{"id":294845,"date":"2026-02-12T21:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/294845\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T21:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:07:10","slug":"squirrel-with-head-like-a-bike-helmet-has-no-idea-hes-a-little-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/294845\/","title":{"rendered":"Squirrel With Head Like A ‘Bike Helmet’ Has No Idea He’s A Little Different"},"content":{"rendered":"

A woman in Boise, Idaho, recently noticed a group of squirrels in her backyard bullying one of their own. The larger group would pick on a tiny squirrel, preventing him from getting near the food.<\/p>\n

Peering closer, the woman thought the squirrel\u2019s head looked odd on his little body, almost like it was swollen.<\/p>\n

Tye Lombardi<\/p>\n

A neighbor led the woman to Tye Lombardi, a local permitted squirrel rescuer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment I saw the photos, I thought, \u2018That looks like hydrocephalus,\u2019\u201d Lombardi told The Dodo. \u201cThe shape of his head, the way it was swollen, I knew he had fluid buildup putting pressure on his brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ATye Lombardi<\/p>\n

After two days spent observing the squirrel, Lombardi trapped him. Up close, the scruffy squirrel was unlike any patient Lombardi had seen in his 35 years of animal care.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy immediate concern was whether he could survive long-term and what quality of life we could give him,\u201d Lombardi said. \u201cI wanted to get him to a vet as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vet confirmed Lombardi\u2019s suspicion that fluid was building up around the squirrel\u2019s brain. But an X-ray revealed a promising surprise.<\/p>\n

\"AnTye Lombardi<\/p>\n

\u201cHis brain is actually fully enclosed within his skull,\u201d Lombardi said, \u201cwhich isn’t always the case with hydrocephalus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond that, there was a large calcification on the front portion of his head. In a way, the little animal had two skulls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joke that it\u2019s his bike helmet,\u201d Lombardi said.
\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AnTye Lombardi<\/p>\n

These developments meant that, with routine care and medication, the squirrel, who was only about 6 months old, had a chance at a semi-normal life.<\/p>\n

Lombardi named him Ein, after Einstein.<\/p>\n

\"ATye Lombardi<\/p>\n

At Lombardi\u2019s house, Ein lives on the top level of a condo with three other special-needs squirrels. He can interact with his mellow housemates as much as he wants, then retreat to his blanketed penthouse when he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

\u201cEin is incredibly gentle and cautious,\u201d Lombardi said. \u201cHe’s shy and prefers to stay hidden under his blankets most of the time \u2026 He has never once bitten me, which, for a wild male squirrel, is extraordinary, and I think it\u2019s because he knows I am genuinely trying to help him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ATye Lombardi<\/p>\n

Twice a day, Ein takes steroids to reduce swelling in the short term. Two other medications, which he\u2019ll be on indefinitely, manage the fluids.<\/p>\n

So far, the protocol works \u2014 but whenever Lombardi has tried reducing the dosage, the swelling returns.<\/p>\n

\"AAfter Ein’s swelling had gone down. | Tye Lombardi<\/p>\n

Though this means Ein will never be released back into the wild, he hit the jackpot with a space at Lombardi\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to eventually provide him with a large, private enclosure outside,\u201d Lombardi said, \u201cso he can be exposed to the natural world in such a way that he can interact with it at his own level of comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tye Lombardi<\/p>\n

Ein doesn\u2019t like to cuddle. He loves his alone time and spends his days eating and drinking without interference from bullies. Lombardi is working on building trust while letting timid Ein set the pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a gradual process, but we’re making progress every day,\u201d Lombardi said, adding, \u201cEvery animal deserves a chance at a good life, even when they’re not \u2018perfect.\u2019”<\/p>\n

If you would like to support Lombardi’s animals, you can purchase items from his wishlist<\/a>.\u00a0\"'Special'<\/a>‘Special’ Squirrel In Couple’s Backyard Stands Out With His Signature Wobble\u201cTipsy is a fighter.”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman in Boise, Idaho, recently noticed a group of squirrels in her backyard bullying one of their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1285,61,60,140480,3530,82,62584,140481,84904,1284,1282,263,25533],"class_list":{"0":"post-294845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-daily-dodo","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-rescued-squirrel","12":"tag-sarah-ashley","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-squirrel","15":"tag-squirrel-rehab","16":"tag-squirrels","17":"tag-standard","18":"tag-the-dodo","19":"tag-wildlife","20":"tag-wildlife-encounters"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}