Ravaging Rodent

Squirrels. Many people seem to think these fuzzy-tailed climbing rats are "cute". Some even go so far as to feed the pests. Maybe after reading this story, people will wise up. The rodent assault force of the animal uprising has made a sneak attack on people in a Winter Park, Florida public park. The savage squirrel, well, savaged several people, including small children leaving would-be visitors to the recreation space wounded and bleeding.

Alisa Cox's son Carson, 3, was bitten by a squirrel several times and had a 2-inch wound on his leg after the incident, Cox said.

James Klute said his 3-year-old son was also bitten on the calf while they were kicking a soccer ball at the park. Jim Hindman, meanwhile, said a squirrel bit and scratched both arms while he was sitting on a park bench.

Longwood resident Dylan Osborne, 19, said that after the squirrel attacked the leg and shoe of a friend he trapped it under a bucket but released it two hours later when county animal-services workers didn't arrive.

But there's even more terror!

Dylan Osborne, 19, of Longwood said he had trapped the squirrel for two hours under a bucket on Aug. 3 but released it when county animal-services workers didn't show up.

He and some friends had been celebrating a birthday near the park's fountain when the squirrel approached one of them.

"It just all of the sudden jumped on her," he said. It latched onto her leg and bit her. She flung the critter away, but it came back for an assault on her shoes, left by the fountain.

Osborne smacked it with a shoe, but that only seemed to anger the animal. (ed. note: "Oh, no, don't shoot him. You'll just make him mad.")  "It started getting in attack position toward me," he said. So he grabbed the birthday-cake box and caught the squirrel in midflight.

A friend called Orange County Animal Services and was told someone would come out. After a half-hour, the squirrel began to chew its way out of the box. A restaurant across the street lent them a bucket.

For the next two hours, "we were there taking turns sitting on the bucket," Osborne said.

They called animal services again and were told someone had been dispatched.

When Osborne's father, Lance, also called the county, he said they told him they didn't handle squirrel bites.

"I was furious," Lance Osborne said. "My son basically sat on top of this squirrel on a cake box and on a bucket in downtown Winter Park, and no one did anything about it."

Dil Luther, assistant manager for the animal-services division, said Wednesday that he was not aware of the case but would check the records.

"Normally we don't respond to squirrels," Luther said.

Animal services had gone to the park the night before and planned to set a trap the morning of Aug. 3, according to a police report from a previous bite incident in which officers pepper-sprayed the squirrel but lost him.

Police Lt. Wayne Farrell said they usually write reports for animal bites but turn over all animal issues to county animal services.

The raging ravening rodent was finally subdued with a litter grabber after pepper spray failed to faze the psychotic squirrel. This is one mean rodent. Fortunately for the people tasked with subduing the beast, it died. Lord knows how much more carnage the crazed critter could have done.

(A later story says that the squirrel tested negative for rabies).