A wildlife rescue club that usually focuses on saving birds is now working to help baby squirrels. The squirrels are victims of Hurricane Irma’s whipping winds and are recieving foster care until they’re ready to be returned to the wild.
Estimates are that Irma’s Catagory 1 winds blew thousands of the tiny mammals from trees.
Nancy Murrah works to save birds with the Tampa Bay Raptor Rescue, but since Irma, she’s been making time to feed and warm more than 300 baby squirrels.
“We weren’t anticipating the number of squirrels we got,” Murrah told the Tampa Bay Times. “It took me four-and-a-half hours to get through feeding them, and by the time you get through, you have to start again.”
Murrah posted on Facebook Thursday that nine of the squirrels they have received are flying squirrels.
Suncoast Animal League in Palm Harbor Florida has also been working to rescue fragile mammals since Irma. It can be a real challenge to keep baby animals warm without power, but rescuers are getting creative. This Facebook post illustrates how they are putting towels on the hoods of vehicles to generate warmth.
“Since we can’t plug heating pads in, we needed a new idea,” Suncoast wrote on their Facebook page.
Suncoast says they received a dehydrated Osprey an opossum, Great Blue Heron, baby bunny, egret, herring gull and more than 70 baby squirrels.
You may also like: Endangered parrots took shelter in Hurricane proof building.
Tampa Bay dodged a direct hit from Irma’s eye but still had some significant damage. As of September 14, all counties in Tampa Bay are now on the list to receive assistance from FEMA.
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 310,000 of homes and businesses are still without power in Tampa Bay.
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