[MUSIC PLAYING]
EILENE: Hello.
My name is Eilene.
Come and see the red squirrels.
Upstairs, into the bedroom.
[LAUGHTER]
[MEOW]
EILENE: [CHUCKLES]
Right.
Get out, you.
Red squirrels are, I think, they're reported to be the
most intelligent of all the small rodent family.
They are without question one of the cutest mammals we have
in this country.
There's no doubt about it-- if not the cutest.
These squirrels were in a dray in a garden.
We have terrible gales here.
And the dray blew out of the tree.
There were actually five of them.
And when they went out to have a look, one was dead.
And the other four were starting to
crawl along the path.
So they took them to the local vet in [INAUDIBLE].
That actually them rang me and said, can you take them
because they were going on holiday.
Oh, look who joined in now.
There you go.
Now, how cute is that?
How cute.
There are three girls and one boy.
So the boy is easy to distinguish.
He's the runt of the litter.
He's the smallest.
All he wants to do is sleep.
Whereas these three girls are hyper.
Before-- oop, there he goes.
Don't you dare jump in my coffee.
FEMALE SPEAKER: So you're like mother--
Mother Squirrel?
EILENE: [CHUCKLES]
At the moment, I'm Mommy.
And I suppose, my husband's Daddy.
For me, looking after any baby really is a joy.
I think I must be a natural nurturer.
And when my children left home and had grandchildren and then
proceeded to live miles away, I just had nothing to nurture.
The cutest thing about a red squirrel is I just have a
thing about the little tufts that get on the ears.
That really just melts my heart.
There's a question mark over humanizing with wild animals.
A lot of people will say that maybe we've got them too tame.
But my feeling is that if they were with their mother, their
mother would be nurturing them.
And I just feel that when they're very young and
vulnerable, nurturing won't do them any harm.
Well, that is the most unprofessional squirrel
feeding I have ever done.
It's a very bittersweet moment the day they go.
If they're fit and they're healthy,
then you have to release.
And they are all fit and healthy.
And I can't, at the moment anyway, see any reason not to
release them.
I'm going to be so sad.
[CHUCKLES]
You have such a wonderful tail.
And now, it's time to go to bed--
tired, tired little squirrel.
Oh, look.
Time to go to bed.
Yes, you can be Zebedee.
There you go into your bed.
There'll be a little bit of hodgy podgy, a bit of rough
and tumble, and then eventually, silence.
[MUSIC PLAYING]