I didn’t have to wait too long for an answer. A squirrel leaped onto this guy’s chest from the fuel pump area and sprinting from chest to stomach to knee, and having disembarked from the mechanic’s body, it made a dash for the bushes.
The wire hunter emerged from under the car with a flat, square, nest-like structure made of grass and other throwaway stuff. Within this structure were two small squirrel babies. He held the squirrel babies in one hand and some chewed wires in the other.
“Oh my God,” I exclaimed. The squirrel that had just jumped out some time back was a mama squirrel who had birthed two babies near my fuel pump. My car had become an unlikely squirrel maternity home.
I looked at the babies. They were very little, very cute, and translucent. Their eyes were shut and their body expanded and contracted as they breathed.
The mechanic held the grass bed gently and put it down under a tree. After that, he showed me bits of wires which the mama squirrel had chewed away.
It was a moment of mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was happy that they had finally figured out the problem, but, on the other hand, I felt guilty that these little squirrels had been separated from their mother and were now in the wild, unprotected from predators. I could hear crows cawing from the trees, and prowling cats couldn’t be ruled out either.
Squirrels get scared very easily and the mama squirrel had taken off in fear. But I did not know if she had abandoned her babies or was hiding somewhere waiting for the right time to get them back.
I stood beside the babies to make sure they were safe while the mechanics continued working on the car. But, really, how does one care for newly born baby squirrels who have been abandoned? I was wondering if I should take them to my apartment or to a vet or to an animal shelter. I was clueless and so was Bala, my homestay host.
I checked the Internet, hoping to find answers there. One of the articles suggested that one could take the baby squirrels to a local animal shelter. Another suggested that it’s best to take them home and care for them for three weeks until they can move out of the nest. I didn’t know how to care for baby squirrels. I didn’t know what to feed them. Surely, they would need something to sustain themselves. They were so tiny that I was scared to handle them. Taking them to an animal shelter felt like a better solution.
I asked Bala if he knew of any animal shelters in Tiruvannamalai. He didn’t. I asked him if he knew of any vets. He didn’t know any vets either, but said that he could find out. We continued our discussion, trying to figure out various possibilities to protect the babies.
Meanwhile, the mechanics had fixed the car and asked me for the key. The stockier mechanic got into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition key one notch to start the electrical system. He wanted to explain something to me. He told me to watch out for a “grrrrrr” sound from the back of the car.
“This is the fuel pump sound,” he said.
He explained that the car makes this sound every time you turn the key one notch. It meant that the fuel pump was starting. If we don’t hear the sound, it could indicate a problem with the fuel pump.
Next, he folded his hands, closed his eyes, chanted “Om Namah Shivaya”, and turned the key one more notch to start the car. And lo-and-behold!!! The car cranked and fired like its good old self. For the second time in this trip, the harsh sound of my car’s engine sounded like the sweet melodies of Shreya Ghosal.
Relieved that the car was sorted out, I suddenly realised that I had left the squirrel babies alone for a long time. I turned back towards the tree to look for them. That’s when I saw Bala smiling from a distance.
The nest was empty. Bala said that while we were near the car, he also moved away from the tree to answer a phone call. Interestingly, once everyone was away from the babies, the mama squirrel came and quietly took its babies.
Ultimately, everything ended well, and I happily paid the mechanics their fees and added a good tip. I thanked them and Bala a dozen times before taking the car for a little spin in Tiruvannamalai.
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