THE SHORT STORY:
Pearl was being tormented by some workers at a local car dealership. They shot her with an air rifle on multiple occasions, and took videos of these incidents for their amusement. Fortunately another worker stepped in and rescued Pearl and brought her to us. Her injuries resulted in ongoing infections and numerous vet visits. Part of her femur had to be removed, and her mobility is limited.

She is unusally gentle for a squirrel who has been through so much, and she will make a great education/ambassador animal. But she needs a cage that is bigger than the one she has. So this fund is for a new, big cage for her, a travel carrier, her food and the medicines and x-rays that were necessary for her treatment.

Any extra money will go towards our rehabilitation work, in which orphaned and injured squirrels are rehabilitated and eventually returned to the wild when they are ready. We are licensed with the state, and we  take in over 100 injured and/or orphaned baby squirrels each year. Approximately 85-90% of those survive and thrive, and are released back into the wild.

No amount is too small and every dollar will help!

--scroll down for more details along with photos and video--

THE LONG STORY: 
Pearl was too young to be on her own;  in human years, she was about 12years old. It's likely that her mom was shot and did not survive. Pearl was doing her best to survive on her own, but was shot multiple times by some workers at a local car dealership. They used an air rifle, and took a video of her being shot. She managed to run away and hide after being wounded the first time. The air pellet broke her femur and lodged deep in her abdominal cavity.

After her hunger and thirst became too intense to ignore, Pearl ventured out again. This time, the employee shot her twice; one pellet grazed her chin and  left a gaping hole in her neck where the muscles were torn away. The second pellet lodged in her shoulder joint. Again Pearl managed to escape but she was in too much pain to attempt to eat or drink for several days. The wounds developed large abscesses and she became thin, weak and dehydrated.




Her last attempt to get a drink was again met with shots from the air rifle. One pellet grazed her lower leg, ripping away the skin and muscle. Terrifed, Pearl began to shriek loudly as she frantically tried to run for cover. Her panicked cries and the laughter of the employees caught the attention of a woman down the hall, who walked in to the warehouse. As soon as she saw what the workers were doing, she threw her sweater over the scrawny, trembling Pearl and scooped her up.

Pearl was brought to me the same evening by the kind woman who had rescued her. As a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator, I take in injured and orphaned baby squirrels and rehabilitate them. Once they are grown enough and strong enough to be on their own, I release them back into the wild. Pearl was alarmingly emaciated, and I immediately became concerned about her going into shock. That first evening I focused on keeping Pearl warm and gave her pain medication, antibiotics, and a diluted formula.








Pearl made it through the night, and we took her to see the vet, Dr. Shannon Dawkins, the next day to receive subcutaneous fluids, and therapeutic laser treatment. When she was a little stronger, the vet lanced her abscesses, draining & flushing them. When they became re-infected, another draining & flushing produced one of the pellets that had been lodged in her shoulder. These vet visits were hard on Pearl; she would whimper and chirp softly while  Dr. Dawkins carefully treated her infected wounds.  The laser treatments helped Pearl's soft tissue heal, limited further infection, and improved her mobility immensely.



It was during one of these laser treatments that the vet felt another large abscess in Pearl's abdominal cavity. The fur had grown over the wound, so it would have been easy to miss this dangerous pocket of infection. Fortunately the experienced and compassionate hands of the vet located the infection, lanced it, and removed another pellet. When the wound continued to become infected, Dr. Dawkins operated on her upper leg, finding Pearl's splintered femur and a small piece of shrapnel. With the offending bone fragment removed, Pearl went on another series of antibiotics and pain medication. It wasn't long before she was moving about her infirmary cage, happily shredding her bedding to build nests.

While the goal of rehabilitating wildlife is always to return them to the wild, animals like Pearl do not make good candidates for release. Her physical limitations (not being able to put weight on one leg) would prevent her from surviving in the wild. Animals in her situation are generally euthanized unless they are deemed suitable  for an educational/ambassador role. Since Pearl's disposition is so gentle, she is  an ideal education animal.  Her story can serve as a lesson to others about treating wildlife with kindness and respect, and stepping in when they are  being mistreated by others. She is also an example of how shooting animals with air rifles or BB guns (especially for amusement) causes immense pain and suffering, and should never be considered "harmless" or humane.

I started this campaign to raise money for Pearl's medical expenses. While the kind and patient Dr. Dawkins sees Pearl as part of her charity work, other expenses can add up (antibiotics, x-rays, pain meds). I'd also like to get a large Ferret Nation cage for Pearl; they are a favorite among squirrel rehabilitators for their sturdy construction and user-friendly design. This would give Pearl room to climb and play without being cramped in the small cage she has now (this cage was fine while she was healing but has become too small for her activity level). Any additional funds will purchase a Kaytee Chew Proof water bottle for Pearl, along with Henry's Healthy Blocks (the gold standard for squirrel nutrition), other fruits and veggies for her meals, blankets & hammocks for her cage, and a carrier for her educational trips. Any extra money will help with the rehabilitation of other orphaned and/or injured squirrels that will ultimately be released when they grow up.

Pearl a few days after surgery


Some of Pearl's medicines, delivered on a Henry's Healthy block.


Some of the other squirrel babies we rehabbed this past fall.