Squirrel News

White Squirrel Prep Classic basketball tourament

We previously reported on white albino squirrels, including those in Olney, Illinois.  Well, they're at it again - the people.  Introducing the White Squirrel Prep Classic, a girls basketball tournament, I presume.

It's getting cold in Scotland - and the squirrels know it

The word from Scotland is that it's Winter and that it's getting cold.  The Scotland Red Squirrels are stocking up for the Winter.

Squirrel starts fire in "City of Destiny"

A mischievous squirrel started a fire in Des Plaines, Illinois, the "City of Destiny".

Squirrel causes power outage for 500 in Regina, Saskatchewan

A squirrel on a power line knocked out power for 500 in Regina, Saskatchewan.  And if you need to know, Saskatchewan is in Canada in it's beautiful.

Is the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Mascot Sumi a Squirrel?

Is it just me or does the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics mascot Sumi look like a squirrel?  From Vancouver2010.com:

Sumi is an animal spirit who lives in the mountains of British Columbia. Like many Canadians, Sumi's background is drawn from many places. He wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear.

So he has a whale hat, can fly and has bear legs, but what is he?  Looks like a squirrel to me.

Squirrel breaks nose of famous Finnish opera singer in Helsinki (Finland)

A squirrel jumped into the spokes of a bicycle being ridden by Finnish opera singer Esa Ruuttunen, causing him to fall and break his nose on the ground.  He had been pedaling on his way to the Helsinki Opera House for the opera Kaarmeen Hetki ("Hour of the Serpent").

The squirrel didn't survive, but I have included a picture of a Finnish squirrel taken from this photo website of a person from Finland.

Furrito the squirrel is the main character in the Sega game Tropical Madness

A Sega game called Tropical Madness features a squirrel named Furrito.  It looks to be similar to Sonic the Hedgehog.

Baby squirrel orphaned by lightning now in good hands in McAlester, Oklahoma

Here's a sad story that has a happy ending.  A bad storm  in McAlester, Oklahoma, struck a tree, shattering tree bark across a radius of 100 feet and killing a momma squirrel in the process.  This abandoned a tiny baby squirrel.  The account of an orphaned baby squirrel in McAlester, Oklahoma, is written up in the McAlester News-Capital.  Here's a snippet:

Renagar asked for Lauretta Fontaine, who he said is an animal adoption specialist.  She held the tiny creature gently in her hands. Fontaine instantly mixed up a bottle of powdered puppy formula and poured it in the bottle. After a few tries, the baby squirrel began sucking hungrily.  “It’s got to be fed every two or three hours,” Fontaine said. “That means I’ll be waking up tonight.”  She also took a towel out of a dryer, so the squirrel could nestle in the warm cloth.

So the squirrel is now in good hands.  Appropriately, they've decided to name the squirrel "Lucky".

Squirrels in Uniontown, Bellingham and Oregon cause power outages for 17,500 in late August, bringing our total to 97,500

In August we covered a number of stories where squirrels were causing power outages.  In fact, we identified 80,000 people temporarily went without power due to squirrels.  Here are some new power outages, most of which occurred in the Pacific Northwest.

• Squirrel causes outage for residents near the Washington County Fair Complex in Oregon.  No estimate of the number of people who went without power was given, so we'll conservatively assume at least 10,000 people.
• Squirrel causes power outage for 5,000 people near Uniontown, PA.
• Squirrel in Bellingham, Washington, causes power outage for 2,500 people.

This total of 17,500 brings our total count of people impacted by power outages due to squirrels since mid-August to 97,500.  This means our next power outage due to squirrels will likely push us over the 100,000 level.

Arkansas City names their albino squirrel "Arky"

As a followup to a previous story about a albino squirrel naming contest in Arkansas City, Kansas, the squirrel's name will by "Arky".  Click on picture to enlarge.  See ArkCity.net for many more albino squirrel pictures.

Albino squirrels are very rare and have recessive gene that causes them to have white hair, skin, hands and feet and pink eyes.

UNT squirrel made famous by Albino Squirrel Preservation Society passes away, students hold memorial

A rare albino squirrel that was known to many students at the University of North Texas (UNT) has died.  A mean hawk swooped down and killed the poor albino squirrel, probably becuase it was jealous of the amount of food the squirrel was being fed.

This squirrel was famous at the University of North Texas, so famous that T.J. Zambrano formed a group called the UNT Albino Squirrel Preservation Society.  Per the picture (seen here, click to enlarge), the UNT Albino Squirrel Preservation Society wa s apparently trying to find a name for the squirrel. 

Zambra no and other members of the UNT Albino Squirrel Preservation Society recently met in a courtyard that was the squirrel's "favorite scampering spot".

Students at UNT say that seeing the albino squirrel before an exam would bring them good luck.

While albino squirrels are indeed white squirrels, not all white squirrels are albino squirrels.  True albino squirrels have a recessive gene that limits pigmentation all over, including the eyes.  This is why albino squirrels also have pink eyes and white skin, hands and feet.

The poster in this picture made by the UNT Albino Sq uirrel Preservation Society says that the odd a squirrel will be born albino is 1 in 100,000.

Squirrel haters in Pittsburgh and Dunlap, Iowa

Here are a couple of links to people who hate squirrels, or at the very least have a disregard and lack of respect for squirrels.  I include these here because I don't support hunting for hunting's sake.  These poor squirrels aren't doing people any harm.  And those who go against nature are inviting a bad streak of karma, especially since these family seems to encourage gun use and they likely have guns in the household.  Enough said.

Here are some squirrel haters in Dunlap, Iowa.

