When Tom Legas found a baby red squirrel sitting under his parked garden tractor in the community of Indian Head earlier this summer, he didn't think much of it.
"I saw my dog sniffing around the tractor so I went over and he was licking this baby squirrel," Legas said. The squirrel looked like it had mousse in its hair from all the licking the dog was doing, he said.
Legas put on gloves and carried the baby squirrel back to the woods.
"He came back over to the house right away," Legas said.
And that, along with some salty peanuts, began the unusual friendship between Legas, his dog and that baby squirrel.
"I've lived here about 20 years and I've never seen anything like this," Legas said.
Barry Zaffuto, habitat management supervisor, said the Pennsylvania Game Commission does not encourage feeding wild animals because it could be dangerous to both the animal and the individual in the long run.
He added, however, that while the baby squirrel's behavior is unusual, it's not unexplainable.
"With an animal that young, it just didn't have time to develop its fear of humans and other things," Zaffuto said.
Since he discovered the squirrel, Legas and his dog go out to the edge of the woods every morning and call for the little creature, which has been dubbed Buddy.
"He used to come whenever you called him, but lately he just comes down when he wants to," Legas said, adding that the squirrel will go to anyone, but on the squirrel's terms.
The animal seems to enjoy taking a ride around the yard in Legas' cargo-pants pocket while Legas does chores. He also runs around the yard with the dog and "plays."
"I don't know why, but the dog has never tried to hurt it," Legas said. "The squirrel will sit on the dog's paws, but when it tries to crawl up onto the dog, that's when the dog shakes him off because I think the little claws pinch him."
In fact, the squirrel even shares the dog's water bowl after eating a few salty peanuts.
Legas said he's sure that over time Buddy eventually will go out on his own and not bother to visit Legas anymore.
"It's really the best kind of pet to have," he said. "It comes around and you play with it, but then it goes away and fends for itself."
Legas looks forward to seeing the squirrel every day and knows that one day it will be an interesting story to pass on to friends and family.
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