The OFFICIAL Squirrels with the Plague Thread
 

From USA Today:

'Black Death' Found in Denver Squirrels

is this a parody or a joke of some sort, or is it serious?

All you squirrel fuckers in the Denver area take notice.

eh. doesn't seem like it's THAT uncommon. 10-15 cases a year in people in the US. mostly in rural areas.

FYI

I've seen alerts like this one, or even more significant ones, a few times in the past. If you are visiting national/state parks, you will quite often signs warning of contact with the squirrels.

http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_129172309.html

(CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) SAN JOSE A child and two adults were hurt when a squirrel went nuts and attacked them after wandering into a San Jose elementary school classroom on Wednesday.

The door to a first grade classroom at Evergreen Elementary, located at 3010 Fowler Road, was left open when the squirrel scampered in about 9 a.m., according to school officials. The squirrel entered as students and chaperones were preparing to depart for a field trip.

An 11-year-old girl was bitten twice on the arm. Then, the squirrel went after a couple of adults in the room --
severely biting one of them on the upper arm and drawing blood, according to San Jose police Sgt. Nick Muyo.

All three victims were taken to a local hospital for observation after suffering scratches and bites; they were treated and released.

School officials said they had never experienced such an attack before and the squirrel apparently escaped right after the incident.

The attack seemed unprovoked, said Will Ector, spokesman for the Evergreen Elementary School District, who noted that the school does not have a high squirrel population in the immediate area.

"We took immediate precautions to ensure the security of our students (following the attack),'' Ector said.

All classrooms were ordered to close their doors and staff and students were alerted to the situation. Children were also being kept away from areas around the school that are frequented by squirrels.

Humane traps have been set by the school's animal control partner to catch the brazen critter, which remains on the run, he said.

Squirrels do not often attack people and when they do it usually has to do with food. At certain times of the year and under certain conditions squirrels can get aggressive, said Russ Parman, a Santa Clara County Vector Control District assistant manager.

As far as rabies goes, Parman said squirrels are not often associated with the disease and are a low-risk animal when it comes to transmission of the viral illness, which is usually transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected animal.

"Generally speaking, squirrels are not the type of animal that can survive an attack by a rabid animal. They are prey animals,'' Parman said. But he added that rabies testing "never hurts."

Other recent squirrel attacks in Mountain View were likely the result of overzealous and hungry squirrels and their conditioned response to those who feed the animals, he explained.

Explaining how an adult might be injured, Parman said that when squirrels are scared they will try to climb -- and that sometimes they will climb people to escape.

It is serioius. They've found a couple of squirrels in the metro area with it. We're all gonna die. Really. Someday we'll all die.

lol

This happened in Denver?! Damn global warming!

Hahaha. The squirrel went nuts.

Black death is no laughing matter, but a squirrel going nuts is.

Aside from the squireel going nuts, I like the idea of a squirrel wandering into the classroom - makes it sound like he was wearing a trenchcoat, fedora and sunglasses, just asuntered in trying to look innocuous!

Or maybe it's just me.

Seriously? The statewide InfoLine can't go find the dead squirrel themselves? I have to bag it for them? Shah.

I can promise you that if I see a dead squirrel I won't be putting the damned thing in any bag. I'll be happy to call their hotline. Someone else can handle the thing.

Good thing it wasn't an Asian squirrel, or else we'd've had another massacre on our hands. :)

An entire prairie dog colony that lived in the green belt behind my parent's house in the Denver area was gassed because of fears that prairie dogs carry the plague...and this was a good 10-12 years ago.

The suckers were fun to watch...it was sad when they were gone. :(

:(

SI

I was thinking more 'Secret Squirrel'.

Sorry, I thought this was the girl with plaque thread.

RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE! EVERYBODY PANIC! RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!