The Story of Rasmus

Here is the story in text,

for those of you who need it for translation:

Rasmus was delivered to me by Malene, July 15th, 2021

A little note:

I was missing a lot of original videos,

I had to download some of the clips from Facebook

so I apologize in advance for the poor quality.

Rasmus was suffering from

extreme heatstroke and dehydration

Day: 2

First things first

was to get some fluids in him,

cold water, mixed with pain medication.

And just as important was

the climate controlled room.

Rasmus is about 12 to 14 months old,

so a fully grown male.

I also had to get some food in him.

But he was too weak to eat on his own.

So I crushed and soaked some Walnuts,

hazelnuts and pinenuts in some puppy milk.

Although he was way to old for baby milk, he could still use the highly nutritional milk.

This was required every single hour, around the clock.

Day: 4

It was important to get his muscles moving so he wouldn't get muscle atrophy.

So We did daily stretches and squirrel yoga.

He was very stiff in the beginning

due to the extreme dehydration.

He was such a good boy,

especially cause he was a fully gown,

completely wild squirrel.

This rescue would require all my knowledge,

all my precious experiences and rescues,

plus some literal blood, sweat and tears.

He was on liquid food for 4 days,

every hour, around the clock.

Day: 8

Until he was strong enough

to eat solid food again.

Still every hour,

cause he couldn't eat a full meal in one go.

Day: 12

His muscles and joints

did soften a little, but not enough.

When the body is extremely dehydrated,

it will have a hard time absorbing liquids again.

Like a completely dry sponge,

the water just runs off the surface.

The sponge doesn't start to absorb water

until you squeeze it.

So along with the daily exercise

and squirrel yoga,

Day: 13

We packed up for a trip to visit the vet,

for some direct salt water injections.

Day: 14

The vets and I were worried

that Rasmus might have been

without water for too long.

That he might have suffered

perminent brain damage.

Which is very normal,

when the heatstroke and dehydration

is this extreme.

Day: 15

But already the day after

the direct salt water injections

Rasmus showed miraculous improvements!

He was much more stabil and

he could almost sit upright.

Day: 16

Rasmus rapidly improved for each day.

Together, We found out

what worked and what didnt work.

Day: 20

Little by little,

Rasmus started to clean himself.

So far I've been helping him pee,

poop and washing him.

Cause peeing and pooping

requires he sits up.

Squirrels are extremely clean animals

and they will refuse to pee or poop

on themselves, even if it kills them.

Day: 22

Rasmus continued to improve

and he could now eat, drink, pee, poop

and wash himself.

Day: 24

Rasmus could finally drink regular water.

No more electrolytes no more medication.

Day: 28

It was time to start moving on his own.

No more training wheels.

He wasn't quite ready for climbing just yet.

Rasmus surprised everyone

and 1 month and 1 week later,

Rasmus graduated Squirrel School!

It was time for Rasmus to return home.

Back to his family, his siblings,

his friends and his own nest/drey.

This is Malene who found and

brought Rasmus to my care.

She gets the honor of returning him home.

It only took Rasmus a few seconds

to realize...

He was home...

(Thank you Paps!)

This was by far and wide the biggest,

hardest, toughest rescue challenge,

I have ever had.

Thank you Rasmus, for your visit

and the incredible experience you gave me.