Basic Trope: A young character adopts a baby wild animal and either has to release the animal back to the wild, tries but fails to release it back to the wild, or the animal dies.
- Straight: Nine-year-old Alice finds a baby squirrel in the forest and adopts him, naming him Bob. When Bob grows up, her mother Carol makes her set him free.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice adopts a whole litter of baby squirrels.
- All the kids in town adopt a baby animal each.
- Alice outright makes a wild-animal nursery in her backyard.
- Downplayed:
- Bob is an adolescent squirrel.
- Alice only has Bob stay the night.
- Justified: Bob was orphaned and needed looking after, but squirrels should still not be pets.
- Inverted:
- Bob is an elderly squirrel.
- Bob adopts Alice.
- Bob is Alice's kitten. She tries to make him into a wild cat, but it doesn't work out.
- Subverted: Alice appears to be carrying Bob home, but she's actually taking him to the humane society.
- Double Subverted: When the humane society announces they've got no room for Bob, Alice adopts him.
- Parodied: Alice has to release Bob into the wild but can't see why because she hangs out with Dave who keeps a space creature, Ellen who keeps a fox, and Fred who keeps a unicorn.
- Zigzagged: Alice adopts a litter of squirrel babies. One she keeps, one dies, one gets sent away, and one she tries to send away but it comes back.
- Averted: Alice does not adopt a baby wild animal.
- Enforced:
- Lampshaded: "I know this ain't gonna work out, but who cares! You're so adorable!"
- Invoked: Bob pretends to be orphaned in hopes that a human will adopt him.
- Exploited:
- Defied: Alice sees Bob and considers adopting him, but decides not to.
- Discussed: "My cousin took home a baby squirrel. Looked after it until it grew up."
- Conversed: "Oh no... She's adopting an exotic pet... I've seen this too many times, she's gonna have to send it back and I'm a sucker for that ending!"
- Implied: A photo of Alice holding a baby squirrel is seen.
- Deconstructed: Bob has no idea how to survive in the wild.
- Reconstructed: Before releasing him into the wild, Alice and Carol give Bob lessons in "nature simulators" to teach him how to survive.
- Played for Laughs: Funny moments happen when Alice awkwardly tries to keep Bob a secret from Carol.
- Played for Drama: Bob dies and we get a Very Special Episode about death.
Back to Pet Baby Wild Animal.
