Friends of Eichhorn (2024)

20/05/2024

…and since all voices need to be heard, we’re trying to introduce all the guests that we missed from last year retroactively 🤗

This little girl is Bella, Bella Eichhorn. Our „last“ Hörnchen. It was the 1st of August 2023, a pretty hot day, when we got a call from our association. Bella was found lost and helpless by a security guard who was working at some kind of housing development. It was late in the afternoon and after having a little talk on the telephone with him to check out if it’s a „real“ emergency (which it was seemingly not) we drove right there after work. It was one of those gated communities in already absurdly rich part of town and we parked our be**er next to a couple of italian sports cars and clowinsh big SUVs. The guard was a really nice guy who secured Bella in an empty bucket together with some towels to hide underneath in and a piece of wood on top in the shadow outside next to his office. He seemed really concerned but after a quick check-up which we did together with him it was obvious that’s nothing wrong with her. And according to tradition he gave her her name 🥲
Bella was about five weeks old at this time but seemed pretty healthy. Her weight was okay and she had close to no parasites (most Hörnchen, no matter how heathy they are got at least a couple of fleas but that’s usually not much to worry about if it’s only a few) so she most likely hadn’t spent too much time on her own. But since no other Hörnchen were around it was better to take her with us.
Sadly we weren’t able to accommodate any guests at this point of time because we had a severe case of cryptosporidiae shortly before and our station wasn’t ready yet - and even if so she would have been alone. But a friend of us still had some space at her station so we drove Bella to her right away. As far as we know she became a wonderful, big Hörnchen and is now living a life in the woods where she belongs… ❤️

(translation and more in the comments - that‘s already too long for Instagram…)

22/02/2023

Nicki Eichhorn.

Our season started early - and sad.

We just got home after a sort of busy day at work when we got a call - a young Hörnchen, maybe from summer last year, was seeking shelter on a family’s outside sofa. They brought her to us and before we were even able to check what’s wrong with her Nicki has already faded away. She survived the horrors of new year’s eve and the hardest part of winter. She was a fighter. But now she’s gone...

You’re without pain now, little one. Run free! We’re so sorry we couldn’t help you or get to know you better. But we love you and make sure you’ll eventually get a proper burial.

Nicki Eichhorn.

Unsere Saison startete früh - und traurig.

Wir kamen gerade von einem recht anstrengenden Arbeitstag heim als wir einen Anruf hatten - ein junges Hörnchen, wahrscheinlich aus dem letzten Sommer suchte Schutz auf dem Sofa auf der Terrasse einer Familie. Sie brachten sie zu uns aber bevor wir auch nur gucken konnten was mit ihr los ist war das Leben schon aus Nicki gewichen. Sie hat den Horror der Silvesternacht überlebt und den härtesten Teil vom Winter. Sie war eine Kämpferin. Aber jetzt ist sie von uns gegangen...

Du bist jetzt ohne Schmerzen, kleines Wesen. Mach’s gut! Es tut und schrecklich leid dass wir Dir nicht helfen oder Dich besser kennen lernen konnten. Aber wir haben Dich lieb und stellen sicher, dass Du wenigstens ein anständiges Begräbnis bekommst.

08/01/2023

We haven’t seen our neighbor for a week now...

It’s most likely that she hasn’t survived new year’s eve. There was so much fireworks in our neighborhood and a lot of our wild friends were killed.

We’ve known her for well over a year and she visited us nearly every day, eating nuts and seeds on her small balcony that we’ve installed in front of the kitchen window. A couple of weeks ago we’ve seen her being chased around by another Hörnchen and since it’s mating season we also have to assume she was pregnant - which of course makes the whole story even sadder.

We’re speechless…

Wir haben unser Nachbarshörnchen jetzt seit einer Woche nicht gesehen…

Sie hat höchstwahrscheinlich Silvester nicht überlebt. Es gab so verdammt viel Feuerwerk in unserer Nachbarschaft und viele unserer wilden Freunde starben in dieser Nacht.

