No Bird Feeding?

Can "No Squirrel Feeding" be far behind?
No Bird Feeding or "Serious Consequences" - Stuy Town Security

Squirrels Gone Wild

The latest chapter in Tishman Speyer's Stuy Town soap opera includes wild animals wreaking havoc in the financially troubled housing complex.

Rats roaming the Oval? Formerly shy black squirrels attacking tenants?

"One of them bit me on the ankle while the others made off with the bag of nuts and my cane. I was screaming for help but there was no security around. I stay inside now."

The Stuy is falling!

Read the entire lurid story here:
Squirrels Gone Wild: Animal Chaos Reigns in Staff Deprived Stuy

Call Me Lucky

The little guy is in good shape again...

In fact, life is just a bag of peanuts!


He never had a name so I think I'll call him 'Lucky'.


Lucky's in his tree, all's right with the world!

Squirrel Trappers Redux: a Happy Ending

When we went over there today to trap the little fellow, his necrotic cyst had popped off, and in its place was a big bloody red sore. Nature had done the job for us:

This was probably what happened to Dolly, except that her cyst was not external, so when it popped the toxins flooded her insides and poisoned her.

We now had to decide whether to trap the squirrel or leave it alone. If we trapped it we could clean out the wound. On the other hand, if we let nature continue to take its course, it would probably heal on its own, with much less trauma for the squirrel.

As usual, the squirrel had the last word.
A couple of exterminators stopped by to observe our operation. Turns out they really love the squirrels of PCV and think they are so cute! It's the rats they have to go after. In fact they are not allowed to touch the squirrels. <* sigh of relief *>

Squirrel Trap

We should have been so lucky! Out we went, armed with a Havaheart trap, a big, black net, and gobs of chunky peanut butter. Do you believe we could not trap that cagey creature? Meanwhile he and his buds had an early Thanksgiving feast! He actually went in and out of the cage about 8 times, but always managed to escape without setting off the trap! He would just delicately lick the peanut butter off the plate without moving it enough to shut the door. They're very smart... smarter than us, it turns out :(

It was amusing to observe him sitting up in his tree and watching the cage for hours. He was guarding it as his territory, chasing the others away. He somehow knew that cage belonged to him and him alone! Every once in a while he'd descend and go inside the cage to get a bite to eat. First he'd walk around the area, pretending to have no interest in the cage, before casually slipping inside. And he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, because each time we'd tiptoe up from behind to to give the door a little push, he'd hightail it out!

We managed to put on quite a show for people and kids who were passing by. People would come over and offer squirrel tips and stories. Security checked to make sure we weren't doing anything evil, and once they realized we were the good guys, allowed us to continue.

The squirrel wasn't caught, but he had an absolutely wonderful afternoon, loving every minute of being the center of attention, to say nothing of the gourmet food. Did I mention there was also avocado? He's very strong, as demonstrated by the vigorous manner in which he chased the other squirrels -- I mean he practically ran them out of the park! So we will wait a day and go again tomorrow, armed with some new ideas and gizmos for catching Brother Squirrel.

Post Mortem

Bernie Goetz, the squirrel rescuer, told me that my Dolly likely died of an infection that could have easily been healed. I'm sick about it, as Dolly trusted me and no doubt thought I was curing her with all the goodies I brought her. And I could have been, if I hadn't been so STUPID!!! I assumed it was some kind of congenital abnormality and did not report it as problem. She seemed well and had a healthy appetite. I had no idea she was at death's door.

Now there may be another squirrel with a similar infection, this time near the eye. This little black squirrel had what looked like a small eye infection for a few weeks, which has suddenly blown up:



Bernie and I will go there tomorrow and try to catch it so he can administer an antibiotic. I hope it makes it through the night.