“He’s my child. I really like him a lot,” the “Buried in Barstow” actress solely tells PEOPLE of Thomas, her three-month-old squirrel
Carrie Frank
Angie Harmon and her rescue squirrel, Thomas
Angie Harmon is explaining how she began residing that squirrel mom life!
The Buried in Barstow star, identified for her roles on Law & Order and Rizzoli & Isles, solely shared with PEOPLE how she got here to search out her new pal, a 3-month-old squirrel named Thomas.
“I imply, when he opened his eyes, the very first thing he noticed was me,” Harmon, 51, tells PEOPLE.
“So my youngest daughter discovered him on the sidewalk, and there was no tree to place him on,” the mother of three remembers of the invention made by her daughter Emery, 14, who has two older sisters, Avery, 18, and Finley, 20.
When Harmon heard about Emery’s furry discover, she informed her daughter to “go discover the closest tree, put them below it,” and look ahead to the mom to return.
Unfortunately, the mom squirrel by no means returned to the world when Emery discovered the new child rodent. I
“So, I used to be like, ‘Okay, I’ll come get him,'” Harmon says. “And then I’ve had him ever since.”
Carrie Frank
Angie Harmon’s rescue squirrel, Thomas
When “tiny” Thomas did open his eyes, it was about “one month later.”
“He was like a new child,” the actress says about caring for the young squirrel.
“I actually needed to rise up each hour and a half to feed him. I imply, I did not sleep for a month,” she provides. “It was brutal.”
Harmon first needed to “determine learn how to feed him.”
“He will get this puppy milk powder, after which I combine it with goat milk,” Harmon says of Thomas’ first meals. “Now we’re venturing into all new sorts of meals.”
Feeding the squirrel usually comes with just a few scratches, however Harmon would not thoughts.
“I fortunately settle for the scratches. He’s my child. I really like him a lot,” she says.
Carrie Frank
Angie Harmon and her rescue squirrel, Thomas
Related: Bella the Squirrel Is Nuts About the South Carolina Family That Saved Her Life, So She Adopted Them
The Texas native, who relies in North Carolina, says her ladies at the moment are used to their mother’s affection for Thomas and have bonded with him, however “not as a lot as I’ve,” Harmon says.
Harmon notes that after posting about Thomas on social media, she began listening to from many self-proclaimed “squirrel specialists.”
“It’s so humorous as a result of when one thing like this occurs, impulsively, all your folks come out of the woodwork. They’re all squirrel specialists. I’m like, I assumed you have been a vodka professional,” she laughs.
Carrie Frank
Angie Harmon’s pet squirrel, Thomas
She first posted about her new rodent pal on Instagram on Sept. 15 and sometimes makes use of the hashtag “#squirrelmomproblems” on subsequent social media posts about Thomas.
“Totally NUTS about this little man!!! (See what I did there?😉🐿️🌰🍼) I have not slept in two weeks, however I’ve by no means been happier,” Harmon wrote alongside her first publish with the creature. “Everyone, meet Thomas, Thomas, meet everybody!”
Harmon plans to introduce Thomas to new issues as he grows up.
“He would not go exterior but. So proper now we’re within the kitchen, and he’s actually flying across the place throughout me, and he’ll soar off the counter, after which he comes again to me,” she says.
Carrie Frank
Angie Harmon’s rescue squirrel, Thomas
Though the animal lover has a family of pets, together with three dogs and two cats (“all rescues,” she says), they know to not get close to Thomas.
Harmon’s “center canine” Oliver, a German shepherd/beagle combine, has even helped Harmon feed Thomas.
“When I’d oversleep when Thomas was an ‘toddler,’ Oliver would bark at me to wake me as much as go feed him,” the actress shares.
Carrie Frank
Angie Harmon with Thomas the squirrel
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Harmon provides that she is ready to launch Thomas when the animal appears prepared however is aware of it will likely be powerful.
“I’m hooked up, however I do not wish to be egocentric. I would like him to be a squirrel, and I would like him to be exterior and do all that, however I’m not going to launch him if he would not have the abilities to be on the market. That’s like placing a three-year-old in a mall and saying, ‘Well, good luck!’ I can not do it.”
“But he is simply superior,” she provides. “And he is getting there!”
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