Boy, 3, Hospitalized In Playground Squirrel Attack

Trooper, Adult Also Injured


ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 3-year-old boy, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and another adult were hurt on Wednesday afternoon in a bizarre attack by a squirrel on a day care playground.
It happened at the Children's Academy Daycare on Oak Ridge Road in Orange County.
Kevin Santiago, 3, was bitten nine times while playing on the playground, according to Yietza Santiago, the boy's mother.
"There was a 3-year-old little boy sitting on the swing. The squirrel attacked him and didn't want to get off of the child. We threw things at it to try to get it off and nothing. Finally, we were able to take it off," day care director Maritza Diaz said.
The trooper, who was working an accident near the playground, responded, and FHP spokeswoman Kim Miller said he was jumped by the animal. He tried to shoo the squirrel away, but it attacked again and scratched and bit him before he could escape.
He was treated and released at a local Centra Care for his injuries.
Squirrel attacks on humans are uncommon, but the rodents are known to bite if they are injured or feel trapped. Officials said the squirrel may be rabid, but officials said getting rabies from squirrels is unlikely.
Doctors often advise bite victims not to undergo post-bite rabies treatments, unless the squirrel attacked for no apparent reason.
The squirrel in the playground attack managed to escape.

Psycho squirrel attacks Germany
Thursday, June 14, 2007

Hopes that the Squirrel Menace might have receded were dashed, when a squirrel went on a violent rampage in a German town, attacking three people before it was eventually killed.

The demonic rodent first attacked a woman in her home in Passau, and she managed to shake it off her arm after running into the street.

Its next victim was a builder, whom it bit before it attacked a pensioner.

However, the heroic 72-year-old man fought back and beat the squirrel to death with his crutch.

Squirrel goes postal
Thursday, November 2, 2006

Tiny, furry demon: a squirrel, just waiting for the right moment to strike.
The squirrel menace - believed by many to have gone away - returned with a vengeance on Monday, when a rogue squirrel attacked a postal worker as she delivered letters.

The terrifying incident occurred as Barb Dougherty was delivering mail in Oil City, Pennsylvania. 'I saw it there on the porch, put the mail in the box and turned to walk away and it jumped on me,' she explained.

The squirrel then ran up her leg and onto her back, scratching and biting her as it went.

It was a freak thing. It was traumatic.
Dougherty said: 'It was a freak thing. It was traumatic.'

Dougherty related how she battled the squirrel. 'I eventually got a hold of the tail and pulled it off me,' she told Oil City newspaper The Derrick. 'No one was home at the house where I was delivering the mail, but the neighbor lady heard me screaming and came over.'

Dougherty had to be treated for cuts at hospital, where she was also given a rabies shot. The squirrel was killed with a gun after the attack, and will now be tested for the disease.

Postal authorities were worried that this was an unprecedented escalation in the squirrel-human wars. 'In about 230 years of postal history, I bet it is not the first, but I've personally never heard of another squirrel biting,' said Postal Service spokesman Steve Kochersperger.

Meanwhile, Steve Jolley, a Postal Service manager in Oil City, noted: 'We are not issuing a squirrel alert, but everyone is aware of the incident.'

Squirrel takes out opera singer
Monday, September 4, 2006

A squirrel: 'I am become death, the destroyer of worlds'
The Squirrel Menace has struck again, this time in Finland - and now the furry psychopaths are targeting helpless opera singers.

Finnish opera singer Esa Ruuttunen was knocked unconscious and recieved a broken nose when a kamikaze squirrel launched the attack as he cycled to work.

The squirrel ran into the spokes of his bicycle as he journeyed to rehearsals at the Helsinki Opera House, leaving the singer concussed and in hospital.

The squirrel incident came just before of the world premiere of a new Finnish opera, Kaarmeen hetki (Hour of the Serpent), which is due to open on September 15.

However, it is not thought that the production will be delayed because of the rodent assault.

'He is not yet singing in rehearsals, but thinks he will be able to perform at the world premiere,' said Heidi Almi, a spokeswoman for the Finnish National Opera.

The squirrel did not survive the encounter.

they are EVIL:

Suicide squirrel starts 30-acre fire

A fire spread over thirty acres in East Texas, damaging eleven cars, a motorcycle and a house in the process, while volunteer firefighters struggled to control the blaze.

And the cause of the conflagration?

Killer squirrel takes on the world
Friday, August 11, 2006


The jury may still be out on whether they are bundles of furry cuteness or 'rats with fluffy tails' - but one squirrel has done his best to make sure the verdict is the latter.

A squirrel, dubbed Bruce after Die Hard star Bruce Willis, conducted a week-long reign of terror which saw him take on three women, a toddler and his father, and several police officers.

And, just like Willis in the action film, the rodent was determined not to give in easily - he even survived a beating and a police pepper spray, which is usually used to apprehend fully-grown men at the scene of a crime.


The rowdy rodent finally met its match when it was surrounded and captured by three officials after it had left a 'small dog bite' in one of the toddler's legs. Tests are now being carried out on the 1kg (2lb) brown squirrel, to see if he had rabies.

Bruce's first victims were two women who were making their way through Central Park, in the town of Winter Park, Florida.

After stalking the unsuspecting pair, the squirrel launched itself at them, causing the women to scream.

Two police officers, who were in the park at the time, went to their aid - only to be attacked themselves by the animal.

That was when they pulled out the pepper spray and forced Bruce to retreat into his tree, officer Danielle McCoy wrote in her report.

But, moments later, Bruce spotted another potential target - a woman taking a stroll. The animal waited for her Lobster stole my wallet to pass 'before charging at its victim from behind', Ms McCoy continued.

'The woman was swatting the squirrel to get it off, but couldn't. Officer Carlos Caldron leapt into action, detaching the squirrel from the female.'

That brush with the law did not deter Bruce, though, because two days later he was at it again - going for a father and his son. James Klute, 31, said he and his three-year-old boy Tristen were 'minding their own business' when they were attacked.

Mr Klute added: 'It got within four feet and just latched on to my son's calf. I got it away and pounded it for a while. It acted like no other animal I've ever seen.' That was the final straw for city officials, who put out a trap and warning signs in the park. Bruce was eventually cornered by three animal control officers, who used a rubbish pincher and a box to capture him.

Winter Park officials said Bruce later died in their custody of unknown causes.