A Squirrel Comes Home

Ever seen a baby squirrel?

Ever adopted one?

How tiny is it?

What to feed?

Will it bite?

We have a real life story to answer all these questions!

Ghumakkad has great pleasure in bringing you another guest story about 'Gillu' the baby squirrel. 

Our guest writer is Dr Rohini Tiwari from Coimbatore India.

Rohini Tiwari

Rohini is a true blue Nature lover, with an ear for bird songs and compassion for adopting abandoned creatures- much to the chagrin of her family. As a child she wanted to open a Zoo😄. A Food Technologist and Nutritionist by profession, Rohini is a music lover and a culinarian. When not talking to her pets, she conducts Stress Management seminars/webinars. She holds a PhD in stress and anxiety management with diet intervention. 

Over to Rohini for Gillu's story in her own words. Gillu ki kahani Rohini ki zubani गिल्लू  की कहानी रोहिनी की ज़ुबानी 

__________________ 

Little Gillu arrived in our lives about two weeks back, when Radha, our house help mentioned that it had fallen off it's nest in a mango tree in her house. My daughter, Tanvi and I begged her to bring it over.

Wary of us and especially our dog Toffee at first, but Gillu settled in pretty quickly. 

He was given a nest of sorts made from a kitchen mitten hung in a linen basket.

Gillu's mit nest. You can see how much tinier it is in these pictures.  He had to have his "safe place" after all.

He loves to play hide and seek. See the video.

It loves to have milk in the morning and has its own special dropper for feeding.

Gillu has brought so much love and joy in our lives that it can't be expressed in words. There is such kindness and tenderness that I see in my daughter's eyes when she pets or handles Gillu.

Like a typical baby, Gillu loves to play hide and seek behind pillows, curtains and cushions. See a short clip below.

Watching the world below from its perch on the curtains tops....

Gillu's favourite stance... Hanging upside down...

Gnawing at bits of branches with bark on them.

Squirrels like to chew on wood and bark because their front teeth are constantly growing. This helps to file their teeth down.

Gillu's favourite haunt... The window net.

I have to mention how well Toffee (our dog) took to Gillu. She literally pines for it and whines longingly whenever she sees it. Gillu however, true to its instincts doesn't let Toffee anywhere close to it. Scrambles up to a safe place as soon as Toffee appears in its vicinity.

We keep introducing it to the local flora and flowers. But when you don't give it wood to gnaw... 🤭🤦🏻‍♀️

As the baby grows, we are giving it a taste of grass and its seeds which it relishes. See the video below.

Like all of us Gillu also likes to be cuddled and tickled. See how it is enjoying the gentle tickle.

I keep it outside on the terrace for sometime (while still in the basket), to expose it to the outside sights, sounds and smells to acclimatise it.

We need to respect every lifeform around us. They bring unfathomable joy in our lives and teach us love and kindness. Am hoping to release Gillu into its natural environment once it's a bit older.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share our joy.

_______________ 

We once again thank Rohini for sharing the story. All the pictures and videos are courtesy her and duly acknowledged.

Hope you enjoyed being with Gillu the baby squirrel specially during the boring lockdown.

We wish Gillu a safe return to its natural environment.

We had done another story on a squirrel frolicking in a park in Jaipur Rajasthan. You may click the link below to browse the story:

Powder Puff- Squirrel's Favourite

We are very happy to collaborate with guest writers. Here are some of the guest stories from our blog in recent past:

Krishna The Male Showstopper Story of a Tiger by Koushik Gopinath

Winning the Hearts of People Story of village development by the Army in Arunachal Pradesh by Abhishek Singh

Fallen but not Forgotten A Tribute to WW-I Soldiers by Trixie Asirvatham

Women Hiking in Water Story of four women who nearly drowned hiking in water by Akanksha Bhargava

Feel free to contribute your pictures and stories. Due credit will be given as in the above stories.

Thanks for browsing

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Rohini Tiwari/ 13th June 2020

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