Best wishes Steve

Well, it seems our journey raising our foster squirrel Steve is now over.  It's been one week since we officially released him back to the wild.

  We determined Christa's Grandma's house was the best location for Steve to begin his new life.  So we constructed a nesting box for him, and mounted it on Grandma's back porch.  She has a great porch for a squirrel, it has a lattice roof which makes for great climbing and sunning spots.  He also has a bird bath for water nearby, which he splashed through within a few hours of us being there.  We placed hay and old shirts in his nesting box for insulation; and hopefully he will continue to fill it with mud and twigs etc.

  Grandma seems to love having a new neighbor.  She calls everyday with an update and is constantly checking on Steve.  WE are constantly reminding her that he is now a 'wild' animal and will learn for himself.  But apparently Steve has an addictive personality!  Grandma's sole duties are to keep food near for Steve through the winter, and provide fresh water.  She tells us that she has seen Steve with a few squirrel buddies on several different occasions.

  It was sort of hard parting ways with Steve; although, we will more than likely see him through the fall.  Our time raising him was completely awesome, we would do it again in a heartbeat.  Hope you enjoyed a peak into our experience-  Best wishes Steve!

There's more to Steve than you think

Wanted to give you an update on our foster squirrel Steve.  He is growing up just fine!  Sort of amazing how he is progressing, learning, and growing.
  Here's how the past few weeks have gone:  Steve loves the quiet and the warmth, he buries himself in blankets when he naps.  He has weened himself off of formula!  Totally cool- he went from chugging it big time to quitting cold turkey. Amazing...   SO, he eats a rodent block, peanuts, toast, and walnuts.  Also, he taught himself to drink water out of a bowl.  He never took water from a rabbit style water bottle- just from the bowl.
  Last week, Christa and I transformed a kennel into a squirrel wonderland.  We wrapped the kennel with "poultry fencing" so he wouldn't escape.  Ps. apparently chicken wire is now poultry fencing (just in case you needed to know).
  Steve's wonderland is filled with a hanging nest, sticks of all sizes, his food and water.

  Here Steve is soaking in some window sun, chillin' with a nut.

  Well, we're moving forward- have some preparations for his soon coming release and constructing a nesting box for his transfer.  Apparently we'll be doing lots of research because there's more to Steve than you think!

And then there's Steve

Yes- and then there's Steve, our foster squirrel.


    I guess there should be a back story for how we have a foster squirrel- here it is...

    Last week as Christa was waiting for our son at the bus stop, she saw a baby squirrel.   The little guy was quite small, alone, scared and wondering a bit.  So, my wife observed him for 20 minutes while waiting on the bus.  The road here at our bus stop is being paved and so the atmosphere is quite loud.  My wife (the animal lover) absolutely couldn't leave the little guy, and so being worried for his well being- brought him home.
  That night, by the time I got home, she had done more research on raising foster squirrels than most vets.  Being presented with the research- I obviously could not say no.
  So we have a 5 week old foster squirrel who hopefully will be ready to return to the real world at about 12 weeks.  We are raising him on puppy formula, and rodent blocks to chew on.
  Steve?  We decided to name him Steve after the movie "Over The Hedge" and in honor of Steve Carell.

  I expect it to be a journey!  He's been with us for 6 short days and is already comfortable with us, feeding, relieving himself, exploring, climbing and balancing.  It probably won't be easy, but we think it's worth the experience.  We have an 8 year old son, five fish, a dog named Bailey, and then there's Steve..

zh

Current Book List

Here's what I've been reading since January-

I choked my way through this book.  I had read a great excerpt in Fortune, but it must have been the best part of the book.  Written by the guy who started Linkedin

May not be for everyone, but a great book on pastoral leadership.  I learned a ton!

Read through this book with our small group, one of the best marriage books I've read.  Challenging, and a great group study.  Very timely book

By far one of the most excellent books I have ever studied.  Sproul does an awesome job of challenging our thinking of Holy God-

A great reminder that church, activities, ministry, social action- without The Gospel is a waste

I love Starbucks more than this book!

Just began this one