Bay Area woman fostering baby squirrels as new litters are born throughout the region

By Itay Hod

They say when baby squirrels fall from their nests, they need a miracle to survive. Lucky for them, that’s when Angel appears.

Angel Barba, a retired teaching assistant from Lafayette, has spent the last seven years answering a higher calling: fostering baby squirrels.

“Squirrels are fun. They’re engaging and fascinating,” she said. 

Barba has cared for six babies, barely three weeks old, and says feeding them takes more than an hour. And it’s a process she repeats up to 12 times a day.

“They’re very smart. I’ve heard they have the same intelligence as dogs,” she said.

This is baby squirrel season, one of two times a year when new litters arrive, and wildlife rehabilitation centers suddenly fill up. In backyards across the Bay Area, routine spring trimming can turn cozy nests into ground-level emergencies.

“Springtime comes around, and everyone starts trimming their trees, and the nests get cut down,” said Peter Flower, the rehabilitation hospital manager at Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek, which has seen as many as 500 baby squirrels in a single season.

And while squirrels may seem like everyday backyard neighbors, some native species, including the California ground squirrel, have been declining for decades.

“While the squirrel is not currently an endangered species, they could become one,” he said.

Back in Lafayette, Barba finishes another feeding. Two down. Four to go. The babies aren’t given names. The goal is always to return them to the wild. But every now and then, the wild reaches back. 

A few squirrels she saved as babies came back to her backyard, and for a quick visit, she said. 

“They came up to me, it was almost a little nod,” she said. “A little thank you, and then they were off.”

The Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital said it is in need of volunteers.