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"Sometimes You Got
To Do What You Got To Do"
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This story is
from Valerie Cuthbert.
I got involved with a wildlife rescue
organization one day a few weeks ago, quite by accident. One morning
I woke up to find a sick duck on my porch. After talking to a few
hundred agencies, the finally gave me a number for a wildlife
rehabilitator. The rest is history, and now I am an active volunteer
for her organization.
This is a story about my experience
as a volunteer, on my first task, I had taken care of twelve baby
squirrels with no problems, and everything went like clock work. All
the babies matured properly and were released on time. However, my
second batch of babies did not go as well.
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One night
while my roommate and I gave the infant squirrels their last feeding
of the day, about 10:00 p.m., the last baby of the night began
choking. The baby could not clear his airway and began to loose
consciousness after only a few minutes, its tongue started turning
blue. In a panic and not knowing what to do, I called the
rehabilitator I was volunteering for. She told me to rub its back to
stimulate its breathing. It didn’t work. She then told me to give the
baby mouth-to-mouth. I was, to say the least, a little shocked. I had
never given anything mouth-to-mouth except a human. You see, I was a
paramedic for eight years and had never in my wildest dreams thought
that one day I might have to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a
baby squirrel. But, I was more than willing to give it a shot. So I
quickly placed my mouth over its nose and mouth and started giving it
small puffs of air. I knew it was getting air, because I could see its
tiny chest rise and fall as I puffed. It took about five minutes to
bring it around, but it finally started breathing on its own. It
coughed and sputtered for a while, as I continued to rub its back.
After about fifteen minutes, it was breathing fairly normal again.
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The baby squirrel will be ready for
release in about 2 months and is doing just fine. It seems to have not
been affected by the ordeal. Me on the other hand, well that’s a whole
different story. I am very careful when feeding babies now. I don’t
get over anxious, just because the babies act like they are starving.
I give them their formula slowly and am cautious that it is going down
the right tube. I have learned my lesson and know that it is not
always a walk in the park. I know that there will sometimes be
emergency situations, and sometimes extreme measures may have to be
taken to save lives. So be willing, do all that you can do, and hope
for the best. That is all anyone can do.
Taking care of there young squirrels
has been quite an experience and one I won’t soon forget. I enjoy it
whole-heartedly and plan on doing it for a long time to come. Thank
you for bringing me into your organization; it has been a rewarding
experience.
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