FYI, I pm'd Squirrelman a couple nights ago and he and I have since been exchanging emails about various things including healthy diets for squirrels and ideas for cages and habitat. He ran out today and bought Pearl Mazuri rodent blocks (the only ones he could find) and a cuttle bone. He's working on switching her over to a healthy diet now.
He and his wife have released the flyers. He said it was fine for me to post the links of the short videos they took yesterday evening. You'll see them below.
He said he won't come back to TSB even if paid. Honestly, I don't blame him and I hope we all learn from this thread about how counter-productive the "wolfpack mentality" is (Squirrelman's words
). Personally, and because of this thread, I've challenged myself to have more patience, to pay more attention while reading posts, and to learn to word my posts more carefully, for the sake of the squirrels especially.
Take this or leave it, as I know we all have different and valid viewpoints, but it's my opinion we didn't give Squirrelman much of a chance...and I hope everyone (myself included) thinks about the importance of having compassion for
all kinds of animals, including the human kind.
I didn't come to TSB with much information about squirrels and had I not found TSB I, too, would've been making several mistakes in Shaky's care, diet, and habitat. Some of those mistakes would've been especially harmful to her and I shudder to think of the kind of life I would've given her had I not found TSB. I bet many members can say the same thing.
TSB is a very rare gem in cyberland---the information is just not easily available. We have to remember that. And if we claim to be so passionate about squirrels, we would think twice, three times, and even more about how our comments
do come across online so that we don't attack and push someone away who's squirrels could obviously benefit from the help of the educated members here and the information they've worked so hard to gather -- Information gathered through years of experience and through years of blood, sweat, and tears living with and loving squirrels. Why would we want to risk keeping that wealth of knowledge from the squirrels who need it most?
Had we given Squirrelman more time, had we been more patient, had we put our immediate reactions aside for a bit, we would've eventually understood he wants to learn more about squirrels and their care so he can give Pearl the best life possible.
Lastly, I want to say that Squirrelman wasn't doing anything
intentional to harm Pearl or the flyers, no matter what any members want to believe. We've all made mistakes, we've all done things we look back on and say
"what was I thinking?" and we've all done unwitting harm to animals in one way or another (anyone here eat meat and dairy, or wear leather, or use products which have been tested on animals, for just a few examples?
).
I'm sure we can all find it in ourselves to understand (or at least
try to understand) what it's like to *think* we have all the information even though we don't and to *think* we are not causing any harm even though in truth we really are.
If we are honest with ourselves, if we take responsibility for our actions, we can't help but see we could've avoided this thread's outcome by trying just a little bit harder to relate
...for the squirrels,
if for no other reason.