In the hot and humid temperatures of Florida, thousands of different types of animals roam, whether it be fish in the water, snakes in the grass or even alligators in the Everglades. While most animals are immediately recognizable, this isn’t always the case! The story we’re looking at today has a creature beyond anything you’ve ever seen. Jeff Longo was walking along in the extreme Florida heat and noticed a tiny ball of fluff residing on the sidewalk. He noticed it was an animal, but he had no idea what kind. This article will look at how he nursed the animal back to health and finally realized what it was.
Some context – A guy named Jeff Longo was just walking along in the extreme Florida heat one day when he noticed a tiny ball of fluff sitting on the sidewalk. He checked it out and found that it was an animal, but he had no idea what kind.
Click through to see how he carefully nursed the animal back to health and finally realized what it was.
#12 The Discovery
On a walk through the streets of Tampa, Florida back in 2013, Longo discovered the strange animal on the hot sidewalk. It was sitting motionless by the side of the road and didn’t look like it was doing very well. Longo figured that the insane heat and sun probably weren’t helping at all.
#11 Half Dead
So instead of just leaving it there to die on the side of the road, Longo decided to pick the little guy up and take him to his home in St. Petersburg. Longo knew he had no choice as he knew the baby animal was nearly dead when he found him on the side of the road that day.
#10 I Shall Name Him Biscuits
Instead of taking the animal to the vet or somewhere else, Longo decided to keep the animal in his possession and nurse it back to health himself. He knew that it needed some tender love and care, so decided to keep it himself and even gave it a name: Biscuits.
#9 Questions About Raising It
As mentioned previously, he still had no idea what kind of animal this was, even after caring for it for a little bit. And because of this, he had no idea how to best raise the little guy. Was Biscuits a carnivore or an herbivore? How much water did he need a day? Longo decided to take to the internet to do some research on what it might be.
#8 First, Reddit
For his first research destination, Longo went to Reddit to see if the community there had any idea what it could be. However, most of the community was just telling him that he wouldn’t be able to take care of it by himself. Regardless, Longo was undeterred and continued to do more research.
#7 Flying Squirrel
As it turned out, the animal that he had found on the side of the road and nursed back to health was none other than a southern flying squirrel. Usually, these animals reside in the forest in trees, not on the side of the road in the heat of the Florida sun.
#6 Nocturnal Creatures
These gliding rodents are actually a nocturnal animal and often tend to stay with their mothers until they are at least 2 months old. But somehow, Biscuits had become separated from her family, until Longo took on the role of her mother. It’s unknown how Biscuits got lost in the first place.
#5 Inseparable
Taking the role of Biscuit’s mother very seriously, Longo basically took her everywhere he went for the first two months of the squirrel’s life. He would even take it to work every day. He also created a special formula to fill a bottle and actually feed the rodent.
#4 Growing
With each day that passed, the animal became bigger and stronger. Eventually, she grew into a healthy adult squirrel. In addition to Longo giving her life, he also gave her a brand new family, which she would have never met if Longo didn’t pick her up on that fateful day.
#3 Best Friends
Instead of just becoming friendly with Longo, Biscuits also gained a few new four-legged friends. Longo owned a few dogs who also were now part of Biscuit’s family. While the dogs liked their new friend, Longo admitted he had to watch them to make sure they didn’t accidently squish Biscuits.
#2 Domesticated For Good
Unfortunately, as Biscuits was raised by Longo practically from birth, it is unlikely that she will ever be sent into the wild ever again. It simply wouldn’t be safe for her, but thankfully, she is able to jump and have fun in Longo’s home. She has found a number of different places to jump to and from in his house.
#1 Home Sweet Home
So now that he will likely have Biscuits for a long time, Longo couldn’t be happier. Though he did admit that once he almost thought he lost his new pet. One day, he was unable to find her, and though she seemed to have escaped, it turned out that she was just hiding in the bathtub.
Despite having no knowledge of what kind of animal he had just found on the side of the road, Jeff Longo vowed to nurse it back to health no matter what. This once again shows that animals have a special place in the heart of most people. For Longo to simply agree to bring the little animal back to health, without even knowing what it was, is pretty special. But once he figured out what it was, he was definitely shocked as it is not every day that you find a baby squirrel just sitting on the side of the road.
