So the one thing I can say I do miss about Canada is Momo. This little amazing creature came into our life unexpectedly, and in many ways, helped both my father and myself deal with other issues in our lives. She needed us, needed to be loved, fed and protected, and was ever so grateful to us.
I think Momo always loved seeing the world as we do :)
My father was working in the garden, mixing in some topsoil and leveling it off, when out of the blue, a small little furry bundle of energy jumped onto his leg and wouldn’t let go. We played with her for some time, but decided it was best if we put her back, hoping her mother would come find her. I watched her for hours, sneaking away so she wouldn’t see me. But no matter how long we waited, she always searched us out, and we saw no sign of her mom.
The very first day Momo climbed onto my fathers leg in the garden.
Hard to believe how small she was!
I fed her, gave her some water, and she crawled onto my sleeve, yawned sleepily, and her eyes started to close as she drifted off to sleep. I can’t explain how happy and peaceful I felt, knowing she felt safe and secure just holding onto me.
We tried a few more times to put her back into the tall grass and look for the mother, but as dusk settled in, it became clear she truly was on her own. I found a large tupperware bin, got some towels, and made a small nest for her inside. I filled two water bottles with hot water, put them under the towels, and nestled her between them. It was like she was surrounded by a warm hug, and she immediately fell asleep.
We were very lucky to have an amazing woman, Denise, who runs Bryden’s Den, a wildlife sanctuary where she rehabilitates animals back into the wild. We’ve brought Denise animals before, so we called her and she was incredibly helpful and generous. She couldn’t take Momo, but she gave us formula, food, and a cage perfect for Momo to grow and develop in. Very soon we were feeding Momo twice a day and she quickly became healthy and strong. Her energy was amazing and she started to love climbing all over us.
We started to take her outside more and more, exposing her to tree’s and the natural environment. She would climb onto things, jump, explore, but always come back. We knew one day she would leave and want to be outside full time. Squirrels are not domesticated animals and should not be kept as pets. We tried to give her as much freedom as we could, but we also wanted to protect her and make sure she was safe.
Momo absolutely loves to play and wrestle. It’s her favourite thing to do. I never knew squirrels could be exactly like a little puppy. She would nibble and gently bite, just like a puppy plays with its teeth, and constantly want to engage in rough housing. I really loved playing with her and I knew it was also her way of showing her affection. No matter what we were doing, we’d always make time.
Slowly as she matured, she would venture off into different areas of our backyard. Initially we kept a very close eye on her, like terrified parents letting their children go to school for the first time. But Momo took to things naturally and without fear. She started jumping from tree to tree and pretty soon, was off in the woods in our backyard, with hardly a glance back. We were worried and called for her, but she made it very clear, she’d come back when she was ready, and not a moment before.
Trying to think about the day she would eventually leave us, I spent an afternoon making a wooden house for Momo, with a hole specially sized for her, and anchored it high up in a tree. I read that squirrels need to be at least 10-15 feet off the ground, so I put it up closer to 30. It was quite dangerous, but I thought this might end up saving her from other animals. Turns out, Momo never had any intention of ever going into that house. She refused to go inside, and to this day, has not explored it. Instead, without us even noticing, she made her own amazing nest in the crook of another tree, high up, maybe around 40 feet up. She pulled small twigs and branches off the bigger trees and layered them over the hole. It was incredible and before we knew it, Momo would be off disappearing into her new nest.
Since that day, Momo no longer wanted to sleep indoors. She would disappear before sunset and stay safe, high up in her nest. Each morning though she would come back down and wait at our back door, eager for the sunflower seeds and playtime with my father. My dad gives me updates on Momo and she’s doing well, she’s burying lots of nuts everywhere, and still loves to play.
I miss her a lot but I’m so glad she’s safe and that we got to see her grow up :) Maybe she’ll have babies in the future for us to meet! <3