- Once again, people must be reminded not to feed wildlife.
There’s a violent monster on the loose. It will attack anyone, shredding their flesh with pointy teeth and sharp claws.
This nightmare spawn is… A squirrel.
In California, a local squirrel has turned into a bushy-tailed menace. Described by locals as “very mean,” the critter has injured several people in a series of attacks.
And we’re not talking about small scratches, either. At least three of the squirrel’s victims had to go to the emergency room after the rodent ripped and tore their arms and legs.
The neighborhood the squirrel is terrorizing has put up signs warning about the danger lurking in its trees. Local residents live in fear, terrified that the squirrel might attack at any moment.
Luckily for them, the squirrel hasn’t been seen recently. Perhaps it has left the area and moved elsewhere.
Or maybe it’s out there. Watching. Waiting. Ready to strike.
Attacks Out of Nowhere
The rampaging squirrel has been menacing a neighborhood in San Rafael, a city some 15 miles north of San Francisco. Its reign of terror began around mid-September.
Since then, the squirrel has attacked several people, of whom at least three sustained injuries serious enough to warrant a trip to ER. Granted, there’s no conclusive proof that it’s the same squirrel behind all the attacks, but how many psycho squirrels can there be in one neighborhood?
Joe and Marie Ayoob had a squirrel encounter in their backyard. It seemed friendly at first, but then it started ripping out chunks of their fence — before jumping on Mr. Ayoob’s head.
“She jumped on his head, scratched his ear and then landed on his leg. He pushed her off, and she finally scurried away,” Mrs. Ayoob recalled for KQED.
The couple visited ER afterward to get Mr. Ayoob’s injuries checked out. Fortunately, he’ll be fine.
Joan Heblack had a similar experience. She was on her routine morning walk on September 21, when the squirrel bum rushed her out of nowhere.
“I didn’t see it come from anywhere, I wasn’t by any trees or bushes — I was walking in the middle of the street,” said Heblack.
“I was trying to bat it off, but it wouldn’t get off. It just clung more, and I was swinging my leg around and screaming.”
Heblack, too, visited ER and received antibiotics for her wounds. Multiple similar stories from San Rafael have also been reported in local media.
‘ATTACK SQUIRREL’
Now, with the violent squirrel on the loose, the neighborhood is taking whatever precautions it can to protect its residents. One of those measures is informative flyers posted in public spaces.
“ATTACK SQUIRREL BEWARE,” the posters read.
“This is not a joke. More than 5 people have been attacked by a very mean squirrel over the past few days.”
According to the posters, locals are working with Marin Wildlife to catch the perpetrator. In the meantime, however, residents are encouraged to avoid the area where the squirrel has been active.
Perhaps the critter knows its jig is up, though, because it seems to have disappeared. According to locals who spoke to ABC 7, the small beast hasn’t been seen for “several days.”
Maybe San Rafael can finally be at peace. Maybe.
Don’t Feed It After Midnight (or Ever)
But why would a squirrel be acting so violently? The answer, according to squirrel experts, is very simple — someone has probably been feeding it.
If squirrels get fed regularly, they’ll start losing their fear of people. Eventually, things go even further, and they begin to expect food from humans they encounter.
Should that person then not have a handful of nuts immediately available, well, that won’t do. The impatient squirrel will respond by attempting to beat the treats out of you.
Fortunately, squirrels don’t typically carry rabies and are even less likely to transmit it to people. Their scratch and bite wounds can still get infected, though, so it’s a smart move to see a doctor after a squirrel attack.
It’s not even that unusual for squirrels to go nuts, and they can be surprisingly dangerous. There have been many cases of it happening around the world, like the 2021 U.K. maniac squirrel that attacked 18 people in 48 hours.
This, people, is why you should never feed squirrels.