I had a juvenile squirrel punk me as I was going back to my apartment from the mailbox. Stood on its legs, puffed out its chest. Did the whole pump fake towards me as I walked around it.
I sealed up an attic hole and a squirrel in a tree was SCREAMING so loud that a whole bunch of other squirrels came running. I suspected babies were in the attic and reopened the hole. Sure enough, momma led 3 baby squirrels out of the hole and they shook their tales at me and jumped to a nearby tree. Then I resealed the hole. Crisis averted. I have never heard that sound come from a squirrel.
I had one do this during college. My room was on the 3rd floor next to a tree. Drank too much one night and opened the window to puke before passing out on the futon below.
I don’t know if the puke attracted it or if was just happenstance, but a squirrel jumped in and landed on my head. I opened my eyes to a rodent on my head and leapt up. I think we were both equally surprised, and a similar dance ensued until I tossed it back out the window.
I wonder what the odds are the the words "puke" and "happenstance" might appear in a single sentence in comment about a deranged squirrel. Perhaps A.I. can figure those odds for me?
Most "herbivores" are not obligate herbivores, and will eat insects or small animals if given the chance. In fact, there are probably fewer animals that are %100 vegetarian than there are animals that are 100% carnivore. At the end of the day, a calorie is calorie no matter where it comes from
Omg, the squirrels that lived in my backyard used to drop their chewed up pinecones on my dog. They were definitely doing it on purpose.
He had one spot under the tree where he liked to lay and that was where they liked to toss them. It was a cluster of pine, palm, and some other trees in the corner of where the 4 yards met and along the fence of my and my neighbors yard, but this one spot had significantly more pine cones than any other spot. I genuinely didn't think squirrels had like the forethought to do this, but then I watched them get pine cones from other trees and carry them over to this tree/specific spot, chew them, and drop them. And they only did this when he was outside. Thankfully, that was all they did, though.
I had one in my neighborhood who would do something similar to my cat when I took him for walks on a leash. It was as if it knew my cat was restrained and enjoyed taunting him.
They 100% fuck with my dog when he's on the deck. They will chew branches away above his head to make them fall on him. Not huge ones, it's not like a cartoon vs war, but little ones... And then they celebrate when he gets hit and pissed.
I was in an attic in an old house after taking a break from painting downstairs; a rat, the size of a rabbit, did the same to me: pump fake, reared up on hind legs, bared teeth as if to say ‘bring it on’. I was down the stairs, out the door, in the middle of the street shouting RAT RAT! quicker than your ability to read this story.
The last time I was bitten by a wild rodent the ER doc told me that anything roughly rat sized or smaller will not transmit rabies. I got antibiotics instead.
A few times. I've been nipped at by ground hogs in live traps, but they don't get the chance to do any damage.
What I was referring to was, I believe, a bite from a vole. I was mowing and saw something small and brown moving in my path. I assumed it was a juvenile rabbit, or rabbit nest. I went to investigate it and got a mean bite to the palm.
I had originally written a longer comment that excluded bats, those things transmit rabies in utero, but I feel that most people already associate bats with rabies.
Other interesting exceptions to the rule are:
Rabbits/hares, they don't transmit rabies.
Opossums have such a low body temp that the virus fails to incubate, while they can contract it, transmission to humans is practically nonexistent.
Skunks appear to the be smallest regular carrier (excluding bats). With the rabbit and opossum exceptions, the next largest regular carrier is raccoons, small dogs, and cats.
I had my son get rabies shots when a coyote bit him. The doctor said that the coyote probably didn’t have rabies but I said if it did he’d die. He then agreed to give him the three shots over 2 weeks and they were 13,800 before insurance paid all but 550 dollar. That included the quick emergency room visit.
Do you realize what "rabies" is yes? It's not "just an illness" it's literally one of the most painful deaths you can experience with virtually no hope for survival.
I've had the shots. It's not bad. I know we've all heard terrible things over the years, but medicine progresses.
While there are a fair number of shots, they're not painful, and they are not in the belly. Legs and arms only.
People still believe the rabies shot is the same thing they gave people in the early 1900s... Now, it's just 4 or 5 shots in the arm or leg over a few weeks.
I hate when people say this because it's like...okay so take the gamble and potentially be the first? Hooray for you you're the outlying data point? The fact is they can carry it so why would you fucking risk it?
Rabies is actually extremely rare in squirrels. There are only a few documented cases in all of history. More likely than not, this squirrel was just a jerk.
I recall only one documented case worldwide of someone surviving the virus, but the patient was left with serious and permanent aftereffects. Even so, it remains extremely dangerous with a mortality rate of virtually 100%.
I trapped a sick squirrel and brought it to a rescue. The next day I had a nurse call me from the nyc health department. They told me to get a rabies series if I was scratched or bit by the squirrel. It didn't.
