Handing Rescued Baby Squirrels Back to Mama

Occurred on September 29, 2020 / North Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Info from Licensor: One morning I was outside playing ball with my dog as we always do, and I hear a squirrel screaming behind me! Literally running around a branch and screaming! There was a man in her tree. Then I hear the chainsaw.
I run around to the front of my neighbor's house and ask one of the 8 workers if they've seen any baby squirrels? He told me it was dead. Knowing squirrels normally have more then one baby I told him to come get me if he finds anymore, I'm right next door and pointed to my house. A few minutes later the guy I talked to comes over with 4 baby squirrels in a shovel. ALL ALIVE!! I pick them up one at a time to hear them cry and see if they were injured. Three girls and one boy. And only 1 had a scratch on his elbow.
I bring them inside and clean them up and place them in a small box with a hot water glove. The tree trimmers were there until dark so I knew I'd have them at least one night.
So around 7 pm, I took the babies over to where their tree had stood and let each one cry out so mom would hear them and stay close. By that time she should've already been in a nest for the night. I feed them Pedialyte with a dropper every 3 hours through the night and kept them on a heating pad next to my bed. In the morning we walk outside and down to the next big tree. SHE WAS WAITING!! I show her the babies and set the box down at the bottom of the tree and walk away. For 15 min she runs around the tree. So I take them out of the box and lay them on the blanket under the tree. She still won't come close. So I picked one up and handed it to her! She had another big squirrel with her, possibly dad? She took the baby and ran up the tree. A minute later she was back for another one. We did this 4 times! It was the best feeling in the world!!
I learned squirrels usually have more then one nest just in case they become threatened and need to move. So very smart. I was worried about that. Where would she take them if her tree was cut down? Now we know. So happy I could be apart of this and reunite a mom with her babies.