Yes, the cutest pet I ever had!
On November 30, 1984, on the day of my Paternal Grandmother's funeral in The Netherlands, I was cleaning windows outside with my chamois leather, here in Dublin, Georgia/USA.
Suddenly I heard some 'peeping' noise and sure enough no young birds could be around at that time of the year...
So I stepped over the fence, chamois leather in hand, and found Casey the neighbor cat chasing a baby squirrel in the garage of our back neighbors.
Scolding Casey the cat, she let go of the squirrel and I scooped him up.
This is a screenshot from an 8mm movie that is shown below...
Pieter was still at work for Campbell Soup in Chicago.
When husband Pieter did come home from Chicago, by 23:30 o'clock with his new Rollei lens, he made the FIRST Pet Squirrel Photo of 'Eekie' - Eekhoorn = Dutch for Squirrel so I created Eekie.
He was so very sweet and I got him installed in a crate with hamster bedding and food.
Pieter did build him a cage with real branches so he could exercise too.
On Sunday, December 2 of 1984 we had just come home from a weekend with friends in Atlanta. With the fire place warm and cozy, I sat with Eekie in my lap and had cracked him some pecans to nibble on.
On Sunday, January 6 of 1985, we got a kitty harness with leash that Pieter's brother had bought us.
Via special courier it came straight from Horst, The Netherlands to us!
After our two special couriers went home, Pieter did make some 8mm movie segments in our office.
Me in my morning robe as to not get any pulls in my good clothing!
Me in my morning robe as to not get any pulls in my good clothing!
Eekie on Sunday, January 6, 1985 with kitty harness on leash in our office in the evening...
Pieter did build him a cage with real branches so he could exercise too.
On Sunday, January 6 of 1985, we got a kitty harness with leash that Pieter's brother had bought us.
Via special courier it came straight from Horst, The Netherlands to us!
After our two special couriers went home, Pieter did make some 8mm movie segments in our office.
Me in my morning robe as to not get any pulls in my good clothing!
Here Mauzie–girl is seen with her cat–friend Casey, playing near the wood logs.
They sure enjoyed the outdoors and all its garden critters...
Eekie on Sunday, January 6, 1985 with kitty harness on leash in our office in the evening...
Viewed 1,372 times...
Liebe Mariette,
ReplyDeletedas sind wiwrklich schöne Erinnerungen, die du mit
vielen schönen Fotos belegen kannst. So etwas bleibt
haften.
Einen guten Start ins Wochenende wünscht Dir
Irmi
Liebe Irmi,
DeleteJa das bleibt sehr gut und auch für immer haften!
Lieber Gruß,
Mariette
Hello Mariette, What a lovable story! Eekie seemed very friendly and intelligent. I used to have tons of squirrels and chipmunks in my large yard, and had fun watching them scamper about, but I never tried to domesticate one. Those old movies are real treasures. You were wise to transfer them, so now they can be easily shared.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Dearest Jim,
DeleteYes, those squirrels are in general all very smart and Eekie was one of them; he learned fast. My Dad did have a squirrel as a boy, they took it from its nest as a little one.
Eekie however got rescued from the neighbor's cat. Guess it died 6 weeks later because of some internal injury... They can't talk!
Yes, the old movies are indeed treasures in many ways. Not because of its quality but the memories.
Hugs,
Mariette
Dearest Mariette,
ReplyDeletesuch sweat memories!
Thank you for wonderfiúl pictures and the lovely story!
Happy weekend to you,
Love and hugs and blessings, Claudia xo
Dearest Claudia,
DeleteGlad you enjoyed this remarkable pet and I'm happy to share it with you.
Hugs,
Mariette
Liebe Mariette,
ReplyDeletedeine schönen Erinnerungen schenken Freude.
Alles Liebe
Elisabeth
Liebe Elisabeth,
DeleteDanke, das freut mich!
Lieber Gruß,
Mariette
Muito bonitas e uma ternura estas fotografias, adoro estes bichinhos que são os esquilos.
ReplyDeleteUm abraço e bom fim-de-semana.
Andarilhar
Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
Livros-Autografados
Dear Francisco,
DeleteYou are right there is a lot of tenderness about such old images.
Glad you too like squirrels.
Hugs,
Mariette
Was sind das für schöne Erinnerungen, liebe Mariette, nein, ein Eichhörnchen war noch nicht in unserem Haus. Ich sehe sie selten, sie turnen auf den hohen Bäumen im Park und sind sehr scheu.
ReplyDeleteIch wünsche Dir ein schönes Wochenende und schicke liebe Grüße mit.
♥Traudi.
Liebe Traudi,
DeleteJa, daß kann man sagen, bin so froh diese Erinnerungen noch zu haben mittels alte Filme!
Ich glaube jedoch das hier Tiere noch freier sind wegen den riesigen Unterschied in Bevölkerungsdruck den es bei euch gibt. Hier geht alles so harmonisch noch mit der Natur zusammen und ich mag das sehr!
Lieber Gruß,
Mariette
Lieve Mariette ...
ReplyDeleteoooo wat een schatje ...een tamme eekhoorn
en wat grappig op de rug van de hond ...leuke foto's
een fijn weekend ...veel liefs xxxx
Lieve Nieneke,
DeleteJa, dat was echt een schatje en onze dwergteckel Mauzie was er zo lief voor, ze had weer een baby aan hem.
Geinig beelden en ben er erg blij mee deze nog te hebben!
Liefs,
Mariette
Excellent compagny Mariette, very cute !
ReplyDeleteDearest Nathalie,
DeleteOh, we loved having him and in general the harmony here with nature, due to less population is so much better.
Hugs,
Mariette
Ma chère Mariette,
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful memories you will always have thanks to these great photos and films. You gave him such love and he clearly returned it in the short time you were blessed to have him.
Gros bisous, ma chère amie,
M-T
Dearest Marie-Thérèse,
DeleteOh, this is a treasure to have and it came almost alive again with the viewing of these old films.
God knows, maybe that cat had done him some harm that we couldn't see... But he knew love that is for sure!
Hugs,
Mariette
Eekie was so cute. You were meant to know each other. I believe you will never look at any squirrel in the same way as you did before Eekie.
ReplyDeleteI had a pet squirrel when I was a teenager. Her name was Squirrely. She was very tame and sweet with my Mom, Dad, me, and my boyfriend (now husband). I found her when he and I were on a date at the park. We drove over her in the road before we realized she was a little creature instead of a leaf. Luckily the tires did not hit her. I told him to pull the car over, that was some kind of little animal in the road. He did. I emptied out my straw purse in the front seat of the car, jumped out, found the little baby sqiurrel in the road unharmed and put it into my purse.
I took it home. It was alive with fleas and was barely old enough to have all of its fur. we treated it with cat flea powder and I fed the little thing with milk and rice baby pablum for the first week or so. Squirrely lived in a cage in the house while she was so tiny. She used to love to come out of the cage and run on us and up over the curtains.
My Dad built a very large tubular shaped wire cage for her that had a little cedar shake house at the top of it and a long limb with branches for her to climb on. She lived several seasons in that cage that hung low from the apple tree. She liked kleenex and leaves in her cedar shake house, and believe it or not, every morning she would take the kleenex out and hang them on the branches in her cage to air out. If it started to rain, or before nightfall, she would gather them all up and take them back into her little house. She loved to be lightly sprayed with the garden hose every day in summer and loved to snack on apples. She was so sweet to the people she knew, but tried to bite those that she didn't know. My boyfriend and I got married and I moved away from home, but we decided squirrely would stay at my parents' house in the tree cage. I only lived a couple of blocks away and visited her often. She lived happily for a few years, I can't remember now how many. Then one morning my Mom woke up and looked out the kitchen window and Squirrely and her cage were completely gone. Someone had come into the yard and taken the whole setup. We always thought that it was one of the neighborhood kids that our Collie knew, because the Collie would have put up a fight otherwise. Till this day I hope that Squirrely bit the living daylights out of whoever took her and her cage. I hope she bit them until they bled the minute they reached in to grab her. I know she must have been so scared.
Anyway, later that summer, my Dad was out in the driveway washing his car. Low and behold a small, chubby, fluffy tailed squirrel came right down the tree almost right to my Dad. (Squirrely never grew to have a long body and tail),but was chubby and had a very fluffy tail and a rounder face than most squirrels. My Dad couldn't believe that it could be Squirrely, but he sprayed the hose toward the squirrel and it started playing in the mist just like Squirrely always had. Every week when he washed the car that summer, Squirrely? would appear. After a while Squirrely? brought two little young squirrels with her. They would stay nearby and watch as my Dad sprayed Squirrely? but never would let themselves be sprayed by the hose.
That was 43 years ago, and still to this day if I am visiting my Dad and see a chubby faced, fluffy tailed squirrel, I think it is probably one of Squirrely's great-great-etc grandbabies. That is why I think you will never see a squirrel again and not think of your little Eekie.
Dearest Susie,
DeleteOh, I just loved reading your extraordinary experience with Squirrely. What a sweet name, sounds also like a diminutive of squirrel, in a way I used it from Dutch. A special and loving story evolved from something sad...
We loved the squirrels in our back yard of the first home in Georgia. Two little baby brothers I could call down from the tree and their Mama, who I also had tamed, let them come to me. That was so very special! They jumped onto Pieter's cap when he was filling up the feeders with sunflower seeds, or jump at his shorts out of mischievous playfulness. They also played with the water when I watered plants with the hose. Lots of lovely memories and I was oh so sad when Campbell Soup moved us to Pennsylvania as I knew I never would get such friendly squirrels living close with us again.
Well, in the present home, I once again befriended a red-tailed grey squirrel. She was very tame and let me scratch her back and head. At times she jumped on the roof, via the holly tree, just to get to the balcony, looking for me... Looking inside in search of her human. I called her 'Peep'. But all of a sudden, she was gone... Like you, I've always looked at others with a trace of reddishness as being one of her offspring.
Hugs,
Mariette
So cute. You had a great time with the little visitor.
ReplyDeleteDearest Roughterrain Crane,
DeleteYes, we had and even if it was only a short six weeks, we enjoyed it!
Hugs,
Mariette
Wonderful memories Mariette. I've only seen squirrels in the United States, they are so cute. Sadly he didn't last very long.
ReplyDeleteLove the photo of the squirrel on top of the dog, so cute.
Dearest Sami,
DeleteGuess that is due to the over population in Europe where they have vanished in most areas, except for the woods.
Don't know if you would not find them in Australia...?
Yes, his death was a shock but who knows if he had something internally from the play with that cat...?!
Hugs,
Mariette
Wow, I'm amazed squirrel would be so friendly! Such cute pictures and videos. I love ones that Eekie was helping your husband Pieter write letter :-)
ReplyDeleteDearest Tamago,
DeleteYes, they can make perfect pets and are very cute. But you cannot let them roam freely... That part is different from dogs and cats.
Oh, Eekie was so serious in helping write letters; as if he too could read and write!
Hugs,
Mariette
Dearest Mariette.
ReplyDeleteThe Squirrels of photos Pieter like to coming home the dog back riding lots of fun time. all your photos. Pieter pants Eekie are proof writing in the lovely store.
I had so much thinking of not right our area.
Have a great good time!
Dearest Michiko,
DeleteOh, it was so fun to see Mauzie the dachshund with Eekie on her back, along the end of our driveway for welcoming Pieter home! Indeed a very lovely story about Eekie proof reading letters, after having climbed up Pieter's pants.
Hugs,
Mariette
Wow, that is so amazing my dear Mariette. You had me smiling all through those pictures and memories - what a tiny cute creature you had as apart of your family. Lovely. Sending warm hugs my friend xxx
ReplyDeleteDearest Eli,
DeleteYes, tiny our Eekie still was, just a baby and he was of course a very vulnerable target for our neighbor's cat.
You no doubt have lots of them with less population pressure of humans in Norway. That balance seems to work perfect and animals are less shy or aggressive.
Hugs,
Mariette
Ooooohhh what a beautiful and friendly squirrel. I love it. There are a lot of over here and i think they are lovely creatures.
ReplyDeleteBlessings my dear.
María
Dearest María,
DeleteThat was a friendly pet indeed!
Certainly in Spain you will have plenty of them and they are lovely to observe in their habitat.
Hugs,
Mariette
What great photos. I'm not sure they all came through as there are some big gaps between some of your text, but the pictures you were able to share are wonderful. So very sweet of you to rescue little Eekie. At least he had 6 and a half weeks of a very good life.
ReplyDeleteDearest Tammy,
DeleteHope you got to view the videos as well, very short ones...
It was my duty for rescuing this little baby!
He gave us so much joy and guess we should have gone to the vet for having him checked out for internal injuries.
Glad he got to know love and we gave him shelter.
Hugs,
Mariette
Hello Mariette,
ReplyDeleteA really cute story!!
Squirrels make wonderful pets but must supervised permanently!!
I hope all is well, I am back from holidays!
Warm hugs and enjoy the new week :)
Dearest Noushka,
DeleteOh yes, you have to supervise them as they can't be domesticated like a dog or a cat.
But we only let him out of the cage for play time with us or with Mauzie and that went well.
I've had a rough couple of weeks but I'm fine, catching up on life again.
Glad you got back safe.
Hugs,
Mariette
I enjoyed this...and Susie's story too. I think most of us fall in love with friendly little furry things.
ReplyDeleteDearest Janey,
DeleteYes, Susie added another post to this one and what a lovely story she had to share!
Sure, those of us that love nature, have a soft spot for little furry things out there.
Hugs,
Mariette
OOOhh wat leuk, en wat een leuke foto's...en filmpjes......en nee, wij hebben nooit een eekhoorntje gehad, maar mijn vader wel in zijn jonge jaren toen hij nog niet getrouwd was..heeft hij eens verteld.
ReplyDeleteToen hadden ze er eentje uit een nest gehaald ( ja, dat was toen, geen tv, dus ander vermaak opzoeken den ik) ergens in de vroege 50-er jaren..en hebben het ook tam gemaakt... Weet niet hoe lang ze dit diertje gehad hebben, weet ook niet of mijn oma er toen blij mee was...
Beste Marian,
DeleteJa echt geinig is dit niet waar?!
Net als mijn Vader dus, die had er ook een in zijn kindertijd.
Ook uit het nest gehaald... niet zo heel 'fijntjes' maar zulk kattenkwaad werd tenminste beloond met een leven in een kooi.
Liefs,
Mariette
Very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteNice to meet your blog.
janicce/Brasil/RS.
Dearest Janicce,
DeleteThanks for your visit here and you are very welcome!
Hugs,
Mariette
Memórias incríveis com um animal silvestre, delicado e gentil! Eu gostaria de ter um esquilo.
ReplyDeleteOnde moro temos esquilos, mas eles são ariscos, nunca consegui tocá-los.
Tenho certeza de que ele ficará eternamente guardado no seu coração.
Dearest Maria Glória,
DeleteIndeed those are incredible memories.
Guess Brazil is too over populated as well for seeing any squirrels near homes.
You bet that Eekie lives on in our hearts forever; such a special cute pet.
Hugs,
Mariette
Oh wie süss...liebe Mariette!
ReplyDeleteWelch schöne Erinnerungen an das Eichhörnchen. So schade das es so bald danach verstarb. War es innerlich verletzt worden? Oder schon alt? Herausgefunden warum es so plötzlich gestorben ist habt ihr vermutlich nicht.
Mit einem Wildtier solche Erfahrungen machen zu dürfen ist etwas ganz besonderes. Eichhörnchen gehören zu den wenigen wilden Tieren, die, wenn sie wirklich Hilfe brauchen sich auch an den Menschen wenden. Ich habe davon schon oft gelesen. Sobald es ihnen aber gut geht wollen sie wieder in die Freiheit..
Ich wünsche dir und deinen Lieben eine gute Zeit und stets alles Liebe.
Herzlichst
Julia
Liebe Julia,
DeleteTolle Erinnerungen und ich denke genau wie Du das die Katze es doch innerlich verletzt hat. Nein es war noch ein Baby also nicht gestorben wegen Alter.
Wir haben hier in Georgia immer freundliche Erinnerungen gehabt mit Eichhörnchen und einige ließen sich auch streicheln oder sprangen den Pieter an der kurze Hose; spielerei. Ganz komischer Anblick.
Lieber Gruß,
Mariette
Ach, das ist ja allerliebst, liebe Mariette! So klein! :-) Ein Eichhörnchen habe ich noch nie angefasst! Die sind bei uns in der Stadt zu scheu und zu uns in den Garten kommt leider keines, da unser Dorf zu wenig hohe Bäume hat und der Wald dafür zu weit entfernt liegt.
ReplyDeleteWie lanbge war Eekie denn bei Euch?
Ich hab' jetzt mal den Internet-Explorer aufgerufen, um die Videos sehen zu können, in Chrome erschienen bei mir nur leere Felder.
Das sind ja schöne Andenken, an die junge Mariette - ich bin leider nie gefilmt worden in jungen Jahren, doch einmal im TV, aber da war ich jedoch bereits mehrfache Mutter. :-) Aber sonst - hatten wir nie eine Filmkamera.
Viele liebe Grüße
Sara
Liebe Sara,
DeleteJa so ein niedliches Baby haben zu können war schon sehr lieb.
Genauso wegen die dichte Bevölkerung seht ihr keine nahe die Häuser da sie sich nicht trauen und auch kein Futter vorhanden haben.
Wie ich in den Posten schon schrieb, Ekele hat nur gute 6 Wochen bei uns gelebt. Möglich hatte die Katze ihm innerlich verletzt.
In den Film war ich 33 Jahre und es ist schon eine Weile her.
Im TV war der Pieter öfters und ich auch aber davon haben wir selber nie eine copy gehabt. So etwas had sich erst später entwickelt und vieles über Internet.
Ja, der Pieter hatte schon eine Filmkamera, schon seid die Adaptiv Tochter sehr klein war in den 60er Jahren.
Ganz lieber Gruß,
Mariette
What a beautiful souvenir. Thanx Mariette for sharing your memories.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Dearest Victor,
DeleteThis was really the cutest pet ever! Too bad he did not last very long, guess he after all had internal damage from that cat...
Hugs,
Mariette