Text and photo by Marcy Merrill

Somebody left these tiny, 5-day-old puppies in a box outside the Hoquiam library. For now, they are being cared for by the folks at Harbor Rescue.

Every two hours, these pups are being bottle-fed. They continue to squeak, “Mom! Mom!” (or at least, that’s what they appear to be squeaking). There are eight of them — five male and three female. The girls are Hope, Loren and Ophira (as in Eisenberg). The boys are Mr. Potts (as in Harry Potter), Taylor, Dayton, Mikey and Myers.

Hope almost died, unable to thrive at first. Some 30% of newborns don’t make it, even under a mother’s care, in the first week of life. Taylor, the chocolate boy, is the runt of the litter. It took four days to convince him that he wanted formula.

These pups won’t be available for adoption until about Jan. 7. However, you can fill out an adoption application at www.harborrescue.net or call 360-589-0109. You can also find Harbor Rescue on Facebook.