The mission
A home for backyard squirrel communities — and the people who care about them.
TreePuppies blends nature livestream entertainment with a wildlife stewardship community, a turnkey hosting service, and a donor-supported charitable mission centered on squirrel welfare.
What makes us different
Wildlife livestreams aren't new. What is new: doing the whole thing end-to-end, with the infrastructure to back up the words.
Turnkey
Hosting, not DIY
Other platforms leave it to enthusiasts to rig their own gear. We don't. Hosts purchase a box-and-camera bundle through us; curated local tree-service partners install it; the same partners handle quarterly maintenance. We remove the biggest barrier to becoming a wildlife host — the technical and physical complexity of getting a camera 20 feet up a tree safely.
Activated
A licensed rehabber network
Every platform says they care about wildlife. We build the infrastructure to prove it. Licensed wildlife rehabbers and wildlife vets are first-class partners, with public directory pages, case tracking tied to specific Tree Puppies, and campaign funding routed directly to their invoices. When a squirrel in a Scurry needs care, the network activates.
Funded
Multiple paths to give
Recurring tiered donor subscriptions fund operations. One-time donations support individual Tree Puppies. Pass-through giving routes to up to a dozen partner nonprofits. Targeted campaigns fund specific squirrels, Scurries, or rehabbers. A 501(c)(3) structure provides tax-deductible pathways where appropriate.
Named squirrels, not just cameras.
The heart of the product isn't the live feed — it's the individual Tree Puppy profile. A page for Peanut. For Sir Acorn. For the mother raising her first litter at Tree Puppy Palms, with her story, her sightings across Dreys in the Scurry, and her rehab history if she's ever needed one.
This is what transforms anonymous nature footage into something visitors recognize, follow, and care about. A Tree Puppy you've watched for six weeks isn't generic wildlife anymore. She's Peanut.
- Scurry
- A registered property that hosts one or more nesting boxes. Named and stewarded by a Host.
- Drey
- An individual nesting box within a Scurry. One camera per Drey.
- Host
- The steward of a Scurry — identity-verified, responsible for the property and for the Tree Puppies that live there.
- Tree Puppy
- A squirrel. (We're not going to be precious about the word 'squirrel' — but calling them Tree Puppies reminds us what they are to us.)
How money flows
Four streams, cleanly separated. Transparency about where money goes is a founding value.
Donor subscriptions
Recurring monthly contributions at tiered levels (named for squirrel habitat — Acorn, Sapling, Oak). Stripe-processed. Directed to the TreePuppies 501(c)(3) for general operations.
One-time donations
Direct contributions to TreePuppies or pass-through donations earmarked for a specific partner nonprofit the donor chooses.
Campaigns
Hosts can run fundraising campaigns. Launches as external links (GoFundMe and similar) with clear disclosure that funds don't flow through TreePuppies. Phase 3+ introduces native campaigns routed through the 501(c)(3) after attorney review.
Commerce
Host purchases: boxes, cameras, installation services, maintenance subscriptions. Phase 3 introduces retail (merch, equipment for Hosts-outside-the-network, educational materials).
Where we are
We're building this in public, one phase at a time.
Phase 0
NowWeeks 1–4
The skeleton
The site you're looking at. Auth, database, public pages, Scurry directory, map, host signup flow.
Phase 1
Months 2–4
Live video
First pilot Scurries stream in. Donor tier subscriptions, one-time donations, squirrel profile pages.
Phase 2
Months 4–7
The network
501(c)(3) formation, external-link campaigns, tree-service partner portal, rehabber partner network and directory.
Phase 3+
Months 7+
Beyond
Retail, native campaign fundraising, partner payouts, community features, mobile app.
We're looking for founding collaborators.
Founding Host partners. Licensed rehabbers and wildlife vets. Local tree-service partners. Technical collaborators. Founding donors. If any of that fits — reach out.