Free Republic

Letter carriers occasionally have to deal with angry dogs or maybe even a spider's nest in a mailbox, but a mean squirrel? Barb Dougherty, a 30-year Postal Service employee, said she was attacked and bitten Monday by a squirrel while delivering mail in Oil City, about 75 miles north of Pittsburgh. "It was a freak thing. It was traumatic," Dougherty told The Derrick in Oil City. "I saw it there on the porch, put the mail in the box and turned to walk away and it jumped on me." The animal ran up her leg and onto her back, she...

Residents of crime-plagued Rio de Janeiro have a new kind of predator to worry about - hawks. A pair of hawks have attacked more than 100 residents of the upscale Ipanema beach district over the last year, scratching peoples heads and faces, doormen working at buildings in the area said Monday. "People leave the building carrying umbrellas to protect themselves from the attacks," said Luis Honorato, a doorman in a building near where the hawks have built a nest. "At first, they think that someone is throwing something, like a can, onto their heads from the floors above." Honorato said...

A fierce group of raccoons has killed 10 cats, attacked a small dog and bitten at least one pet owner who had to get rabies shots, residents of Olympia say. Some have taken to carrying pepper spray to ward off the masked marauders and the woman who was bitten now carries an iron pipe when she goes outside at night. "It's a new breed," said Tamara Keeton, who with Kari Hall started a raccoon watch after an emotional neighborhood meeting drew 40 people. "They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid." Tony Benjamins, whose family lost two cats, said he got...

Squirrel attacks people in Fla. park 2 hours, 12 minutes ago WINTER PARK, Fla. - Several people attacked by a squirrel at Central Park said they had one word for the animal: nuts. On Wednesday some expressed frustration that the animal was not caught sooner, the Orlando Sentinel reported. 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...