In dem Jahr, das wir sie kannten kam sie fast täglich bei uns vorbei und hat auf ihrem kleinen Balkon vor dem Küchenfenster Nüsse und Kerne gegessen. Vor ein paar Wochen beobachteten wir auch, wie sie sich mit einem anderen Hörnchen gejagt hat und weil gerade Paarungszeit ist müssen wir zusätzlich noch annehmen, dass sie möglicherweise schwanger war - was die ganze Geschichte natürlich noch trauriger macht.

Uns fehlen die Worte...

31/10/2022

Did you know the small town of Eckernförde’s coat of arms shows an Eichhörnchen? 🥳 That’s amongst the reasons we took Bobo, his brother Etienne and their friend Luca there yesterday…

As you may remember Bobo and Etienne stayed only for a short while at our place because our friend Sandra gladly offered to help them. But since neither them nor Sandra uses social media and the two were at least in the remotest sense our guests we still believe it’s a story worth telling you 🤗

Bobo and Luca grew up really fast and there wasn’t any major problem with them. But little Etienne (even at our place at the age of three and a half weeks he was already smaller than his brother) had some health issues 😢 - first he there was a pe**le prolapse that had to be treated every couple of hours but that’s only a „normal“ disease that can be cured well. But he fell behind the other two… He wasn’t a good climber, seemed disorientated from time to time and felt overall a lot „slower“ than the other guys. Only in the last two weeks he showed signs of development. He learned to crack open nuts, went up to the drey to sleep together with Bobo and Luca and became more and more curious. So when the date of possible release came closer we contacted our friends in Eckernförde to ask if they’d be able to take care of them. It’s already too late for a „real“ release this year so Luca and Bobo got their own big aviary where they can spend the winter to practise their skills until spring next year when they’re able to explore the wild.
But the main reason we went there is that they run one of the rare permanent aviaries for special needs Hörnchen - it’s really, really difficult to get a license for those and they have to be insanely huge so the little ones have enough space for them. Also the number of guests is very limited. Etienne was lucky to get one of those spaces so for now he lives there. We don’t know yet if he’s going to be a permanent guest but either way he’s now at a good place with a lot of friends and we’ll all see what will happen!

This is not a goodbye - it’s a welcome: Welcome to your next steps, Bobo, Etienne and Luca Eichhorn! 🥲

03/10/2022

Normally we don’t post photos that we haven’t taken ourselves but here’s one you absolutely have to see (don’t worry, we’ve got permission)!

It’s Bobo Eichhorn and isn’t he the cutest little guy? 🥰 (he actually beats even Jo)

He and his brother Etienne are fine at our friends‘ station - they hang out a lot with their foster brother Luca doing their Eichhorn stuff. Right now we’re already looking for a place where they can spend the winter because setting them free in late October/ early November wouldn’t be such a good idea…

Normalerweise posten wir ja keine Bilder, die wir nicht selber gemacht haben - aber hier ist eines, das Ihr unbedingt sehen müsst (keine Sorge, wir haben gefragt)!

Bobo Eichhorn! Ist er nicht das zauberhafteste kleine Kerlchen? 🥰 (er hängt sogar Jo ab was das angeht)

Ihm und seinem Bruder Etienne geht es super in der Station unserer Freundin - sie hängen viel mit ihrem Ziehbruder Luca rum und machen so ihren Hörnchenkram. Im Moment schauen wir uns schon nach einer Überwinterungsmöglichkeit für sie um da eine Auswilderung Ende Oktober oder Anfang November keine gute Idee wäre…

27/09/2022

Hey friends!
Wow, our last post is more than a month ago? 🧐

Since we’ve already been asked if everything’s okay with us we’ll try to catch up on everything (again 🥺)…

After a pause of a couple of weeks in the middle of August where we weren’t able to take in any new guests we already thought the season was over. But about a week ago we got our next (and possibly final this year) call: A lady has found two little Hörnchen in her front yard, eyes still closed and crying for help. She immediately went to a doctor who told her something among the lines of „just put them back and let nature rule it out“ or some BS like this and sent her away. But she of course felt sorry for the babies and desperately searched for help. So she finally got our contact and called us. A friend of hers was so nice to bring them so Bobo and his brother Etienne arrived at our place in the evening.
But since such small guys are in need of nearly 24/7 care which we at this moment can’t really provide we tried to find a better place for them where they can be treated better. A friend of ours runs her station together with her whole family so after some „convincing“ (aka begging) because she's already at more than full capacity she agreed to take them in. So the next afternoon we took a trip through the city to make sure the two are in the best of hands. Bobo (the black one) and Etienne already have a little friend called Luca who is just a couple of days older and as you can see in the last picture (not ours, but we hopefully can borrow it) they’re already getting along fine 🥲

