Tiny arms intertwined with one another, the two orphaned baby squirrels lay sleeping. I gently disentangled the little girl for a feeding. So tiny they fit into one half of my hand, eyes tightly closed shut, delicate pink skin still unprotected by fur. The little boy stirred and started to protest, looking for his nest mate. They came from different mothers, different trees, in different neighborhoods, but probably blown out of their nests by the same ill wind that gusted fiercely a couple of weeks ago. Motherless, they found comfort in one another.
When we got the little girl, she still had her umbilical cord attached. It was touch and go. At first she accepted the bottle. But slowly, she started to fade and refused the nipple. It seemed she might not be with us for long. As I was trying to feed her, Caroline, a visiting herbal animal healer from England, came into the office. We had invited her to consult with us for animals who were not responding to western medicine—an elderly bear and bobcat, both with arthritis, and a coyote with a badly healed broken leg. A newborn squirrel hadn’t been in our mind. But since she was there…
Caroline pulled out a spray bottle with essence of rose. She said it encouraged the suckling response. In fact, the little girl did begin to make some feeble sucking motions, but she didn’t take much in. Reluctant to give up on her, I tried again a bit later and then again. She showed a bit more enthusiasm and I began to hope.
She is eating now, quite nicely and interested in the nipple. Still tiny. Still vulnerable. But eating and slowly putting on weight—from .74 ounces to 1.31!
Caroline was excited by her response. She said people didn’t believe it worked on newborns, but here was evidence it did! I was thrilled to try anything.
I wonder about baby animals going into depression, losing the will to live. It must be such a shock to go from a warm uterus—all needs taken care of, safely surrounded—to being born and blown out of a tree to land on hard ground. Then left alone, cold, and hungry, with no warm mother belly or loving tongue. I wonder, did the rose water somehow heal the sense of loss enough for her to begin to try again?
So tiny they could easily be dismissed as mindless and disposable, yet sensing, needing, and responding in a way that definitely is not mindless. So beautiful, so touching, two unrelated orphans finding comfort in each other, crying for each other. So profound, the elemental comfort of companionship we all need to thrive.
Learn more about Caroline’s work at www.carolineingraham.com.
And Then the Rains Came
It has been hot—blazing hot, a harsh sun in an unforgiving cloudless sky. The trees and grasses survived as best they could, but day after day of the endless assault of heat and sun sucking out moisture took its toll. The trees in our seasonal stream corridor began to wilt, the grasses to die. Bushes began to prepare for winter early. What would the wild animals eat in the fall?
It was a long, perilous journey down to the main river for water, past a minefield of endless roads and human habitation. And then at the river, humans all along the edges and in the stream, boating, swimming, fishing.
And then the rains came.
The blessed, life-giving rains.
These are the important things in life.
A Wolf Called Promise
Written by Debbi Walker
This was written after Debbi, the sound healer, came to visit for a week. People often find an animal here that they connect with strongly, and we and they never know if it will happen or with which animal. It is always unexpected, always magical. Learn more about Debbi Walker at www.suarasoundhealing.com/debbi-walker.
My breath held in my chest as I looked deeply in his eyes
Our gaze met and locked seeing the way of the wise
As my heart found its beat synchronizing with his core
I knew in that moment I had opened the Wolf Medicine door
For my ordinary life was never to be the same again
I have been ignited by the Soul of Promise, my Soul aflame
With the passion of life and survival instinct abound
Our connection so primordial, my true essence found
As I look up to the moon in the darkness of the sky
I know the Wolf Medicine gifted to me will never lie
From the sacred day Promise looked deeply into my eyes
My heart touched so deeply, giving thanks as I cried
For rising within was a strength and courage to BE
As I embrace the Wolf Medicine, the teacher in me
In that moment of connection the lessons were learned
Of mankind’s plight and human confines concerned
With the way of the world and the respect of the word
Sharing the Wolf Medicine and the Truth to be heard
So as I seek out the silence in the landscape and go within
My journey as the healer and pathfinder truly begins
When my Soul was touched by the light in Promise’s gaze
I was gifted the stories of the ancestral clan leader ways
The message was clear, anchored deeply into my heart
It’s time to unite, putting the past behind and apart
For all that has gone on before no longer exists for you and me
So with clarity and focus I share the Wolf Medicine as me and you become WE.
