Squirrels are your friends. Kind of.
We stumbled across this valuable information the other day at the park. According to the signage by the kind people of the Ville de Montréal, squirrel aggression stems from overpopulation and the subsequent competition for food.
The population of squirrels in their natural habitat is kept under control by their natural predators (primarily large birds), of which there are none in the park.
There have been reports of squirrels biting people, but we're not told how many, and it's not clear if those incidents occurred in this park or elsewhere.
If you have been bitten, see a doctor.
But as J-F notes, if the squirrels are vying for your crumbs, you'd think they'd be extra nice to you.
The international symbol for No Squirrel-Feeding
3 comments:
Several months ago two of my neighbours said that they would appreciate it if I would not feed the squirrls. "But, I just bought that cute little feeder and a bag of peanuts," I explained. Yet, because I value my neighbours more than the squirrls (most days) - I agreeed I would stop feeding ALL the neighbourhood squirrls.....now I feed just one, her name is Pixie. Yes, I understand that she is considered a rodent with a better agent. But, she is sweet, and there are no international no-feeding the squirrel signs in my backyard. So it is okay, yes? (michele agnew and pixie)
Don't worry Michele. You and Pixie are definitely outside the jurisdiction of these regulations.
The squirrels of my childhood, in the Niagara Peninsula, were cute and fluffy, big and strong. Healthy storybook squirrels. Not exactly friendly, but people and squirrels lived side by side with respect for each other (except for that one squirrel protecting her young, but I digress). As an adult in Ottawa and now Montreal I've come to see squirrels as the vicious, scrawny rats they are.
I wonder how much geography, and the consequent "look" (health, size, fluffiness, demeanour), of the squirrels has to do with our attitudes toward them.
Just the other day i found a baby squrriel and brought it home to take care of it, and it had a broken foot. It is eating and drinking also it is already getting use to people
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