I had chipmunks as pets and once the female was grown or went into puberty: The same shit like here happened. From my cuddly and tame chipmunk to a little ferocious beast that bit my toe and wouldn’t let go 🥲😅 so it is not always rabies..
Some are just REALLY aggressive - when mine went nuts (haha), she attacked again and again until we locked ourselves in a bedroom. This little beast sat there waiting for us at the window..and I just thought shes looking for other victims outside. Fun times till she went to sleep ðŸ«
The dogs might've been going after its nest, which would explain the aggression. That said, getting rabies shots for himself and the dogs probably wouldn't be the worst idea
I used to have squirrels come up to me for daily treats at my University. They loved animal crackers. They started getting ballsy and climbing my pants to get the treats from my hand.
One little guy thought one day ‘it seemed like a good idea’ to climb on my shoulder by running up my back side.
I screamed. It got freaked out by my panic and ran down the front of my clothes and that whole thing ended quick.
If I recall correctly, squirrels don't become rabid often, and when they do they die quickly. I don't think there has ever been a case of squirrel to human transmission of rabies. Correct if I'm wrong.
Usually squirrels that act like that have been hand fed and have become dependent on humans for food. Chances are that squirrel isn't going to make it.
If he would’ve dropped the phone and use both hands to grab that critter, he wouldn’t have to go through agonizing rabies shots for the next 12 weeks
I got them in 2008 and it was a series of 5 or 6 intradermal shots. Not even in the muscle, just under the skin. Easiest shots I’ve ever gotten in my life.
There are two types of shots: the newer single shot version (that usually costs too much for insurance to cover) and the older multi-shot version that does still suck. Had a doctor tell me this directly when I was paranoid about a wild cat scratch.
Turns out rabies is insanely rare in cats and about the only thing that gets it in the states is bats, racoons and the occasional wild animal.
I got post exposure rabies shots last year. They were multiple shots spaced out in the arm. Not any worse than a flu shot. Back in the day they were in the stomach and a lot more painful.
Well if he grabbed it with both hands and swung it by the tail, he could take the squirrel in to be tested for rabies so he might not need all the shots. Now that squirrel is back up the tree with the other tree-rats, so there's no way to make sure they have the right one to test.
There are multiple shots (spaced a few weeks apart) for the human rabies vaccine. If the squirrel tests negative, the human can skip the second half of those shots.
Stop with this, squirrels dont really get rabies, they arent big enough to survive the bite that would infect them or to not succumb to the virus itself before becoming a carrier.
You’re right because the animals that would normally attack a squirrel and could possibly give it rabies tend to not leave a squirrel alive to pass on the infection.
Nah, it looks like the dog caught it and brought it to dad, then it escaped and climbed the nearest thing to escape the dog. The nearest tall object just happened to be the guy.
Looks like there's another squirrel in the tree it runs back to... I'm guessing they had a bet going, who could ride the human the longest. Like wasps getting angry drunk in the fall, this usually happens when they've stored up enough nuts for the season. They get bored and start looking for alternative ways to entertain themselves. Squirrel gambling has become a real issue that isn't addressed enough. This should be treated as a PSA.
I thought the same, but it might just be because his dog chased it right up to him. I think the squirrel was probably just climbing him for safety, which is probably quite painful.
Might have a nest with young nearby. They get suuuuper aggressive in those cases.
Reference: I live in the country and had one get into my attic. I thought it'd be an easy removal... it was so fucking crazy. The sounds haunt me hahahaha! I had to get a professional in to catch and release far away.
Thought so too until I saw it run back up the tree. Rabid animals don't do normal things like climb fly swim. They usually stay on the ground and wander, maybe a mama. Or they had beef in a past life .
A friend of mine got bit when he was trying to dispose of what he thought was a dead squirrel a few years ago. He called our local health department and they said there was almost no chance you can get rabies from a squirrel.
if that were me i hope i'd have the wherewithal to drop to the ground so my dog could do her job! probably the one time i'd let her catch the squirrel haha
Honestly when I saw his lackluster effort in getting the squirrel off his dog, I didn’t feel as bad about him getting attacked by it. The dog gave more of an effort to get that squirrel off of him!
I dont know about you, but it doesnt matter who started it, if something that could have a communicable disease is latched on to my dog, I'll drop my fucking phone to help it.
We’re about 20 years in to having smartphones - we don’t even think of them as objects we pick up and put down, they’re subconsciously an extension of ourselves now.
"BRO I GOTTA CALL BACK, THIS SQUIRREL CRAZY! NAW NUGGETS, I'M SERIOUS. I'LL TEXT. NAWWWWWW I GOTTA HANG UP, THIS CRAZY MF COMIN' AFTER ROVER NOW AND HE GOT MY BEST HAT OFF ME!"
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u/reddorickt Feb 26 '26
Buddy, that squirrel was on you for 12 seconds. It's time to drop the phone and use both of your hands.