Bill Hamlet sent us this photo and story about his dad’s pet squirrel.

Around 1920 in Pittsboro, my dad, Chris Hamlet, found a very young fledgling squirrel on the ground under an oak tree in his front yard. He talked his mother, Martha Hamlet, into nursing the squirrel using an eyedropper and small spoon. The baby squirrel survived and became Dad's close pet. He would take the squirrel to school inside his shirt.

As it aged out it bit him several times on his chest. As kids our dad showed us the scar marks on his chest from the squirrel bites. We were not sure that we believed the story until I recently came across this picture as proof.

Any more vintage Chatham County pet stories out there? Send photos if you have them to history@chathamhistory.org!

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