Mitch-Stuart, RIP

This is a sad story about 2 baby tree rats who fell from their nest and were rescued by Treena, one of CCF’s Earthwatch volunteers. They were tiny, no bigger than the tip of your thumb. One died quickly after but the other hung on in there. So when Treena had to go home she passed the lil guy onto myself and Lizzie, one of my CCF colleagues. Lizzie and I had a bit of a disagreement about what to name him, I wanted Mitch and she wanted Stuart (cos that’s original isn’t it?!!), we made a compromise and hence Mitch-Stuart became his name! On our first night together lil Mitch-Stuart sat in my hand as I watched the Goonies. He then spent the night with Lizzie and we spent some quality time together around the breakfast table. However, later that day we found poor Mitch-Stuart almost lifeless in his little box struggling for breath. It was clear that his time was up and so Lizzie performed the delicate procedure of sending him to the light by hurling him at the floor. We then took Mitch-Stuart outside and buried him under a tree, we said a few words, hugged and vowed to always remember the lil bundle of cuteness that was Mitch-Stuart!