Harrison County Conservation will offer a youth squirrel hunt on Saturday, September 9th, 9 a.m.-noon at Schaben Park near Dunlap.  This hunt is for boys and girls ages 12-15 that have successfully completed a hunter safety course... Certified hunting instructors will teach about squirrels and their habits, review gun safety, and individually instruct students during the squirrel hunt. Only guns provided by Harrison County Conservation and Iowa DNR will be used due to liability. Students that are successful in their hunt will be able to take home the cleaned squirrel.

I know I'll never visit Dunlap, Iowa.  Sounds like an unfriendly place.  And here's an article written by squirrel haters in Pittsburgh giving tips on what guns and bullets are best.  I said it earlier, these families invite gun storage in the household and that's just not safe.  Plus, they hate squirrels so they are bad people in my book.

Somebody has to stand up for the squirrels and I will!

Gus, the Camden, Maine, squirrel who lives at the Camden Riverhouse Hotel

Here is a nice heartwarming feature about a squirrel named Gus who lives at the Camden Riverhouse Hotel in Camden, Maine.  Gus showed up after a heavy rain storm last month.  Here is more information from the Village Soup:

"Gus was emaciated when he arrived and we didn't think he was going to survive. In fact, as he hung out at the back door, I was shocked to see that some other animal didn't take him out," said Dickey (Gus' caretaker at th ehotel ).

Feeling sorry for the skinny squirrel, Dickey and his staff left the top of a birdseed bucket open, set out a bowl of water and placed a crate on the deck, which Gus now sleeps in.

Gus spends a lot of time on Dickey's shoulders.

The latest on squirrel diseases: Rodent Plague and West Nile Virus in California

As part of our public education efforts, Squirrel News is also committed to sharing some of the dangers of interacting with squirrels.

First, two squirrels at the Cedar Grove Campground near Palomar, California, have tested positive for rodent plague.  From the CDC: ""Plague is a bacterial disease that can be transmitted to humans through flea bites. Symptoms include a sudden onset of fever, chills and tender swollen lymph nodes.  So far, there have been no locally acquired human cases of plague in San Diego County, according to the DEH."

Next, also in California, West Nile virus has been confirmed in a squirrel.  Here is more information on West Nile virus from the CDC.

Finally, the reported attack squirrel in Orlando did not have rabies as this report confirms.

Squirrel causes power blackout in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay)

A mischievous squirrel caused a power blackout for 10,000 homes (or about 30,000 people) in Mumbai, India a few days ago.  This brings our total power blackouts due to squirrels this week to about 80,000 people.  FYI, Mumbai was formerly called Bombay.

Creetown Heritage Museum (Scotland) offers exhibit featuring live closed-circuit TV coverage of red squirrels

The Creetown Heritage Museum has opened a new exhibit featuring live closed-circuit TV coverage of red squirrels right outside of the museum.  They say that the little squirrels have increased attendance at the museum, partly because the closed-circuit TV allows for close-up viewing of the squirrels in a way that doesn't bother the squirrels.

Scottsdale squirrel with bird in its mouth.

Here's an interesting squirrel story from Scottsdale, Arizona, about a claim that a squirrel had a bird in its mouth:

Besides, there are other fish to fry at the moment. I just got a note from a woman in north Scottsdale who said she had seen a squirrel with a bird in its mouth. That's weird.

Some squirrels, gray and flying squirrels, sometimes will raid a bird's nest for the eggs or the babies, but we don't have any of those around the Valley. We have rock squirrels, and they are not meat-eaters. At least they're not supposed to be. Still, I suppose anything is possible. Maybe it was a rogue, an outlaw, a rock squirrel gone bad.

Sorry, no pics.  Apparently the lady didn't snap any pictures of the little squirrel.

Mall squirrels and a ransacking British squirrel

Two other mischievous squirrel stories to report of tonight are:

Mall squirrel near Tiffany's in Skokie, Illinois, cuts short woman's trip to Nordstrom's:  The woman is filing a lawsuit again the Old Orchard Shopping Center.

Squirrel ransacks house in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (England) while couple is on weekend trip:  This squirrel caused hundreds of pounds in damage and left paw prints everywhere.

Squirrels in both Kokomo, Vancouver and Exeter (England) cause power outages on Monday, August 14 (and in Sevier County, Arkansas, the day before)

Squirrels in three separate cities caused power outages for about 50,000 people on Monday, August 14, 2006.  Whether or not this was a coordinated attack is not known.......

A squirrel in Kokomo, Indiana, got into the wrong part of a power station and caused an hour long power outage for 5,000 residents.

Separately, a squirrel in Vancouver, Canada, a squirrel caused a power outage on Monday for 16,000 residents.

Third, a squirrel in Exeter, England, caused a power outage to an estimated 30,000 residents.

And, perhaps jumping the gun by a day, a squirrel in Sevier County, Arkansas, caused a power outage on Sunday.  Here are some more details on the Sevier County, Arkansas, squirrel:

“It was a kamikaze rodent that hit the transformer,” said Sevier County Judge Dick Tallman.  The rodent was a squirrel acting like a kamikaze pilot from World War II with reckless disregard for where it was landing, Tallman said.  “He stumbled onto the transformer and got his feet on the wrong place. SWEPCO fished him off the transformer. When he hit the transformer shorting it out, it exploded with the sound like a cannon,” said Tallman.  “It’s happened twice before and you would think by now, we would build a wire cage to try and prevent it,” he said.

Squirrel videos from ScarySquirrel.org

Here's a great collection of squirrel videos from ScarySquirrel.org.  I count 72 movies in total, enough to keep any squirrel lover busy for a long time.