Angie Harmon Shares How She Rescued Her Pet Squirrel: 'The First Thing He Saw Was Me' (Exclusive)

"He's my baby. I love him so much," the "Buried in Barstow" actress exclusively tells PEOPLE of Thomas, her three-month-old squirrel

Angie Harmon is explaining how she started living that squirrel mom life!

The Buried in Barstow star, known for her roles on Law & Order and Rizzoli & Isles, exclusively shared with PEOPLE how she came to find her new friend, a 3-month-old squirrel named Thomas.

"I mean, when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was me," Harmon, 51, tells PEOPLE.

"So my youngest daughter found him on the sidewalk, and there was no tree to put him on," the mom of three recalls of the discovery made by her daughter Emery, 14, who has two older sisters, Avery, 18, and Finley, 20.

When Harmon heard about Emery's furry find, she told her daughter to "go find the nearest tree, put them under it," and wait for the mother to return.

Unfortunately, the mother squirrel never returned to the area when Emery found the newborn rodent. I

"So, I was like, 'Okay, I'll come get him,'" Harmon says. "And then I've had him ever since."

Related: Angie Harmon Talks Adjusting to Menopause, Life After 50: 'Your Body Just Isn't Yours Anymore' (Exclusive)

When "tiny" Thomas did open his eyes, it was about "one month later."

"He was like a newborn," the actress says about caring for the young squirrel.

"I literally had to get up every hour and a half to feed him. I mean, I didn't sleep for a month," she adds. "It was brutal."

Harmon first had to "figure out how to feed him."

"He gets this puppy milk powder, and then I mix it with goat milk," Harmon says of Thomas' first meals. "Now we're venturing into all new kinds of foods."

Feeding the squirrel often comes with a few scratches, but Harmon doesn't mind.

"I happily accept the scratches. He's my baby. I love him so much," she says.

Related: Bella the Squirrel Is Nuts About the South Carolina Family That Saved Her Life, So She Adopted Them

The Texas native, who is based in North Carolina, says her girls are now used to their mom's affection for Thomas and have bonded with him, but "not as much as I have," Harmon says.

Harmon notes that after posting about Thomas on social media, she started hearing from many self-proclaimed "squirrel experts."

"It's so funny because when something like this happens, all of a sudden, all your friends come out of the woodwork. They're all squirrel experts. I'm like, I thought you were a vodka expert," she laughs.

She first posted about her new rodent friend on Instagram on Sept. 15 and often uses the hashtag "#squirrelmomproblems" on subsequent social media posts about Thomas.

"Totally NUTS about this little guy!!! (See what I did there?😉🐿️🌰🍼) I haven't slept in two weeks, but I've never been happier," Harmon wrote alongside her first post with the creature. "Everyone, meet Thomas, Thomas, meet everyone!"

Harmon plans to introduce Thomas to new things as he grows up.

"He doesn't go outside yet. So right now we're in the kitchen, and he is literally flying around the place all over me, and he'll jump off the counter, and then he comes back to me," she says.

Though the animal lover has a household of pets, including three dogs and two cats ("all rescues," she says), they know not to get near Thomas.

Harmon's "middle dog" Oliver, a German shepherd/beagle mix, has even helped Harmon feed Thomas.

"When I would oversleep when Thomas was an 'infant,' Oliver would bark at me to wake me up to go feed him," the actress shares.

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Harmon adds that she is prepared to release Thomas when the animal seems ready but knows it will be tough.

"I'm attached, but I don't want to be selfish. I want him to be a squirrel, and I want him to be outside and do all that, but I am not going to release him if he doesn't have the skills to be out there. That's like putting a three-year-old in a mall and saying, 'Well, good luck!' I can't do it."

"But he's just awesome," she adds. "And he's getting there!"

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