Squirrels are cute & harmless – or are they?

Melvin Durai

I’ve always thought of squirrels as cute, harmless creatures, but I’m beginning to wonder if they just have a very good Department of Public Relations. The department ensures that any negative stories about squirrels are drowned out by positive stories, some of them in children’s books with titles such as “The Busy Little Squirrel,” “The Kind, Generous Squirrel” and “A Squirrel’s Life: Chasing Nuts, Berries and Friendship.” I had such a positive impression about squirrels that I found it preposterous that one member of my family — let’s use the name ‘A’ — is deathly afraid of squirrels.

Unfortunately for A, squirrels are so common around our home that A, when returning from school, had to often run down our driveway at breakneck speed to avoid being attacked by them. If A ever becomes a filmmaker and creates a horror movie, it would be called “Revenge of the Rodents.” I found A’s fear of squirrels quite ludicrous, but that was before I read an article about the Rampaging Rodent of Rajasthan. According to news reports, a squirrel has bitten more than 18 people on the campus of a Udaipur college over the last several weeks. The squirrel has even bitten the dean at University College of Arts at Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, raising suspicion that the squirrel was extremely unhappy about its exam scores. College staff member Dinesh Chandra Gurjar told Bhaskar English that the squirrel bit two scholars from his department on 22 April. “The next morning, when I came to the office, the squirrel was hiding behind the curtains and suddenly jumped at me, but I managed to run away without being bitten,” he said.

Hiding behind the curtains? The squirrel may not be a student at the college, but it has evidently gained admission. Visitors to the college should not be surprised if they see a large “Beware of Squirrel” sign. “Fear has increased so much that people are now afraid of even normal squirrels, thinking it might be the same one,” Gurjar said. He is suggesting, of course, that this squirrel is abnormal. Normal squirrels do not go on biting sprees, just as normal humans do not go on shooting sprees. But tell me this: when was the last time you heard of a cat or dog biting more than 18 people? If a dog or cat does start biting people, animal control officers would be summoned to quickly take care of the problem.

In the case of the squirrel, however, an Animal Aid rescue team has been unable to capture it, despite setting traps in multiple locations.

Perhaps it’s time to call in reinforcements, such as a special tactical unit from the NSG (National Security Guard). They would surround the area, fire a few warning shots in the air, and force the squirrel to come out with its tail in the air. You may be wondering why a squirrel would attack people randomly, as it seems to be doing. One theory is that the squirrel has a nest nearby and is protecting its young from potential predators. This squirrel may be aware that humans, in many parts of the world, consider squirrel meat a delicacy of sorts. In fact, every September, in the US city of Springdale, Arkansas, hundreds of chefs gather to compete in the World Champion Squirrel Cook-Off. They create dishes such as squirrel tacos, squirrel corn dogs, and, of course, squirrel curry. It’s worth noting that the squirrel in Udaipur is hardly the first squirrel to attack humans.

Last September, for example, a squirrel reportedly attacked five people in Marin County, California, sending three of them to the emergency room. It’s believed that the squirrel was once fed by humans, had gotten used to it, and was now attacking other humans for not feeding it. I still consider squirrels to be cute animals, but I will admire them from a distance.