Kennedy Stephens
palmettoreport@gmail.com

(Rock Hill, S.C.) – A Rock Hill organization is helping to rescue and rehabilitate injured and displaced squirrels in York, Chester and Lancaster counties.

The group Nutty By Nature held its first volunteer orientation, Feb. 28 at Knowledge Perk Coffee Company, where those in attendance learned about how to care for baby squirrels and were given instructions on what to do if they find one.

Co-founder Rhiannon Story said that caring for squirrels is a part of her day-to-day routine.

“I’m at work by 6 a.m., I get the kids up and ready, and by 6:30 a.m. I’m feeding baby squirrels,” Story Said.

While the organization has non-releasable squirrels, which are squirrels that do not get released into the wild due to permanent disabilities, the founders warned potential volunteers that squirrels are not pets.

“This is not a pet. This is a wild animal that you are trying to get back into the wild and that is one of the most important things,” co-founder Juli Emmons said.

Emmons said that the squirrels can become a bigger responsibility for volunteers than expected.

“Because a lot of times you get in there and you get in too deep and now you don’t really like the squirrel anymore, because it didn’t like you,” Emmons said. “It’s just best not to have a pet squirrel.”

The rescue also shared with volunteers what to do if they find a displaced squirrel.

“They can grab a blanket, pick up the squirrel, put it in a box and keep the squirrel in a nice, quiet area.” co-founder Katherine Rigby said. “Then they can give us a call and then we can take over from there.”

Rigby acknowledged that some people may be fearful when it comes to catching a squirrel.

“They can call us, we’ll try and come out to help them trap the squirrel” Rigby said. “When we trap, we always do a humane trap, we never kill the squirrels.”

Nutty by Nature says it rescued 62 squirrels 2025 and that number will likely increase this year.

The group is currently accepting donations of nuts, pecans and squirrel formula.