Retired California teaching assistant Angel Barba has spent the last seven years caring for orphaned and fallen baby squirrels. Based in Lafayette, California, she and a network of volunteers step in each spring when backyard pruning and other hazards leave nests on the ground.
This year’s “peak baby squirrel season” has been busy: Barba’s current brood includes six youngsters barely three weeks old. Feeding them is a labor of love — a single feeding session can take an hour, and newborns may need to be fed up to a dozen times a day. The work is constant, careful and intimate: keeping babies warm, feeding formula on a strict schedule, and watching for signs they’re ready to climb, eat solid food or be introduced to outdoor enclosures.
Barba and other volunteers coordinate with wildlife hospitals. At Lindsey Wildlife Experience near San Francisco, hospital director Peter Flowers says the center has admitted hundreds of baby squirrels this season alone. While they may look ubiquitous, native species such as the California ground squirrel have declined over decades, and rescuers worry threats could push populations lower if interventions don’t continue.
The aim for rehabilitators is always to return animals to the wild. That’s why caregivers often avoid naming the animals — so they don’t imprint on humans. Still, moments of connection happen: Barba says she’s had squirrels that seem to recognize her when released, giving what feels like a tiny nod before scampering off.
Between round-the-clock feedings, cleaning, and coordinating releases, Barba’s commitment shows how much volunteer time and small, steady acts can mean for wildlife. In a season when nests fall and tiny animals need help, people like her bring the care many newborns need to survive and flourish.