrel’s genitals — as their mom would do in the wild, she says — with a Q-tip. Soon, a tiny, tiny dab of brown appears on the Q-tip. Success! “Good pee and good poop are well-celebrated in this business,” says Hill-Putnam.
Before I take off, Hill-Putnam gives the squirrel I’ve brought in some pain medication. She says she’ll keep me posted.
At 3:40 p.m. she sends me an email that begins, “I’m sorry to tell you that your squirrel is dying here in my arms.” The squirrel had a severed spinal cord — which accounted for her dragging back legs — and several puncture wounds on her head, likely from an animal attack.
“I’m doing all I can to keep her comfortable and pain free as she passes over the rainbow bridge. At least she is warm and safe as she is passing, as well as loved,” she wrote.
Hill-Putnam determined the squirrel was a lactating mother and feared there were babies in a nest near where I found her. I call to discuss and we both shed a few tears. She arranges for Dylan Hughes, a friend and fellow rescue volunteer, to stop by my house later to see if he can locate a nest. The trees are old and tall and there are no visible nests. “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he says.
Hill-Putnam got into rehab work by volunteering at the Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center. She still volunteers there but is now also very active with the nonprofit Wisconsin WildCare, a network of home-based wildlife rehabilitators. About 60 volunteers work with the group, tending to orphaned and injured raccoons and opossums, as well as squirrels and rabbits, and it can be all-consuming.
April is the busy season for squirrel babies, while Hill-Putnam expects a flood of bunnies this month. Newborn baby squirrels need to be fed about seven times a day with a syringe — that’s every three hours. With more than 20 animals in her care at this time, well, you do the math. “It’s hard to do anything else,” she says. “As soon as I’m finished with one feeding, I have to start the next one.
“You have to be really dedicated to do this,” she adds. “You can’t do this on an occasional basis. You have to be completely committed. They depend on you. Without you, they will die.”
1 inch:
approximate length of a newborn squirrel
5-7 times a day:
Typical number of (syringe) feedings for baby squirrels
4-5 weeks:
Length of time before a baby squirrel opens its eyes
3-4 months:
Typical amount of time before a baby squirrel can be released into the wild
1,100+:
Number of animals cared for by Wisconsin WildCare in a year
Wisconsin WildCare Hotline:
608-237-7060
To donate:
