Peter Wheaton was walking to work on Oak Bay Avenue one morning, a little later than usual, when he heard a squeaking noise desperately echoing from under a tree nearby.
Wheaton, a travel consultant in Oak Bay, pinpointed the cries to a baby squirrel painfully in distress.
“There was this little chap, probably a couple of days old, didn’t have a hair on his chest, he was just lying spread-eagle on the pavement, and he had either been picked up or dropped from the tree by the crows, because there were a bunch of crows all around him, just pecking at him,” he said.
Startled by the macabre scene, Wheaton took action.
“I didn’t know what to do, so I shooed the crows away, picked him up, wrapped him up in a napkin, and put him in my briefcase… I kept it open and brought him in the office, then called an animal emergency hospital,” he said.
By then, the tiny animal was in bad shape. His right paw was broken, and had multiple wounds on his body from the crows, and a bloodied nose.
But he hung in there long enough, where he was eventually transported to Wild Arc in Metchosin. It was then when Wheaton and the Athlone Travel office where he works affectionately named the furry fellow “Rocky”.
“He’s now our little mascot for the office,” Wheaton laughed. We didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl for a few days, but we called him Rocky because he’s really trying hard this lad, and he did, he pulled through.”
Two weeks later, on Thursday Wheaton received some great news from Wild Arc: Rocky is doing well and even has a surrogate mother who has taken over feeding him.
To show their gratitude, Wheaton and the office is planning to raise some money for Wild Arc for their services.
“We promised we’d make some donations to Wild Arc for all their work, for helping Rocky and generally for what they do.”
Had that not been his day off, causing him to come in at an unusual time, Rocky’s fate might of been a tragic one.
“He’s a lucky fellow in two regards, that it was my day off and I came at a later time that I would be normally walking past.”
If you would like to make a donation to speed up Rocky’s recovery, you can donate to Rocky’s case number at Wild Arc, 17-2309, and via the Wild Arc hotline, 250-478-9453.
octavian.lacatusu@oakbaynews.com