It was a pleasure meeting you and making sure you’ll be okay, Bobo and Etienne Eichhorn! ❤️

(translation in the comments, sorry 🙈)

04/08/2022

Melanie & Mert 🥰

02/08/2022

Jonas is gone…

When we had removed the fly eggs yesterday and he had something to drink he slept really long and deep. Then we fed him again which he gladly excepted. But the next time he already didn’t want anything from us and his breathing got a little worse. When we wanted to take care of him in the middle of the night he was really weak and had bad diarrhea - although we knew it wasn’t a good sign we hoped that he just wanted to get rid of all the bad stuff. When we opened his little UFO early in the morning he already passed away.
He most likely suffered from some form of dwarfism - he had the body of a five week old but his fur and teeth were already as developed as if he would have been eight weeks or so. Those creatures are already way more fragile than their kin and although there’s always a chance of release there’s much to go wrong. We assume his little system just stopped working…

Jonas Eichhorn, we didn’t get to know you well but we felt you were a fighter. You tried to bite, you tried to flee and when you were hungry you were really hungry - just as we know a real Eichhorn should be. But you were too small and weak for this world. We’re deeply sorry that we were only able to give you shelter while your little heart stopped beating. We hope that you’re now at a place where size doesn’t matter and you can be the furious little critter you should have been in the first place. We love you and we’ll miss you!

01/08/2022

Meet Jonas Eichhorn! 🥲

This little guy arrived at our place today. He was full of fly eggs, has some breathing noises and is in a state of bad dehydration. We try our best but we’re not sure that he’ll make it through the night but right now he’s safe and got proper medication. Jonas was found at a playground where he was alreday spotted yesterday but no one was able to catch him 😟

He looks like he’s on his own for a way too long time so let’s all hope that he’ll make it ❤️

Sagt Hallo zu Jonas Eichhorn! 🥲

Dieser kleine Junge kam heute bei uns an. Voller Fliegeneier, Atemgeräusche und wirklich schlimme Dehydrationserscheinungen. Wir versuchen natürlich unser Bestes aber können uns nicht sicher sein, ob er die Nacht übersteht - jetzt ist er aber erstmal in Sicherheit und bekommt Medikamente. Jonas wurde auf einem Spielplatz gefunden wo man ihn schon gestern gesehen hat aber niemand hat geschafft, ihn einzufangen 😟

Er scheint viel zu lange allein unterwegs gewesen zu sein, also lasst uns alle hoffen, dass er durchhält ❤️

19/07/2022

Frederik didn’t make it…

This really came as a shock. Yesterday in the morning we were greeted by a really happy, curious little one and we decided to team him up with the other Frederick. They played a lot, ate a lot, cuddled a lot and really seemed to have a great time. But late at night Frederik’s breathing got worse. First it was only some small cracking noises which are always a sign of some kind of respiratory disease and we started treating him accordingly. But over the day it got worse and worse. He got weaker and his breathing turned into some sort of gargling. When we checked on him the next time he was already laying lifeless in the box, guarded by his new friend Frederick.
He had some blood around his mouth so we assume the cause of death was a hemothorax. We can’t say if it was because of a fall or his cat contact but after all that doesn’t matter anymore...

Frederik Eichhorn, you were such a lovely little creature, full of curiosity and the will to live. The one day we saw you without any signs of illness you were as Eichhorn as an Eichhorn can get. You were happy, hungry, angry, cuddly. But there was something lingering inside you what neither you or we were able to flee from. Run free, little one! We loved you will miss you and according to our tradition we’ll bury you in the woods next to the place where all our other guests are taking their first steps into freedom. We’re so sorry.

