Finnegan the Squirrel
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

August 2009

(To enlarge the photos, click on the photos or links)

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For about as long as she can remember, Debby Cantlon says, friends and strangers have brought her animals in need. So it wasn't much of a surprise when someone asked her if she'd care for a newborn squirrel found at the base of a tree somewhere near Renton.
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Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Finnegan, the young squirrel, back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house. Cantlon, who has cancer, says rescuing injured animals is therapeutic for her.
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When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him, she found herself with an unlikely nurse's aide: her pregnant Papillon, Mademoiselle Giselle.

[Ed. Note] While we are in favor of spaying and neutering companion animals to avoid the present overpopulation, this does not detract from the love expressed between these species.

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Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies.
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Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel's cage — twice — to her own bedside before she gave birth.
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Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out — and the inter-species bonding began.
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Finnegan rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, and eventually working his way beneath his new litter mates.

Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Finnegan to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups.

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Now, Finnegan mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his "siblings" in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies and sinking in deeply for a nap.
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Finnegan and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to.
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Finnegan naps after feeding.
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Finnegan makes himself at home with his new litter mates, nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after feeding.

You might want to know that Finnegan married Eva, a wild juvenile squirrel. They built a nest in the huge pine out back and had a son and daughter. They truly lived happily ever after. Finnegan became more and more wild as time went on.

When he met Eva that was the end of his relationship with us. He disappeared for three weeks. When he came back it was if he just wanted me to know that he was doing great and no longer knew his mother dog. He ran from her as any other squirrel would do. He was returned to the wild very early in life. That is what makes all the difference. Not only that but he found another squirrel to dhow him what I could not. Tell her not to worry. I have done this many times and HAVE NOT FAILED YET.

Debby

[Ed. Note] This is another of the stories that prove to us that Isaiah's prophecy of the peaceable kingdom (Isaiah 11:6-9) can exist in the here and now, and not just at some future time in heaven.  Humans caused the Fall and its accompanying corruption, and humans have the power to end the pain and suffer in this world, for which the whole of creation groans (Romans 8:18-23).  We can begin by not killing and eating animals.

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