Image

July 12, 2014

Peggy Jenkins says it was time for the little squirrels to fly, literally.

The owner of Heaven’s Wildlife Rescue near Oil Springs recently release four rare flying squirrels back into the wild after nursing them through the winter.

Jenkins says the squirrels were orphaned late last summer and weighed only 14 grams when she first saw them. That’s smaller than a human thumb.

Jenkins says over the winter volunteers took turns bottle feeding the squirrels with bottles every two hours. “We had special formula that we used for them and special nipples-neo-natal nipples,” she says adding “it was very tedious” since it took 45 minutes to feed the little animals.

“They’re so small, they have to be kept warm,” says Jenkins. A little towel was placed on the feeding table and a coffee cup warmer kept the formula at just the right temperature through the long process of feeding.

“They were so tiny, a week later you would ask ‘have they grown at all?’”

But it was all worth it when earlier this month the four were taken into the woods. “. Now that the leaves are out on the trees it was a perfect time to release them. The leaves help to hide them from predators such as owls and other large birds,” she says.

Flying squirrels are quite rare in the area and only recently came off the endangered species list. Jenkins says the squirrels don’t actually fly, but glide up to 250 feet usually at night.

“We took them to the release site in a closed crate and take the whole box,” says Jenkins. Once the door was opened, the squirrels were off in a flash, she says adding they are “super fast.”

Jenkins expects the squirrels will do just find in the wilds of Lambton County. The wildlife rescue has a 92 percent success rate of nurturing wild animals back to health and releasing them to their natural habitat.

 

Share This

Image
Front Page

Lambton lands part of 30×30 project

July 11, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Almost 700 acres of land along the Sydenham River, including some in Petrolia and Wawrick, will be recognized as conservation lands in Ontario. It’s part of an international plan to protect 30 per cent of the earth’s land and sea by 2030. Tim Payne, manager of forests for the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority, was contacted by

Read More

Image
Front Page

No PW park fees for severed farm lots

July 11, 2025

The Independent Farmers severing a house from their land won’t have to pay a park land fee in Plympton-Wyoming. The idea came up for discussion at June 30 council meeting after the Committee of Adjustment suggested the town consider the idea. Developers of subdivisons must provide park land or pay a fee in lieu of land. Farmers severing homes don’t

Read More

Image
Front Page

Learning about wood turning at Petrolia’s Art in the Park

July 11, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Petrolia’s downtown is filled with people for Art in the Park. Artisans and artists line Victoria Park and there are demonstrations going on as well. This is Brian Houf of The Houf Workshop in Corunna. He takes green wood and turns them into bowls and utensils using a lathe he made himself. Houf, who works for the

Read More

Image
Front Page

Model trains and planes take over Mooretown Museum

July 11, 2025

The Independent There was a big turnout for Model Train Day at the Mooretown Museum on Sunday. It is the 80th anniversary of Victory in Japan Day and the end of the Second World War and a recent donation to the museum of 30 military and 7 warships models were incorporated into some of the train layouts. Also on hand

Read More