17/07/2022

Meet Tobi Eichhorn!

Most of the times we write that our guests don’t stay for long it’s for a sad reason - but not this time! 🥲 Tobi was brought to our place Saturday in the afternoon. He’s a healthy little fellow who just appears to have had some bad luck and somehow got lost - a few of the usual parasites but in good overall condition. Luckily a friend of ours who has her own shelter hung out with us when he arrived and since she had a little girl Tobi’s age at her place we decided it doesn’t make sense to keep him longer than for a check-up and a welcome drink. He’s now with our friend Sandra who already took a photo with him with his new company - Cid Eichhorn ❤️

Hallo Tobi Eichhorn!

Meistens sind es schlechte Nachrichten, wenn wir schreiben, dass unsere Gäste nur kurz bei uns waren - aber nicht dieses Mal! 🥲 Tobi wurde uns am Samstagnachmittag gebracht. Er ist ein gesundes kleines Kerlchen und scheint einfach nur Pech gehabt zu haben und irgendwie verloren gegangen zu sein - ein paar der üblichen Parasiten aber sonst geht es ihm gut. Glücklicherweise haben wir gerade mit einer Freundin, die auch eine Auffangstation betreibt rumgehangen und die ein kleines Mädchen in seinem Alter bei sich hat. Es kam uns ein bißchen sinnlos vor, ihn länger als für eine Kontrolle und einen Willkommensdrink bei uns zu haben. Jetzt wohnt er bei unserer Freundin Sandra die uns schon ein Foto von ihm und seiner neuen Gesellschaft - Cid Eichhorn ❤️ - geschickt hat!

15/07/2022

Frederick Eichhorn! 🥰

After some days without any new guests this little guy found his way to our place yesterday in the morning. Sadly the people who found him weren’t able to drive him so he just called a cab. And because Eichhörnchen not only sometimes forget where they bury their nuts they also seem to lose their purses so he didn’t have any cash on him and we had to bail him out. Well…

The weather right now is really bad for all the small creatures around and a lot of them are in a really dehydrated state with masses of parasites (so if you want to help always put some water outside 🤗). But Frederick obviously was lucky and hasn’t been alone for too long - he had some fly eggs, lots of mites and a flea or two. Fly eggs are always the worst so we took care of them right away. He was really exhausted and thirsty but after some delicious electrolytes and some cuddles he became more confident. He’s living in his own big box now, having a great buffet and we’re of course already searching for friends for him! ❤️

Welcome to our place, little Frederick!

(you’ll find the translation in the comments! 🇨🇭🇦🇹🇩🇪)

29/06/2022

So last sunday we drove Krabbi, Patrick and Rocky to the release station. Catching them was far from easy! Usually the night before our trip we wait until the little ones are sleeping in their drey, take the whole thing out and put it in a big transport box where they already find some food and water a careful as possible. It’s sort of stress free for all of us. But when we were sure everyone’s inside and slowly tried to maneuver the drey out of the aviary all three of them jumped out and it took us nearly two hours to finally convince them that it’s a good idea to be in the box 🤷‍♂️
The next morning first thing we did was get a car and drive them to where they already were expected. Patrick out of a sudden became sort of an extrovert (whilst living in the aviary he was hiding most of the time), suddenly jumped out of the drey and started to discover his new environment. Krabbi and Rocky decided that it was a little too early for that kind of action and just peeked outside a couple of times 🥲

Krabbi, Patrick and Rocky Eichhorn - we’re so proud of you! 🥰 You’re now close to your goal of becoming awesome, wonderful Hörnchen! And thank you, Krabbi and Patrick to invite the younger Rocky to your makeshift family and staying a little longer in the aviary than expected so he had the opportunity to be in company. We’ll miss you and we’ll always love you!

On our way back home we made a short stop at the forest close to the station to bury Charlie and Josefine. They’re now found their final rest in the forest. Together. Where they belong. When we closed the grave we heard some church bells from afar. It was a really touching moment 🥲

(translation in the comments)

06/06/2022

Josefine…

Usually when we invite new guests to our place we at least - even when they just stay for a short while - get a tiny glimpse on their personality. But Josefine, Charlie’s sister, sadly died last friday on her way to us so the only thing we could do was to mourn over her before taking care of her brother.
But it’s also really important for us to let you know about all the little ones we’re having at our place and trying to take care of. Nobody leaves this place without at least a little story!

