It’s probably not a question anyone thought would be asked, but a Canadian wildlife rehabilitation group now knows the answer.
“How many people at Procyon Wildlife does it take to free an angry red squirrel stuck in a metal bird feeder,” Debra Spilar, the Beeton, Ont.-based group’s director asked this week.
The answer, according to Spilar.
“5 
“
On Monday, Procyon was tapped to help rescue the stuck squirrel, which was trying to sneak a snack from a metal bird feeder when she became trapped.
And so, the team went to work.
One person administered mild sedation and medication.
Another person held the squirrel.
Yet another had to hold the bird feeder.
Someone else used metal cutters to pry the feeder off the squirrel.
And of course, there was also a person talking to the rescuer to get all the information needed to admit and tend to the squirrel.
Even once the squirrel was freed from its trap, the adventure didn’t stop there.
“Then we had to catch her after she escaped while trying to put her into a travel container,” Spilar wrote in her social media post. “She was quick and feeling much better once she was freed. Great team work.”
The rehab facility gave the squirrel antibiotics and pain medication for some scrapes before she could be officially set back into the wild.
And as it turns out, she really needed to get home: Officials could see she was a new mother.
“We didn’t want to keep her because we could tell that she probably has had babies somewhere and we didn’t want them to be without their mama any longer than necessary,” Spilar explained.
It is something to remember, she added, if anyone finds a female animal this time of year. They probably just had babies.
“The rescuer named her Miss Piggy because she is always stealing food from the bird feeders,” Spilar wrote. “Now we know why, she needs the extra calories to produce enough milk to feed her family.”
“Let’s hope she has learned a lesson and gets her food from the ground instead of climbing into the bird feeder,” she added.
