Cape Wildlife Center staff received a photo of a flying squirrel in need of help. But they couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on. The poor squirrel appeared to be covered in a strange substance, but that was all they could make out. But they knew without a doubt that the animal needed help. So they quickly agreed to take it in at the center.
« We couldn’t understand what was going on », wrote the Cape Wildlife Center in a Facebook post.
Once he arrived at the center, his story began to unfold.
It turned out that the flying squirrel was actually living inside a wall insulated with spray foam. Unfortunately, it was completely covered by moss.
This hardened the foam into a thick layer, especially on his face, making it difficult for him to survive.
“The moss also stuck to the two front paws. In a desperate attempt to remove it, he tried to lick it off, the Cape Wildlife Center wrote.
The Veterinary team then euthanized the squirrel to remove the spray foam. It wasn’t an easy task, but they were determined to help the flying squirrels as much as possible.
“We used swabs dipped in nail polish remover to dissolve the moss and remove it from the fur and skin,” the Cape Wildlife Center wrote. “Acetone is known to remove sprayed moss while it’s still wet. But we didn’t know if it would work on moss that had already hardened.
SurprisinglyIt only took about 20 minutes to remove all the moss. The squirrel then lost a few hairs around its head where there was more moss. However, this fur will grow back in a short time. When the squirrel woke up, he seemed to be feeling much better.
The squirrel is currently recovering at the center and is doing very well. Once fully recovered, she will be released back into the wild and hopefully avoid tricky situations in the future.
Adopt, save a life and make a friend. If you want to read more similar articles, we recommend you visit the Animals category.