Josefine Eichhorn, this time we had no chance of helping you and that makes us as sorry as if we had one. We weren’t able to get to know you even a little but the thing we know is that you should have had a great and happy Hörnchen life. We’re so sorry and we wish everything would have been a little earlier. The one thing we can do for you after all is to bury you in the woods where we would have released you if there would have been a happy end. Goodbye, little one!

Josefine…

Normalerweise kriegen wir wenn wir neue Gäste bei uns aufnehmen - selbst wenn es nur für eine kurze Zeit ist - wenigstens einen kleinen Einblick in ihre Persönlichkeit. Aber Josefine, Charlies Schwester, war leider schon verstorben als sie letzten Freitag bei uns ankam. Das Einzige, was wir noch tun konnten war, kurz um sie zu trauern bevor wir uns um ihr Brüderchen kümmern konnten.
Dennoch ist es uns wirklich eine Herzensangelegenheit, Euch alle kleinen Tierchen vorzustellen, die wir bei uns haben und denen wir versuchen zu helfen. Niemand verlässt diesen Ort ohne wenigstens eine kleine Geschichte!

Josefine Eichhorn, dieses Mal hatten wir keine Chance, Dir zu helfen und das macht uns genauso traurig als hätten wir eine gehabt. Wir haben Dich leider nicht mal ein kleines Bißchen kennen gelernt aber was wir wissen ist, dass Du ein tolles Hörnchenleben hättest führen sollen. Wir können Dir nur noch die letzte Ehre erweisen und Dich in den Wäldern begraben, in denen wir Dich ausgewildert hätten hätte diese Geschichte ein glückliches Ende genommen. Mach’s gut, Du kleines Wesen!

06/06/2022

Charlie has lost the fight…

When we checked on him last night he was sort of okay and even ate a little bit. But today in the early morning we knew there wasn’t much life in him anymore - his breathing got worse again and he cramped which is never a good sign. The only thing we could do for him was hold him, tell him everything will be fine at the end and wait for him to go.

Charlie Eichhorn, we’re deeply sorry that we weren’t able to help you. We tried to do everything possible but the shock of getting hurt and losing your sister Josefine must have been way too overwhelming for you. After all your sadness may have been stronger than your will to live. But now you’re hopefully at a better place where you don’t feel pain and loneliness…

Goodbye, little Charlie, we will remember you and hope that you felt some of the love we gave to you, even in your final moments.

Charlie hat den Kampf verloren…

Als wir letzte Nacht noch mal nach ihm geschaut haben war er halbwegs okay und hat sogar ein kleines bißchen gegessen. Aber heute morgen war uns klar, dass nicht mehr viel Leben in ihm war - seine Atmung hatte sich wieder verschlimmert und er krampfte, was nie ein gutes Zeichen ist. Das Einzige, was wir noch für ihn tun konnten war ihn zu halten, ihm zuzuflüstern dass am Ende alles gut wird und ihn gehen zu lassen.

Charlie Eichhorn, es tut uns unendlich leid, dass wir Dir nicht helfen konnten. Wir haben alles in unserer Macht stehende versucht aber der Schock, verletzt zu sein und Deine Schwester Josefine zu verlieren muss zu groß für Dich gewesen sein. Wahrscheinlich war Deine Trauer am Ende größer als Dein Lebenswille aber jetzt bist Du hoffentlich an einem besseren Ort, an dem Du keinen Schmerz und keine Einsamkeit mehr fühlst…

Mach’s gut, kleiner Charlie, wir werden Dich in Erinnerung behalten und hoffen dass Du in Deinen letzten Momenten etwas von der Liebe, die wir Dir gegeben haben gefühlt hast.

