Woman gives aid to animals Crash victim finds calling helping injured squirrels

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If you surf for squirrels on the Web, you may find squirrel monkeys in Brazil, a Pink Squirrel cocktail, a squirrel computer program, and even a Field and Stream recipe for squirrel and biscuits with gravy.

You’ll also find the Squirrel Lady: Paulette Murphy of Fairfield, whose home, adjoining apartment, yard and garage are filled with injured and abandoned squirrels.

As a state licensed wildlife facilitator, Murphy has been saving squirrels for years.

“This is my calling,” she said this week from what she calls the St. Francis Wildlife Center. “Last year I released 33 squirrels. Three were flying squirrels, 11 were reds and the rest were grays.”

Not all squirrels in trouble are abandoned. But sometimes they are found on the ground near nests, sometimes they are crawling along a highway after injury.

Caring for these victims of car accidents, animal attacks and mother abandonment has given this soft-spoken woman purpose for living.

“I was in a car accident in 1991 in an ice storm,” she said. “My head was pinned up in the rear view window.” The crash left Murphy with memory loss, severe back injuries and constant pain.

Murphy said she couldn’t find a reason to go on.

“I wouldn’t get out of bed until one day I heard the birds outside,” she said. “It began with feeding the birds, and then my husband, Joe, and I found a tiny squirrel in the road. That was the real beginning – one tiny, hairless squirrel.”

The couple carried it home and nursed it until it was old enough to release. “I mean, I baby these squirrels. I rock them, scratch them behind their little arms, but all the time knowing that when they are ready, it’s ‘See you later. I’m out of here.'”

Within weeks of finding that first squirrel, Murphy got her state wildlife rehabilitator’s license and suddenly found herself on a list.

“People began calling, began bringing me babies and hurt animals,” she said. They showed up with foxes, raccoons, groundhogs, beavers – and lots and lots of squirrels.

That’s when her life bloomed, she said.

The ache in her body and heart didn’t seem as fierce when she was nursing the animals. She forgot her pain while rocking a tiny, abandoned critter or carrying it around in her pocket.

“If I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t get up in the morning,” she said.

“After the crash, everything changed,” Murphy said. “Then I found that first little squirrel and everything changed again. Now life is so much better than before.”

Squirrels aren’t the only critters in her home. Her house this week had eight cats, three dogs and a litter box-trained goat. The goat provides milk that helps rehab the squirrels.

Although she still accepts other animals for care, Murphy’s specialty – and first love – is squirrels.

When game wardens or others bring abandoned or injured squirrels to Murphy, she often places the babies on the heater in her bathroom until they are stabilized. If they are newborns, she and her husband get up every hour and 45 minutes through the night to feed them.

“Before we get dressed or even have our coffee, we have to feed the babies,” she said.

Once stabilized, the squirrels are moved into a walk-in, covered cage outside where they share the space with other recovering squirrels. Inside the large cage, an old bedroom bureau acts as a feeding station and hotel: Each drawer has an entry hole drilled in the front and is filled with a warm sweater or blanket for bedding, while sunflower seeds, bananas, cherries and pine cones are scattered across the top.

Murphy stresses that these are not pets.

“They are wild and we keep our interaction with them once they are outside to a bare minimum.”

Once the squirrels are about 10 weeks old, they are ready to be set free. “Once they are ready to go, they begin to pace,” she said. “They want out and they let you know.”

Releasing the squirrels is, of course, the hardest part for Murphy. “But they aren’t mine,” she said.

Murphy said she just released two red squirrels at Colby College in nearby Waterville. She also heads north, releasing healed animals in northern Piscataquis County.

A stroll through Murphy’s yard is like that scene in the cartoon movie “Snow White” when all the creatures of the forest come out and greet the heroine.

Outside, wild critters stay close and thrive. These animals have not been released by Murphy – they just seem to be drawn to her property. She’s had deer, moose, even a bear in her yard.

In the winter, Murphy will stock the feeders with mixtures of suet, peanut butter, corn, seeds and berries.

“This is a lot of work but a lot of joy,” she said.

Her success rate is astounding. Of 33 injured critters brought to her last year, she was unable to save just three.

She advises those who come across an injured or abandoned wild animal to leave it alone and call a game warden or rehabilitator. “They bite. They carry rabies. People need to be very careful, but they need to call because, often, time is so important.”

Murphy said she realizes that many people dislike, even hate, squirrels. They can dig up gardens, nest in attics and terrify inexperienced drivers.

“But I just love them. They are very, very intelligent and nearly every tree out here was planted by a squirrel,” she said.

Although the couple had retired, they both are now working part-time jobs to support the center. “We can’t accept any cash,” Paulette Murphy said, “but we’ll be happy to take any kind of food that any animal can eat.”

Acknowledging that hers is a small operation on just 11/2 acres, Murphy said that is how she likes it. “I prefer to stay small and intimate. This way I can do what I can. It may not seem like a lot to some people, but to me, it’s everything.”