Last week you may have seen the Salisbury Post Facebook page where we shared we rescued three juvenile squirrels.

If not, here is your chance to hear the story, and understand how we work together as a staff.

Last Wednesday, August 30, I came in to the office a bit early, and was the only one in the newsroom pit, which is where all the reporters and editor cubicles are. I heard what I thought was a mouse, squeaking loudly, so I started checking the grates. I was sure one had gotten in a duct somewhere, just like in our old farmhouse, and I wanted to set him free.

Then I heard Susan, a co-worker, outside our side door, clearly talking to an animal.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where is your mama? Is your foot broken?”

I knew she had whatever was squeaking there outside the door, so I went to check it out.

There at her feet was a small, fully furred but young squirrel and he was really squealing.

I keep a fuzzy blanket on the back of my chair because some days the office gets cold for me. I grabbed it and went out to scoop up the little fella.

At first he spun around, ready to bite if need be, but when he realized I was picking him up in a warm, soft blanket, he settled right in.

Susan helped me get across the street to Bell Tower Green Park, where we found the tree that housed his nest. The tree had a watering bag at the base that allowed us to put the blanket up off the ground where he would be safer and where mom could see him.

I put a note on it saying “Baby squirrel inside, do not disturb.” And I went back to work, hoping mom would come back.

Because squirrel moms are very responsible, and they will come back for the babies. She might have checked on him, found him safe then gone back out for food. But she’d have come back if she could.

Before I left him, other staff members came out to see what he looked like. Most of us haven’t been nose to nose with a squirrel, so all of us were excited to have a new experience.

Then we let him be for about an hour.

When I came back, the blanket had fallen a bit, so I went to lift it up, and felt the squirrel had moved. And then I felt another little movement. Upon checking, I realized we now had two squirrels in the blanket. I looked up at the nest and said, “Any more of you up there?”

No surprise I got no answer. But I secured them and dashed home on lunch to walk my dogs, since my sweet husband and run to the beach to bring in our porch items ahead of any possible fallout from Idalia, which was coming our way.

I came back within an hour and saw the blanket on the ground, so I ran over to pick it up and make sure the babies were okay, fearing perhaps a dog had been curious and the worst had happened.

Not only were the two original babies okay, but now there were THREE.

Yes, three juvenile squirrels, all wrapped up together, one of them upside down with his feet around his brother’s neck.

I secured them but this time made sure they were visible to mom. But time passed, and no mom. Okay, the storm is now coming, rain is on it’s way, and we have three baby squirrels who likely will not make it through the night alone in the rain.

I called a rehabilitator/veterinarian and asked for advice. She said I should not leave them alone overnight, but bring them back in the morning as long as no one was injured. But she said a squirrel that approaches a human for help has likely been alone for some time, without mom, and is desperate, because they have not yet learned to be afraid of people. She was less than hopeful that mom was coming back.

So, we found a box, snuggled them in, they spent the end of the day with me as I finished my deadline responsibilities, and then home to my house we went.

I have dogs and a cat. But I also have an upstairs bathroom that is quiet and safe, and I put fresh blankets in the tub, gave them shelled pecans and apple slices as suggested. I had gotten some baby formula for animals but they declined. So I also mixed some homemade Pedialyte and offered it to them. That they were happy to have. And they ate.

And then I gently wiped them all down with a warm cloth, as I’d been told it would replicate mom’s cleaning them. I put them in the soft blankets with hand warmers underneath to keep them warm, and turned out the lights.

Next morning I brought fresh food and fresh blankets. I rousted them, fed them, put clean blankets in and this time, bathed them under warm running water. Which is when I discovered one had a wound on his side that I’m sorry to say had maggots in it. I got it all cleaned out and put an antibiotic ointment on, then reached out to a local rehab center, because I knew then mom wasn’t going to be able to help. By the time they left me the next morning, the wound was healing, they were eating (and pooping) normally, and they had begun to chirp when I came in.

Letting them go was hard, but necessary. Squirrels don’t make good pets, they belong in the wild. So I knew I was doing the right thing. And we’ve since gotten word they are doing very well, gaining weight and healthy.

But, we’d named them, Edward, Walter and Sam, after our heroes, Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Sam Donaldson, and I think I can safely say everyone in the newsroom was sorry to see them go.

Those small creatures asking us for help. We should all live up to their belief in how good we are.

Elisabeth Strillacci is editor of the Salisbury Post.