I believe this is the world’s first squirrel to get a set of prosthetic limbs—or wheels. Apparently his front limbs were caught in a trap in the city of Batman (yes, that’s a city in Turkey) and had to be amputated. As Global News (origin: Reuters) reports:
“A young man rescued him from the trap in Batman and found (me) and my videos and posts as a result of his researches,” said vet and animal rights activist, Tayfun Demir.
Orthopedists at Istanbul’s Aydin University designed the prosthetic wheels for him to replace his paws.
One of them, Mustafa Gultekin, said they waited for Karamel to adjust to the new device before passing on to the next phase.
“He is a wild animal trying to live in a home. He has a foreign object attached to his body. His reaction to this object was important to us. We passed this phase. We are now at the phase of walking.”
Karamel has become the first squirrel to receive a pair of prosthetic limbs.
I saw one news report on this where the male anchor poo-pooed this, while the female anchor was appreciative. Typical! I would suggest that, if the squirrel could run this operation, it would prefer to have wheels than to be killed, just like a person in a wheelchair. Why does its being a squirrel make a difference? Besides, these vets and orthopedists are wonderful people.
Batman is a looong way from Istanbul, so I wonder how they transported it across the country.
An ex-girlfriend of mine had a friend who had a squirrel that had been severely injured and had limited mobility. Her friend and husband had adapted a kid’s rollerskate and made an enclosure with ramps to accommodate the squirrel. This is ca. 1998 so my memory is fuzzy. Really ingenuous implementation.
Great idea. Takes a lot of time and patience but what doesn’t. We live with two cats and it is much better than without them.
I love this and I love these people.
“Karamel has become the first squirrel to receive a pair of prosthetic limbs.”
We don’t know that. Squirrels may have a very sophisticated society with hospitals and other services, which they keep hidden while they bide their time, waiting for the right moment to do…whatever it is they’re planning.
Just like dolphins.
It’s ingenious, but having seen wheelchairs for dogs decades ago, I’d be moderately surprised if this is actually a “first”. Multiple independent inventions are highly feasible.
So, how is “Batman” pronounced? My best guess is baht-MAHN.
It’s baat-maan.
Like Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh Batman!
Glen Davidson
There is a Federal Electorate in Melbourne called Batman, after one of the founders of the city. It’s pronounced Batman!
I understand the Municipal theme song has a lot of “POW!!”, “OOMPH!!, ” ZING”, etc.
I suspect this would have greatly pleased Kemal Ataturk.
In the Bat-plane?