Posted on 02/24/2007 3:56:59 PM PST by grjr21
“He thought I was stealing his chips when he was stealing my chips!” That’s how four-year-old Hayley Allard described what happened Thursday when a squirrel attacked her in Mountain View’s Cuesta Park.
“He was getting my Sun Chips. I reached over to get them and he jumped right in my face and started scratching it,” the girl said.
“It was frightening,” said her mother, Debbie Allard. “It was a very scary thing to have happened. It was traumatizing.”
Squirrels in Cuesta Park have attacked at least 20 people since last spring. Hayley had to get a tetanus shot. Her doctor decided she didn’t need one for rabies. There are signs in the children’s play area warning about aggressive squirrels and prohibiting food, but the Allard family doesn’t feel that’s practical.
“You can put up signs and you can tell people not to have things, but when you have more than one person, like if you have two small children, it’s really hard to do a full body search on everybody to make sure there’s no food,” said Dave Allard, Hayley’s father.
The city has placed traps throughout the park using strollers as part of the bait system, but so far has only caught one squirrel. The Allards want the children’s play area shut down and fenced off until all the aggressive squirrels are trapped. While parents at the park are surprised to hear about the latest attacks, many don’t want to see the play area closed off.
“That’s a little too drastic. Everybody’s playing here, a lot of people,” said Dennis Kanyga of Mountain View.
“I think the ultimate responsibility is up to who’s here with the children,” said Los Altos resident Kyuri Doeden, who was at the park with her son.
Mountain View’s community services director told CBS 5 by phone the park will remain open, but the Allard family doesn’t plan to come back.
“I don’t think it’s a safe place for children to be in until they solve this problem,” said Debbie Allard.
City officials said park visitors created the problem when they fed the squirrels. The animals are now so brazen, they look to humans for food and will attack to get it.
When Good Squirrels Go Bad!!
Bad behavior is spoiling our suburbs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.