Baby Squirrels Thrown From Tree During Storm Find Perfect Guy To Help Them

He made them a new nest and got them back to Mom ❤️

Strong winds and torrential rain can cause serious problems for humans and animals alike — separating families and destroying homes and habitats. This was the case when a typhoon left three helpless baby squirrels in need of a hero, and fast.

Michael Keida

Michael Keida was surveying damages to his organic farm just outside of Tokyo, Japan, when he noticed something odd amidst the overturned chairs, scattered branches and leaves.

“I spotted what looked like a large bird nest on top of a rain collection tank. I figured that it may have belonged to a kite (a large bird of prey found commonly in this area), but when I searched through the leaves and palm husk, I spotted an animal that took me by surprise,” Keida told The Dodo. “Quickly I realized that it was a squirrel baby … and that there were three in total.”

Michael Keida

Keida had never seen squirrels so small before. “They appeared to be just born in recent days. Their eyes were not yet open and their fur was very short,” Keida said.

As an animal lover, Keida understood that the adorable infants could suffer grave consequences if he didn’t act fast. Squirrels are born blind and defenseless — they depend on their mother completely for two to three months after birth. Separated by the storm, the kits’ chance of survival was slim, especially at such a young age.

Michael Keida

Unsure of how to best help the baby squirrels, he turned to the internet for help, posting a picture of the squirrels on message boards asking for advice. “Of all the websites that I read from, the most common information was to keep them warm and to get them to their mom ASAP,” Keida explained. While he considered raising the kits on his own, he knew they’d have a better chance of survival if he could somehow reunite them with their mom.

Michael Keida

It would be a long shot for the mom to return, even if Keida did manage to fix the nest, but he knew he had to try.

“I placed the remaining dry material from their nest into a small box,” Keida said. “I added some soft cotton fabric to add warmth and then closed the box loosely so that the mom could easily enter, but so that the nest would be secure.”

Michael Keida

Getting the nest back up in the tree proved a challenge. Keida spotted a number of sticks where the nest had once sat, just below the canopy, about 8 to 10 meters from the ground (about the height of a telephone pole).

Though the worst of the typhoon was over, the trees were still swaying in the strong winds. With the squirrel kits in tow, Keida climbed the shaking tree and placed the refurbished nest back where it had originally sat.

Michael Keida

With his task complete, he shimmied down the tree and made himself scarce.

“I assumed the mom would not return if I was around so I left the area and went for a surf to relax my mind,” Keida said. “I was so worried about them and was praying for the mom to come back and save them.”

When Keida returned a few hours later, he noticed that there had been a minor disturbance in the nest. Scanning the forest for predators, Keida spotted an adult squirrel nearby and as he slowly backed away, what he saw amazed him.

The resilient mom had returned and was carrying her kits to safety.

“I had learned that squirrels often keep more than one nest, and she was bringing each baby one by one to another nest on the other side of my farm. As I watched from a safe distance, I sighed with relief,” Keida explained.

Thomas Brown/Wikimedia Commons

Keida identified the babies as Pallas's squirrels, a species native to Taiwan — and persona non grata in Keida’s town. Many of the neighboring farmers consider them to be pests, Keida explained, and until last year there was campaign to eradicate them.

Another person might have hesitated to help, or even turned their back to the defenseless creatures, but Keida felt a kinship with the kits, and couldn’t let the little squirrels come to harm.

“Truth be told, I am also not native to this land, and I have a hard time seeing living creatures suffer,” Keida said. “I love being alive, so I assume everyone else does … particularly young life.”

This is not the first time Keida has been a savior for animals large and small. Since living in Japan he has helped untangle a kite caught in fishing line, rescued a tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) with a broken leg and even returned sea cucumbers that had washed up onto the shore to the ocean.

“We are all in this life together. Not one creature is more or less important than the other,” Keida noted. “I’m convinced that each life is conscious in some way of its own existence, and therefore we must value and respect our fellow creatures ... So in this place of abundance, I need to try as much as possible to help those around me.”