Despite living on a ranch in rural Alberta, Canada, Jannet Talbott never feels alone because animals are all around her.
The animal lover takes care of all the many domestic and wild animals that live on her land.
Once, while watching a squirrel eat a snack from her bird feeder, she noticed something odd about his face.
“I could see there was something on the side of his face,” Talbott told The Dodo. “As I approached, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a massive tooth growing out of his mouth.'”
Despite the fact that squirrels’ four front teeth are always growing, their frequent gnawing on nuts and seeds keeps the majority of them short. Somehow, this squirrel had escaped this, and Jannet knew he was in danger.
As the tooth approached his eye, Jannet guessed that the squirrel was eating powdered bird food because he could not chew on anything.
Now she faced the difficult task of trying to capture Bucky, as she nicknamed him, so she could give him the help he required.
One day I chance to see him in the feeder. It was like a sign from God. “I just had to reach in and grab him,” she said. Once I got him in my grasp, I just continued saying, “I’m going to assist you, Bucky.” You’ll be OK.
When Jannet touched the canine-challenged squirrel in her hands, she found that it had multiple dental issues.
His mouth was in utter chaos. She explained how his upper incisors were curving around and growing inside his mouth. As he ate, his teeth brushed against his face. He was truly terrifying.
Fearing that a veterinarian might not be able to assist Bucky and that the journey would cause him too much grief, she reached for her cuticle trimmers and attempted the task herself.
Jannet watched several YouTube videos that showed him how to do it, then he swaddled Bucky and closed his eyes. Fortunately for this talented rancher, Bucky calmed down right away because the task only took ten minutes.
Even when she finished trimming, Jannet said the squirrel was in “no hurry to get away” since squirrels don’t have feeling in their teeth, according to CBC Canada.
I walked him out, and he rushed to a limb and started rubbing his little cheeks. He didn’t appear to understand that he had lost those teeth. She said, “He kept rubbing his face.”
He was smiling like the cutest little squirrel ever when I saw him in the feeder the next day. He was just ecstatic.
Now, Jannet wants to inspire others to help an animal in need.
“I really feel a deep connection with animals, and they always seem to come to me when they need help,” she added.
Helping people is always enjoyable to me, and I think that if everyone did a small amount, it would add up to a lot.
I’m pleased Jannet tried dentistry on this distressed creature, even though I can only imagine how nervous she must have been. Had she not shown courage that day, he might have starved to death.
