T o b y   A n d   B u l l y

Toby and Bully were all curled up together in their pint-sized pocket inside the nest high up in the old oak tree in our front yard. Their eyes were just starting to open and a fine coat of gray hair covered their little bodies. These were two cute little gray squirrels and were only a few days old. Mother squirrel had built a very strong nest from twigs and leaves high up in the tree. She then chewed up leaves and fine grasses to make a soft bed hidden deep in the big strong nest. This nest was just big enough for the mamma and her babies and it protected from rain and the winds that that blew but would not hurt the nest and would only rock the babies gently to sleep.

Toby and Bully could move around in the pocket but instinct told them not to crawl out of the hole or they would fall to the ground. Mother squirrel would come back and check on them often. She then would climb around in the trees and eat acorns and the tender green buds of new leaves and some times she would come to the ground and bury some acorns and come back later and dig them up to eat. All this good food made her milk very rich and the babies would grow fast and soon they would be jumping from tree to tree just like mom.

One day while mamma was out searching for acorns some men came to cut some limbs from the trees that were too close to the electric lines; and they didn't know it, but one of those limbs held the nest where Toby and Bully were fast asleep. The nest came crashing to the ground and a few minutes later we found them exploring around and they weren't hurt at all. Mamma squirrel had built a strong nest and when it fell the two little brothers just got bounced around inside.

Our family adopted the squirrel family and we had to be their mother now. These little squeakers were always hungry and would hold the little doll bottle, full of baby milk, in their front paws and drink till it was all gone. We added some vitamins and minerals to the milk just like their mamma would have and they grew fast and soon were running all over our shoulders and in our hair. After a while they ate pieces of fruit and chopped nuts. They sure kept us busy keeping them in food. That is a very important thing to think about before you ever keep a wild creature. What food do they eat and can I find enough to feed them. If you know you don't have the time or know how, please take them to a nature center and let them raise the animals. Enough said.

It wasn't long that their teeth grew and they chewed the end of the nipple off the bottle and so it was solid food from now on. This was a little easier but they really made a mess around their plate just like human babies do when they are learning to eat.

Toby was named after a friend of ours who reminded us of a little squirrel and the name stuck. Our friend was not offended and even thought it was cute. Bully, on the other hand, got his name because of the way he acted. He was always pushing Toby out of the way and stealing his food. Toby would work hard gnawing through a pecan shell and here came Bully and took it away from him. He would chase and knock Toby off his perch and just wouldn't let him alone Bully just seemed to get wilder every day and even started biting our fingers so it was not long before that little rascal was ready to be turned loose and head for the trees. I always hoped that he found his mother so she could teach him some squirrel manners because he wouldn't listen to me. Bully stayed around our neighborhood for a long time. We knew it was him because my son sprayed his tail with bright orange paint just before we let him go. Neighbors often reported seeing a squirrel at their bird feeders with an orange tail. We never said a word.

Toby, on the other hand, was just as sweet as he could be. His only bad habit was stealing my pencils and hiding them. While I studied my Bible early in the morning I would let him out of his cage to run around and sure enough he would jump from the arm of my chair and grab my pencil and run off and hide it. Later one morning I found a whole stash of pencils hidden under a sofa cushion and they were all chewed up. So I started using plastic ballpoint pens and the stealing stopped. Sweet little Toby stayed with us for a long time and wouldn't run away. We knew we had to do something with him soon though. All the curtains in the house had little loose threads all over them because Toby used them to climb on just like he would a tree. One day we all decided it was time for Toby to go. It had to be a special place so we took him to a nature center at a state park. There one of my park friends would show him to many children, and let them hold and feed him. He got fat on all the peanuts and loved all the attention. He was a show off so he became right at home hanging upside down while he ate his peanuts. This made people laugh and taught them not to be afraid of animals and respect them. We missed him around our home and were sad for a while but we knew he was making other people happy. It wasn't long before we had another animal to raise and that helped us get over loosing Toby.

Just think when we get to heaven our little animal friends will always be with us. And I don't think we will have to worry about chewed up pencils and shredded curtains. The Bible says that the lamb will lay down with the lion with no fear. I want to walk through the woods with a big lion at my side. Won't that be fun? I am planning on being there and I hope you will too!

Burney Tompkins

    - Uncle Burney