Squirrel with vendetta single-handedly kicks veteran's ass
Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:49 pm
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Frank Garren is tough guy. The 6-foot, 4-inch former Army sergeant was awarded a Purple Heart after surviving a roadside bomb while deployed in Iraq in 2004. He knows about combat and quick reactions.
An angry squirrel is another matter, said Garren, who reported just such a run-in recently.
“You might expect a mugging in the park, but not to be attacked by a tree rodent,” the 34-year-old Springfield resident said. “I never thought a squirrel could kick my (behind).”
He said the animal, which Garren estimated weighed 2 to 3 pounds, pounced on his head after he simulated a squirrel call to get its attention last Sunday afternoon.
Garren walked away with several scratches on his face and head, and a newfound respect for a squirrel’s agility.
He said he’s not exactly sure what provoked the attack.
He and his girlfriend, Amy Stone, frequently go to the park. The Sunday afternoon outing allowed Garren to work on an assignment for his biology class at Lincoln Land Community College.
The couple were on the west side of the park near one of the ponds when Garren spotted an “enormous” male fox squirrel on a tree branch. Garren has hunted squirrels before, and said he’s never seen one that size before.
“He was as fat as a softball,” he said, adding that the squirrel appeared 2 feet long.
Garren said he made a squirrel call to get the animal’s attention, thinking it would impress Stone.
“Whatever I said in squirrel language must have made him mad,” Garren said. The squirrel latched onto Garren’s head and face with its claws before running off.
The couple said Stone was “rolling on the ground laughing” until she realized Garren was bleeding.
http://www.morningsun.net/weird_news/x1 ... ird-Oct-17
An angry squirrel is another matter, said Garren, who reported just such a run-in recently.
“You might expect a mugging in the park, but not to be attacked by a tree rodent,” the 34-year-old Springfield resident said. “I never thought a squirrel could kick my (behind).”
He said the animal, which Garren estimated weighed 2 to 3 pounds, pounced on his head after he simulated a squirrel call to get its attention last Sunday afternoon.
Garren walked away with several scratches on his face and head, and a newfound respect for a squirrel’s agility.
He said he’s not exactly sure what provoked the attack.
He and his girlfriend, Amy Stone, frequently go to the park. The Sunday afternoon outing allowed Garren to work on an assignment for his biology class at Lincoln Land Community College.
The couple were on the west side of the park near one of the ponds when Garren spotted an “enormous” male fox squirrel on a tree branch. Garren has hunted squirrels before, and said he’s never seen one that size before.
“He was as fat as a softball,” he said, adding that the squirrel appeared 2 feet long.
Garren said he made a squirrel call to get the animal’s attention, thinking it would impress Stone.
“Whatever I said in squirrel language must have made him mad,” Garren said. The squirrel latched onto Garren’s head and face with its claws before running off.
The couple said Stone was “rolling on the ground laughing” until she realized Garren was bleeding.
http://www.morningsun.net/weird_news/x1 ... ird-Oct-17