My 90 year old dad has been feeding squirrels on his front porch for years. He has a special one with no tail that comes up and takes peanuts out of his hand. When I say no tail, it doesn't even have a stump. It is completely bare-assed. Well, a few days ago that squirrel attacked him. Scratched him up and bit his left index finger severely. Being my dad, he never told me or my sister. He "didn't want to be any trouble." Day before yesterday, my mom pressed her medical alert button and my sister and I get a call from the service that my dad has fallen and an ambulance had been dispatched. So I rushed over there. My dad was delirious with fever and his left hand is deep red, index finger swollen like a bratwurst, and the bite part turning black. This is how I found out he got attacked. (My sister who physically checks on on them every day, but hadn't been there yet that day, didn't even know, he never said anything.) EMS was already there. They took him to the hospital. I went out on the porch. There's blood on the porch. And I found the squirrel that attacked him dead at the bottom of the steps. No trauma to the squirrel, just dead. Blood on its face. Animal control came out and took it and though squirrels generally don't carry rabies, they care going to test it due to the circumstances. Dad has severe sepsis. Is undergoing a rabies shot series. Is on some sort of extreme antibiotics, and it looks like he may, at the very least, loose his index finger. The swelling has not gone down. They had to do a fasciotomy on his finger and hand and it doesn't appear to be helping his finger. And there is ZERO visitation at the hospital. None at all.

Jesus man.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Micropterus,

Awful story, I'm praying for you Dad!

Thanks. He's tough. I know he's fighting. Spoke to the doctor yesterday. He's got to have a second surgery on his finger today to try and save it.

You, your Dad, and your family, have our prayers and best wishes for a full recovery.

Damn, that's terrible. I hope he gets better quickly.

Wishing you're dad a complete recovery. Similar thing happened to a friend of mine with chipmunks. He would sit on the deck and feed them. He had rope ladders built for them and a obstacle course set up for them to get the peanuts. He also hand fed them. They would go into his shirt pocket to get a peanut out and would sit on his head etc.

I kept advising him it wasn't a good idea and they were not that far separated from a rat. Sure enough one tore into his ear one day. Took a nice chunk out of it. He never had a reaction and told the doc some bs story about how it happened.

Unbelievable!
I hope your Dad is able to recover. Please keep us posted.

Hope he wins it.

I talked to him on the phone last night. He sounded better than when he got there and his fever had come down some. He still wasn't making a whole lot of sense, and he usually does. His mind is usually sharp even if his hearing isn't. I teased him that if two wars couldn't take him, a squirrel won't.

The nurse said he would be having another surgery on his hand today due to swelling from the infection. His finger was starting to turn purple and the first surgery didn't help. She did say a hand specialist and a vascular surgeon were coming to do it. I have no idea what other surgery they could do except another fasciotomy.

Who really even gives this stuff a thought? A squirrel bite. Animal control says that's actually pretty common but they are low disease carriers and don't normally even trigger a rabies protocol if someone goes to the hospital. Apparently, rabies is not really a thing in rodents. I'm just concerned because the damned squirrel spontaneously died. It must have been sick.

Prayers inbound for your whole family!

I can’t imagine not being able to be with him right now.

-Rob

Wishing a speedy recovery for your dad ,much respect for him and his kindness for Squirrels.

I’m so sorry, praying for your Dad.

Prayer sent. May God Bless him.

Praying for the speedy recovery of your Dad. God bless!

Best wishes for your dad and family. No doubt you mom is stressed too.

Maybe the squirrel stroked out over all the excitement? I think it isn't uncommon for that to happen.

very sorry to here that ! i hope your Dad can make a good recovery.

older folks have a tougher time with various infections.

wishing you both the best -- hang in there man

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Prayers for your dad and you and your family.

Praying for your family and your dad's recovery.

Prayers from TampaBay for you, your
Dad and the rest of your family.

I'd have never thought of a bite from a squirrel doing this much damage to someone.

I believe you are right, the squirrel, which had been eating from your Dad's hand over some period of time, must have been sick, causing it to attack. Crazy!

Bob

Hoping your dad has a full recovery, I can appreciate his not saying anything, that would be me.