It’s easy to give someone the side-eye when they keep their Christmas tree up well into January. But one family has a great excuse to leave theirs up until it’s a dry pile prickly pine: a rescue squirrel has made it his new home.
A month ago, a man named Chris, who posts on Reddit as carefree_dude, adopted the squirrel after his wife saw the animal twitching by the side of the road.
“He likely got hit by a car, and suffered major head trauma,” he wrote on Reddit. Having rehabilitated another squirrel in the past, Chris' wife decided to bring the injured critter home, according to the Dodo.
The squirrel, who they named Mitten due to his soft fur that feels like a snuggly glove, was in pretty bad shape at first.
“He couldn't eat, drink, walk or really do anything,” he wrote. “We were eventually able to get him to drink via a syringe.”
Once the squirrel was drinking, the couple contacted a wildlife rehabilitator who gave them medication for Mitten’s head trauma. A few days later, the squirrel was feeling much better.
“He's able to hold food on his own,” he wrote. “He still needs help drinking. He can walk, but not very well. He often keeps his head to the side.”
On Dec. 27, with a little bit of pep in his squirrely step, the rodent embarked on an adventure and went where no Mitten has gone before -- the family Christmas tree.
"My wife was playing with him near the tree, and he acted interested in it," Chris told The Dodo. "We decided to let him wander, and he went right to the tree."
Days later, Mitten is still crawling around the Christmas tree.
The couple who “would love to run a wildlife rehabilitation center some day” doesn’t think Mitten will be able to return to the wild, but they do want to give their new pet a good life -- unfortunately without the Christmas tree.
“We are building a five-foot by three-foot by eight-foot enclosure for him, which I hope to put a small living tree in,” Chris wrote on Reddit.
Although Mitten was clearly in need of help, if you happen upon an injured squirrel, you should act cautiously according to the Humane Society. Signs that you should intervene are when the animal is bleeding, shivering, presented to you by a cat or dog or has broken a limb. If any of these things pertain to the animal you encounter, it's suggested that you call a wildlife rehabilitator for assistance.
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