Squirrel With Injured Legs Gets Ingenious Prosthetic With Wheels
Alf is the little squirrel who can wheel himself around now.
This February, Karamel the squirrel was caught in a trap set for wild animals in Turkey’s southeastern province of Batman. Luckily for the squirrel, 19-year old Rüzgar Alkan walked by and noticed the injured animal. Alkan told the Turkish Hürriyet at the time:
“I found it in the woods. It couldn’t move. I had to do something so I took it to a veterinarian in the center of Batman, using what little money I had. The vet said the situation was serious and an expert vet should check it, so we started researching what we could do.”
Eventually Alkan found computer engineer Tayfun Demir, a squirrel breeder. Working as part of a group alongside orthopedists Mustafa Gültekin and Tolgay Şatana as well as physical therapist Eylem Küçük, Alkan took the bus to Istanbul where he handed the squirrel off to Demir. Alf, as Alkan named the squirrel, was in surgery for six hours at before emerging with this prosthetic. Platinum plates were were fixed in its four broken legs.
“Squirrels are considered like a species of mouse. So they are killed immediately wherever they are seen. But they are living creatures that can live in harmony with people. Awareness needs to be created in Turkey in this regard,” said Demir after Alf’s surgery.
While it’s undoubtedly good news for squirrels everywhere, once they get their hands on bionic power there’s no telling what else they could ruin.
See more information at: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a19724248/squirrel-with-injured-legs-gets-ingenious-prosthetic-with-wheels/
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