Kayaker rescues drowning squirrel after the woodland critter swims 100ft out into a Cornish river
- Tom Wildblood, 43, was guiding a group of kayakers across a river in Cornwall
- As he paddled past the struggling rodent, he first thought it could be a stick
- He believes the squirrel was around 100 or 130 feet into the centre of the river
- Last year Tom said he rescued a badger from the base of a cliff near St Agnes
A kayaker has rescued a drowning squirrel after it swam 100 feet into the centre of a Cornish river.
Tom Wildblood, 43, was taking customers on a guided kayak tour along the Helford River near Falmouth, Cornwall, when he came across what he thought was a stick.
But as he got closer he saw that the stick began to move and he soon realised it was a squirrel on the verge of death.
Tom said this wasn’t the first rescue of this kind that he had performed, just last year he rescued a baby badger from the base of a cliff near St Agnes, after it had plummetted 90 feet in to the sea.
Tom Wildblood, pictured, runs Koru Kayaking, and was taking customers on a river trip in Cornwall when he paddled in to the drowning critter
He saw the squirrel, pictured, on the brink of death and dropped it into the kayak for its own safety. He said it ‘clung on for dear life,’ once back in safety
Tom said that when he found the squirrel, it was terrified. He said it looked like it had dropped from a tree and swam 100-130 feet
Knowing he had to save the critter, he picked it up from the water with his paddle and dropped it in the kayak for safety.
He told the BBC that he was used to seeing seals and dolphins in the water but this was his first experience of witnessing a swimming squirrel.
Tom put the creature in his lap.
Tom said: ‘I was out with two customers when I came across the squirrel.
‘I had been telling them all about the history of the area and keeping them safe.
‘It was in the middle of the Helford, it looked like it had dropped of a tree on the Lizard side so it must have swam a good 30 or 40 metres (100-130 feet).
After he rescued the squirrel, he said he put it in a tree but it remained ‘frozen’ from shock
‘It was nearly dead when I found it, I picked it up and put it between my legs and it clung on for dear life.’
He continued: ‘I took the squirrel to the nearest beach and set it down but it just sat there frozen.
‘I decided to put it in the most natural place for a squirrel – a tree – but it was still just frozen.
‘It must have been in shock, because after about 15 minutes it shook itself off and ran up the tree.
‘We love all wildlife, whether it’s marine or woodland critters, and will always stop to help an animal in distress.’