Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Glen, the young squirrel, back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house. When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him, she found herself with an unlikely nurse's aide: her pregnant Papillion, Mademoiselle Giselle.
Glen was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies. Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel's cage twice to her own bedside before she gave birth.
Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out and the inter-species bonding began. Glen rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth after feeding, eventually working his way beneath his new litter mates.
Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Glen to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups. Now, Glen mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his 'siblings' in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies, and sinking in deeply for a nap.
Glen and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to. Glen makes himself at home with his new litter mates, nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after feeding.
What if mankind were so accepting, so loving, so caring? What if mankind could accept one another regardless of outward appearances, regardless of behaviors, regardless of where we came from ? This story represents one creature showing a pure caring for another creature. I can imagine that the mother dog had no concerns of how she would be compensated. She may not have be concerned about what the neighbors would say. She probably didn't worry about what people would think if she took her clan out in public. She most likely wasn't worried how she would be able to feed the new addition. Can we say she didn't seem to worry about anything at all because her instinct to do the right thing. She did just that, she cared for someone who needed caring for.
We are filled with the love from above yet are we as willing to care for and even rescue others regardless of appearances or differences? Do we foster a "heavenly instinct" to care for one another? Do we have an overwhelming spirit that drives us to do the right thing?
The article had a moral along with it. It read, something like, "love one another - even the squirrelly ones". What a moral to be sure.
Love somebody. Everbody. Even the ones who are different. It is the right thing to do.
Doesn't the image of this lost squirrel being welcomed into a family make you feel warm and make you smile? Perhaps our Lord, welcoming those of us who had been lost into His family makes Him smile too!