Red Squirrel Orphans

Photo by Alex De Mora

You know how squirrels stand all hunched over a nut, tightly grasping it with their tiny claws and then shoving it into their mouths so their cheeks get all puffed? Everyone loves that. Know what else everyone loves? Orphans (at least the ones in cartoons and books). So imagine if you took two baby squirrels, painted their coats a nice reddish hue, and then gave them a backstory about how a gust of wind knocked their wee nest out of a tree and then suddenly they were running around the streets of London, all alone and cold. Are you crying yet? You should be, because that happened to three sisters and one brother who live together at the Sanctuary Wildlife Care Center in Morpeth, England. When we went over for a visit, the four little ones were scampering all over their caretaker’s bedroom. One of them tried to jump straight into a full mug of coffee! Can it get any cuter? Probably not.

Watch a brand-new episode of The Cute Show! featuring these furry, Oliver Twist-esque rodents later this month on VICE.com.