Little squirrel keeps coming back to the family who rescued her 9 years ago

It's been nine years since a squirrel named Bella was released back into the wild, and she still returns to visit the family who saved her.

Bella hangs out for a bit, sitting on her family member's laps each time she stops by nearly every day, as reported by The Dodo.

The little squirrel was joyfully accepting nuts, and she doesn't really like to be pet. She simply wants to be close to her family. Just as much as she does, they cherish her visits.

In 2009, Bella, who was only a month old at the time, was badly harmed when she was attacked by an owl.

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Fortunately, she was discovered by a wildlife rescue group and took her in. The group then placed her with Brantley Harrison and her family.

The poor creature remained with the Harrisons until spring since she wasn't old enough to be released back into the wild.

Bella was raised alongside three other squirrels - Moe, Larry, and Curly.

In an interview with The Dodo, Brantley said, "Her personality was not any different than any other squirrel I have ever raised while she was in my care.”

“The main objective is to return them all back into the wild so I never treated her like a pet. She acted no different than the others,” she added.

When the Harrison family finally released the four squirrels back into the wild, Bella wasn’t ready to say farewell to them.

“She started to come back for a treat or two within days of being released,” Brantley said. “The others came back too for a few days which is very typical and then after a week or so they usually stop coming by and getting close to you. Bella sits right at the front door waiting for someone to notice she has come by for a visit. She has even resorted to jumping over to the dining room window to peer in for someone to see her.”

Brantley continued, "My husband will be running late for something and rushes out the door to be greeted by her, and he happily runs back inside to the big bowl of walnuts we leave by the front door to grab a handful and goes back out to spend some time with her."

One day, Bella returned to the Harrisons with an injured foot and pregnant.

"It was truly amazing to watch the baby I raised raise her own babies," said Brantley.

Bella welcomed her three babies into the world, and the Harrison family cared for them all until they were old enough to be released.