05/06/2022

We had some busy days and are really sorry that we can’t update you as much as we’d like to but here are last day’s news 🤗

Tuesday night we prepared everything to get Laura, Merve and Yvette out of their aviary to bring them to the release station. Boy, that was a ride! Normally when the little ones are getting bigger they usually seek for shelter in their drey and it’s sort of easy to get the whole thing out, put it in a big transport box, give them some rest over night and drive them to the station first thing next morning. But this time it was different: They jumped all over the place in the aviary so it took us like two hours or so to get them out of there and it became really late. Luckily none of them was bitey so it was only exhausting for all of us but not painful. Hooray! 😅

Releasing them was not much of a deal - they refused to get out so we just hung the drey onto the next tree branch in the aviary there. No big goodbye this time. But: There was already one inhabitant living there whom you see on the picture (we’ve put some pictures of the other ones there, too but mostly out of documentary reasons, they’re far from aesthetic 😅). This little guy’s name is A-Hörnchen and we’ve known him for a couple of days because we coordinated everything with the station he’s been. He’s a couple of weeks older than the three girls and spent most of his time alone because he had to recover from some sort of disease. But we’re sure now he’s with his kind he’s going to catch up and become a true Eichhorn aswell with the help of his new friends ❤️

After our visit there we of course took some time to give Jean-Luc a proper burial. His grave is in the woods near the aviary where the other Hörnchen are. He’s now finally where he belongs 😭

Goodbye, Laura, Merve and Yvette - you were a truly weird bunch and we hope you’ll find your place in this world soon and be good friends for A-Hörnchen and teach him everything he needs to know! We love you!

31/05/2022

A little update on our current situation 🤗

We weren’t able to drive Laura, Merve and Yvette to the release station last weekend because they didn’t have a free aviary by then - but this also means that Sina, Friedrich, Karl, Edith and Alma whom we brought over there last time are now officially released and living their normal Eichhorn lifes, yay! 🥳
We called the station yesterday and made sure they’ve got room available so our plan now is to catch the three from the aviary tonight as late as possible and take them on their last road trip tomorrow in the morning. That’s a little inconvenient for us because we had to reschedule some work related stuff but as always: Hörnchen first! We’re pretty sure they are going to appreciate it, at least in their own ways…

And while we think the three are still sort of okay living in the aviary and could theoretically take some more days there during the last days Krabbi (seen here) and Patrick showed us that they’re certainly ready for their next step! When we open their box Patrick usually likes to flee into their little house and pretends he’s either dead or just really grumpy whilst Krabbi usually starts climbing around to show us her skills. So, when everything goes by plan after bringing little Laura, Merve and Yvette to the station we’ll set up our aviary as fast as possible and have those two move over 🥰
We still hesitate a little when it comes to taking new guests because there’s really lots of other stuff ahead but that’s after all nothing we can decide, so maybe soon our next guests will arrive. Who will it be? We’ll see! ❤️

(and again - translation in the comments)

26/05/2022

Well, first here are some pictures of Krabbi and Patrick from the last days 🥲

Both are still at least sort of comfortable in their box but we can already tell it’s only a matter of days until they’ll happily move into the aviary.

So most likely this weekend we’ll take some time to prepare everything for them. This is usually a really packed day: First we have to catch the aviary’s current inhabitants (sometimes it takes a couple of minutes, sometimes hours, always depending on their will of being caught 😅 - we’re sure it won’t be easy with Laura, Merve and Yvette this time) then organize a car and drive them to the release station. We usually when we don’t have any babies waiting at home stay there for some time to see if everything’s right with the guys (maybe we even meet some of our older guests but this happens really rarely) and have a little chat with the nice people there. Then back home we have to disassemble the aviary to clean everything thoroughly. In addition to mopping and steaming the Hörnchen room we’ll also use an ozone generator to get rid of the smell. After this we’re going to refurnish, prepare new snacks and finally when it’s not too late let the new inhabitants move in. This all takes most part of the day and even if everything goes by plan the flat looks horrible afterwards 🤷‍♂️ - but trust us, it’s all worth it! ❤️

Friends of Eichhorn

20/05/2024

22/02/2023

08/01/2023

31/10/2022

03/10/2022

27/09/2022

04/08/2022

02/08/2022

01/08/2022

19/07/2022

17/07/2022

15/07/2022

29/06/2022

06/06/2022

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