Little Initiates' Column| The True Story Of A Baby Squirrel |
It
was a sunny afternoon in fall, and trees started to display beautiful
red and gold colors. The air was still warm although there was a cool
breeze.
In the back yard of
a junior high school, a boy named Dan was waiting for school to finish
so he could get a ride home with a friend. While he was playing, a little
squirrel came towards him. He looked so small and cute, like he was
only a few weeks old. As if having known the boy before, the squirrel
went straight to Dan without fear. Dan noticed one of its legs was injured.
While marveling at the cute creature without fear, he let the squirrel
grasp his pant and climb up to his shoulder. When Dan's friends came
out, they thought the squirrel was his own pet. Dan happily accepted
that and named the 'male' squirrel "Cluster".
On the way home, Cluster
looked very contented in the understanding that Dan was not kidnapping
him. Dan only wanted to help a lost and crippled baby animal who needed
to be with someone. Cluster's family was probably too fast for him to
keep up with, so he was simply lost and hungry.
The squirrel showed
no sign of wanting to run away, so Dan's whole family rejoiced with
so much love in their hearts. Dan and his younger brother had long been
wanting a pet, but because his family were initiates, they knew having
a pet could create a lot of problems. Two weeks previously, Dan had
asked his mother yet again to allow him to have a hamster, if not a
dog or cat. But his mother is scared of rats, hamsters are a kind of
rat; they give her goose bumps!
But when Cluster came,
Dan knew God had kindly granted his wish. Cluster was so easy to take
care of. Besides some food and a small space for him to sleep, he required
almost nothing. He was so cute and helpless that Dan's parents couldn't
possibly refuse him. And best of all he was vegetarian by nature. His
diet was mainly nuts. Therefore, the family loved Cluster so much that
they went 'nuts' over him.
On the first day that
Cluster arrived, they immediately bought him a flea collar. All the
fleas on his body quickly disappeared overnight. The next morning, Cluster
got his own little box padded with a soft furry material that was designed
for cats, as well as a lot of nuts to eat. Since his teeth were not
strong enough to break a nut shell, the nuts were all cracked for him.
For the first few
days he enjoyed raw peanuts, then Dan switched his diet to walnuts,
then pecans, then hazel nuts and then...almonds!! Finally, Dan's mother
had to buy bags of mixed nuts. She spoiled the squirrel so much that
she would give the whole bag to him to choose himself.
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Like
a kitten, the squirrel was very clean and hated being bathed. Every
day he would use his tongue to clean his fur. But better than a kitten,
his "toilet" needed only to be a piece of absorbent paper
towel next to his "house," that could be changed each time
he wetted. The most amazing thing was that he NEVER wetted on people,
carpets or any surface that could not be wiped. He would often hold
his bladder until he found a suitable spot. Sometimes the family traveled
and had to leave Cluster where there was no "toilet" facility.
When this happened he simply didn't drink. That was surely a miracle
and Dan believed even more that it was Master who gave him the pet.
Dan insisted that
his mother take Cluster to the vet to mend his hind leg because Dan
couldn't stand seeing Cluster suffer. But the vet refused to help because
he was "only a wild animal". Mercifully, Master healed him
several days later, completely! He became a happy, playful animal. Soon,
he became adventurous around the house and discovered new things about
the human world. He did not hesitate to climb onto members of his new
family, comfortably lay on their laps or shoulders, and doze off.
One thing Cluster
enjoyed doing was to chew on wood. Since wild squirrels mostly eat acorns,
which are the round hard-shelled nuts of oak trees, they need to sharpen
their teeth daily. Sometimes, Cluster was taken outdoors to play, but
he didn't show much interest.
The fall quickly passed,
and the cold weather of winter approached, bringing gusty winds and
snow. Little Cluster felt lucky he didn't have to be outside, taking
refuge inside a little cave somewhere like other wild animals. Best
of all he didn't have to look for old acorns left on the ground from
the last season -- if there were any left at all. The gardener who worked
in the area brought Cluster a long tree branch with a few branches for
him to climb, chew, or just sit on. It became his gymnastic equipment.
The backyard of Dan's
home is a small wooded area. Once in a while other squirrels would come
timidly to look for nuts. When Dan and his younger brother introduced
Cluster to them, they looked at Cluster wondering, but he seemed not
to care. The boys really enjoyed giving their animal neighbors some
nuts in a shell. These friendly squirrels would hold the nuts, one at
a time, in their mouths, then carry them to the nearby yard to look
for a spot to bury them for another meal later. Then they would come
back up to the house to pick up some more, leaving only the last one
to eat. It's amazing how squirrels can remember the places where they
buried nuts many days before.
Cluster was so smart
and loving that sometimes Dan felt like he was not a wild animal but
a member of the family, having a soul of a human. Cluster loved his
adopted family and very much enjoyed their embracing and caressing.
But if any guest or stranger approached him, he would hide behind his
little house or run to one of the family.
Who said animals don't
have souls? And who would have the heart to hunt or eat such an animal
for the mere joy of it? Dan knows animals are such lovely beings and
wishes humans and animals could live happily in peace together.
Spring came, the fierce
cold weather turned mild, and the ground became a soft carpet of green
grass. One day, Dan's mother opened the patio door for some cool fresh
air and Cluster went out to experience the world outside. It was beautiful,
so open and free. Even though the family loved him very much, they had
no intention of keeping him if he didn't want to be kept. After a while,
he came back, possibly thinking whether or not he should leave. The
next day, he went out to the patio again. This time he decided to experience
more of the outside world. He sat on the deck a long time, smelling,
looking at nature, the lawn and the woods out there. Whoa! He probably
didn't know life could be better than it had been. He perhaps thought:
"I really like outside better!", as he went down the deck
to the yard and the trees. A wonderful new adventure was waiting for
him.
Cluster did not come
back. Dan and his brother went looking for him, but it was so vast outside,
he was probably already far away in the woods somewhere. It was no use,
but they missed him so much. Every day they looked outside, hoping to
see if Cluster would return. But he never did. He had gone forever,
starting his new independent life. They prayed that his flea collar
would fall off so his neck could grow normally. One time, luckily, his
collar did come off, as Cluster had chewed it half way through. May
God's care always be with him.
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