Mid-States Concrete’s Field Coordinator Eric Lewis knows more about squirrels than he ever thought he would.

It all started in August 2022, when a bad storm rolled through Loves Park, Illinois and the surrounding areas. After the storm cleared, Eric looked in the backyard and saw two very pink, small animals laying on the ground. Once he went outside to investigate, he discovered the animals were actually baby squirrels. Unfortunately, one of the squirrels landed in a puddle and had drowned. The other was moving around and breathing, but was ice cold. Lewis took that squirrel into the house, put it on a heating pad, and drove to the store for formula and supplies, using Google to figure out what he needed.

He and his wife’s Google searches led them to Lisa’s Little Rescues in Winnebago, which the couple called looking for a home for the squirrel. Unfortunately, the rescue was full and couldn’t offer a space for the four-day old animal. What they did offer was knowledge, experience and resources for raising squirrels, which Eric received when he visited the rescue.

Armed with information, specialty feeding syringes, and determination, Eric took the female squirrel - which the family named Mew - home and prepared to raise it. Similar to raising a newborn, Eric had to feed the squirrel 9-10 times each day for the first couple of weeks, including waking up two times throughout the night for night feedings. His two kids were very much into watching their dad feed and care for the squirrel. And, much like a newborn, baby squirrels can fall ill. In fact, Mew ended up getting an infection at just a couple of weeks old, which required she be put on antibiotics that had to be dispensed multiple times daily.

While hectic to suddenly be raising a squirrel, just as Eric was falling into a routine, Lisa’s Little Rescues called about three weeks into his adventure with a question. They had another female squirrel that needed a home and since squirrels are social animals that raise better together, they asked if Eric would be willing to take on another one - this one about a week older than Mew. His family named her Sandy Cheeks.

”I’ve always been an animal lover,” Eric said. “I’ve always tried to rescue things, mostly unsuccessfully. This time I had the knowledge and resources to do so.”

While the squirrels continued to grow and thrive, coming to work with Eric to ensure their feedings stayed on track, by the time winter came around the squirrels were still too young to be released back into nature. So, the two continued to live in their carrying case at the office, a large cage at home, and eventually in a large pre-release outdoor squirrel cage so they could get used to the outdoors. In January 2023, when we felt a couple weeks of warm weather, Eric put a squirrel box in the tree and the squirrels moved into nature. He continued to watch them in the yard, and continued to feed him.

”Even when I released them, they would run up my legs and race around my torso and would snuggle in my hoodie pocket and hood and eat out of my hand,” Eric said.

In March 2023, Sandy Cheeks left the Lewis’s tree and yard and Mew started acting kind of strange. Eric wasn’t sure why, but solved the mystery in June when he peaked out in the squirrel box and saw four babies that were about six weeks old. Unfortunately, a couple weeks after her babies left the nest, Mew passed away. Eric still has a connection to Mew though. Her babies still come back to his yard. He has watched them grow and occasionally hang out with what Eric suspects is the squirrel dad.

”It’s very rewarding,” Eric said. “I took a four-day old squirrel, raised it, released it into the wild where it thrived and had its own babies.”

Once his squirrels were released into the wild, Eric didn’t anticipate raising any more squirrels, but he did hang on to all of his squirrel-raising supplies. So when Lisa’s Little Rescues called again in September 2023, Eric was ready to go.

On September 12, Eric began raising Ronnie, a roughly five week old male squirrel. Then, on September 13, Eric helped out another squirrel rehabber by squirrel-sitting his four squirrels while he was out-of-town. He watched them for about nine days, spending four-to-five hours each day caring for the five squirrels. When the squirrel rehabber Eric was squirrel sitting for returned home, he left his youngest male squirrel with Eric, as he was close in age to Ronnie. They named him Coop because he was found in a chicken coop. These two will be released back into the wild in mid-November.

Of the four squirrels Eric has raised, Mew definitely has a special place in his heart. She was always sweet, would eat out of his had, was very laid back, and greeted Eric every morning by running down the tree and up his leg.

Sandy Cheeks is kind of the exact opposite of Mew, but still very sweet. She is a wanderer and free spirit. Eric hasn’t spotted her in the backyard since March.

Ronnie, while still growing, is very sweet, loves to sniff, and is very interested in what is going on.

And Coop, also still growing, is a little bit more standoffish and more skittish.

While Eric has no plans to raise more squirrels after the November release of Ronnie and Coop, he’ll still be holding on to his supplies and his phone is always on.