Tag Archives: gray squirrels

Squirrel Drug-Running

A Russian squirrel took off with a baggie of drugs, teens chase, police get curious...you can't make this stuff up.

My Thumbnail

Does this squirrel dress better than most college students?

Sneezy the campus squirrel has gained notoriety (and much media coverage) for her high tolerance for being dressed in cute outfits. A "squirrel whispering" student at Penn State has even turned this squirrel's cuteness into an enterprise, including a Facebook page with over 25,000 "likes." Is this squirrel-sploitation or just ridiculously cute? Is this putting Berkeley squirrels to shame?

My Thumbnail

...continue reading →

Ground squirrel too tubby; gets stuck in own burrow

Stocking up for the winter is a good thing, unless it's too much of a good thing, as in the case of this ground squirrel. Luckily he was helped out by some passers-by.

My Thumbnail

Squirrel flirts with death at NASCAR race

In another "squirrel vs sports" moment, a squirrel almost got squished by sprinting across the racetrack at a recent NASCAR event.

My Thumbnail

...continue reading →

Crime and squirrels

A mummified squirrel body was discovered nailed to a tree in Ottawa, Canada.

and a police officer was called to assist with a “trapped squirrel.” It’s not clear from the report where exactly this squirrel was stuck. But I love small town police logs! Teens sneaking out of the house! Stolen chainsaws! Men fighting over tin cans! Suspicious persons!

More dried up squirrels

taxied

 

Someone paid $70K for a pair of taxidermied, boxing squirrels. That’s what I’d call disposable income.

 

 

 

...continue reading →

Squirrels and crime

A man was arrested for heroin possession after he was reported chasing squirrels with a stick in Boise, Idaho.

Police were called when a grey squirrel refused to get out of a woman's handbag in England. The police officer then committed a crime himself, when he released the invasive squirrel back into the wild (law requires that they should instead be "humanely dispatched").

My Thumbnail

And in the pet squirrels are a bad idea column...a woman in Texas (oh Texas) was bitten by her neighbor's squirrel, B.B., needing stitches and antibiotics after the attack. Keeping a squirrel as a pet is actually not legal in Texas (at least not without some paperwork). The good news: squirrels don't typically carry rabies.

My Thumbnail

...continue reading →

 

I'm about to dive into the Sante Fe Science Writing Workshop, but I didn't want anyone to be squirrel deprived...so here goes this week's This Week in Squirrels

Dog goes crazy...over a squirrel

doggoescrazySquirrels don't just make people crazy...they've got an effect on dogs too. If you haven't seen this cute video of a dog making some interesting sounds when he spots a squirrel, check this out!

 

 

 

Like everything else, squirrel hunting is big in Texas

Squirrels used to be the most popular game animal in Texas, which has no "bag limit." But changes in the habitat have made gray "cat" squirrels more elusive, and since they are legally considered game animals, there is no management of squirrel habitat in the Lone Star state. Deer hunters dominate the land, squeezing out squirrel hunting. But there are still plenty of folks who want to nosh on skillet fried squirrel.

My Thumbnail

...continue reading →

Squirrel hunting...reason for concern?

Police in Carboro, NC were concerned when there were reports of drive-by squirrel hunting within city limits. The hunters couldn't be bothered to get out of their car to take a shot at the rodents, and hunting in the city is illegal.

A man in Milford, CT who shot a squirrel in his yard was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm. An unregistered assault rifle was seized (although that's not what he shot the squirrel with), as well as several large-capacity magazines.

 

Squirrels cause problems

impaledA dog was impaled on a post after he got distracted and chased a squirrel. Luckily he's okay!

 

A woman flipped her car to avoid hitting a squirrel. The car hit a telephone pole, but the driver only suffered minor injuries.

 

 

...continue reading →

Squirrels cause power problems...

sanjoseA Bay Area squirrel caused a power outage which ultimately disrupted Caltrain service for commuters and cause phone problems for 42 local schools. Sources say the squirrel did not survive.

 

 

 

A squirrel also caused a power outage in Anderson, Indiana.

...and fire

A squirrel nested in a North Carolina attic, but then set its nest on fire after chewing on electrical cords. The second story of the home was damaged, but no humans were injured.

...continue reading →

• 1 Comment

I just read the amazing article on the history of the urbanization of the Eastern Gray Squirrel by Dr. Etienne Benson! I highly recommend that you read it yourself if you can, but as soon as this one hit the social media circuit, I knew a blog post was in order.

"...and so it shall be...humans will provide me food and shelter..."

"...and so it shall be...humans will provide me food and shelter..."

While the phrase “in a nutshell” may be overused when summarizing research and stories about squirrels, I’ll give you a brief overview. Once upon a time, there were no urban squirrels! Until the mid-1800’s, squirrels were nowhere to be found in urban parks, and the only squirrels you would see in the cities were pets.

...continue reading →