March 25, 2009

"Woman called Nutt over-run by squirrels."

Oonagh Nutt says: "Up close they are quite frightening - they look like puppy dogs with big hands, they growl and bark at you, they're vicious things. They'll go for you."

30 comments:

American Liberal Elite said...

There was a dead squirrel in front of the house yesterday.

That made me happy.

Triangle Man said...

Vicious yes, but not as Komodo dragons. Also, if she just responds to them with calm dominant energy, she can establish herself as pack leader.

Henry said...

Actual conversation with my 2-year-old this morning (his half):

Zee Dodo
Zee Dodo
Zee Dodo
Eat Nut
Dodo Eat Nut
Eat Donut

paul a'barge said...

Northern Ireland.

Obviously.

srfwotb said...

Once I stopped at a lookout point at Big Sur. I sat down on a log to admire the view and was suddenly besieged with about twenty squirrels. I wouldn't say they "attacked" me, but they certainly ran up my leg. Cute as it may have been at first, they are surprisingly aggressive and unafraid, and therefore spooky and a little scary - like a 5-yr-old boy that gets a crush on you when you are 19.

Bissage said...

(1) Far more dangerous than a pack of ordinary squirrels is a pack of squirrels specially trained to sort nutts. Once they’ve got you pinned down, their leader will rap on your noggin and listen carefully. If he doesn’t like what he hears . . . it’s into the garbage chute for you! You don’t have to take my word for it. Just ask Mr. Dahl.

(2) Henry, that anecdote is utterly charming. Thank you.

Peter V. Bella said...

"I rang Lisburn City Council three times and have been told in short to go away. They say they're not a pest so there's nothing they can do."...

...Lisburn City Council said any resident who experiences a pest problem should contact its pest control unit on (028) 9250 9417...


If you call, they tell you they are not a pest and to go away. But they want you to call.

Sounds like government alright. There is nothing we can do to help you, but if you need help, call us.

Issob Morocco said...

Squirrel friend in a coma...

Palladian said...

My first time walking around New Haven when I started my graduate degree, I was on Hillhouse Avenue trying to walk around a construction site when a squirrel ran towards me, jumped on my leg and climbed up my body toward my head. Naturally I freaked out and vigorously smacked at it. It leapt off of my shoulder onto a construction fence and started making this high-pitched squawking noise at me. Suddenly I saw that there were dozens of squirrels running crazily all over the vast lawns of the buildings on Hillhouse and that a bunch of them were coming towards me. I'm not a runner, but I ran that day.

The next night I was working in my studio, which was in a huge crumbling old metallurgy lab building with 30 foot high ceilings and a nut fell from the rafters and hit me on the head. I looked up and there were several squirrels climbing along the steel roof struts. This freaked me out.

Later I learned that the building was infested with squirrels and birds, but this didn't allay my fears that the squirrel on Hillhouse had put a hit out on me for smacking it.

Death to verminous squirrels.

Palladian said...

"Squirrel friend in a coma..."

lol

Buford Gooch said...

Where I grew up, squirrel was considered a delicacy. Especially the brains.

traditionalguy said...

The British were a wonderfully clever people once, but the squirrels are beating them these days. The government that disarmed them only says don't ask us for any help. I bet if she got a 22 cal. squirrel gun single shot, a whole Army of paid to do nothing Government types would lay a seige to her home, smoke her out and take her to start her prision. term.

Cugel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cugel said...

O.T.

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. You might be able to assuage the mopings of those of your devotees who loved and lost by having a virtual ceremony and sharing some virtual wedding cake.

Much happiness

knox said...

It leapt off of my shoulder onto a construction fence and started making this high-pitched squawking noise at me.

I wonder, did the noise it made sound anything like: "Oonagh! Oohagh!"

XWL said...

Before getting engaged, did you and Meade discuss your respective views regarding bushy tailed rodents?

I imagine there must be some accord regarding those varmints, cause I would think if a gentleman were pro-squirrel, no matter what other positives he may bring to the table, that could be a deal breaker.

Mark Daniels said...

Thanks for creeping me out with this post, Ann. Not five minutes before I read it, I heard the rustling of squirrels in the attic of our house. Hopefully, within the next few weeks, we'll be sealing up their entry points. But after reading this post, that can't happen soon enough!

Anonymous said...

There are a lot of reasons to find Northern Ireland scary, but squirrels aren't one of them.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Back in the last century when I was living in undergrad dorms at Berkeley, one of the buildings in the complex had a Residence Advisor named Oona something-or-other. It was not uncommon, especially as finals week approached, for 10-100 undergrad guys to lean out their windows of an evening, and moan (in concert) "Oooonnaaa! Ooonnaa!"
Poor girl. On the other hand, the echos and reverb among the buildings lent it a certain Medieval Chant air.

No rodents of any kind were harmed in the production of this comment.

Hazy Dave said...

Our Wheaten Terrier has developed into quite a squirrel hunter in the last year or so. Killed one outright as it was fleeing through the snow last winter, and has snagged and shaken a couple others, as well. One of 'em didn't figure out to hide UNDER a car until after running around it a couple times, up the tree next to it, falling OUT of the tree and getting a little canine fang for his trouble. The next generation may be a little more wary of the humans and their pets...

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Our Wheaten Terrier has developed into quite a squirrel hunter in the last year or so. Killed one outright as it was fleeing through the snow last winter, and has snagged and shaken a couple others, as well

Good dog!!

We have ground squirrels, not gray or tree squirrels and they are even more of a pest. They dig burrows in the ground (hence the name, undermine the embankments and create hazzards for cattle and horses. They also carry bubonic plague. In addition the little bastards eat the food that I throw out for the quail and tweetie birds.

Actully, if it wasn't so annoying, the can be funny stuffing their faces full of seed so they look like their cheeks are going to explode.

I hate to bait with poison seed because I don't want the birds to be killed too and don't want my cat eating a poisoned squirrel, so we shoot them with a 22 rifle. In the spring, ranchers pay high school kids a bounty to shoot ground squirrels. The kids would probably do it for fun, but hey... its a way to make a buck or two.

John Richardson said...

Whatever happened to all those British breeds of terriers whose sole aim in life was to kill vermin? Have they been put out of a job by the those nutty British animal rights activists? If not, Oonagh Nutt has work for them!

If she wants an indigenous terrier to eradicate those American upstarts, she could always get either a Kerry Blue Terrier or an Irish Terrier.

David said...

srfwotb said...

Cute as it may have been at first, they are surprisingly aggressive and unafraid, and therefore spooky and a little scary - like a 5-yr-old boy that gets a crush on you when you are 19.


No, no, the scary part is you having the crush on the 5 year old boy when you are 19.

Fen said...

We were up in Boston awhile back, sitting in a small park eating lunch and watching peeps feed the squirrels and pigeons.

This squirrel walks right up behind a pigeon and puts it in a head lock, then smacks it with the other paw.

Funniest thing I've ever seen.

Big Mike said...

they look like puppy dogs with big hands, they growl and bark at you

Are the dogs that small in Northern Ireland?

Bob said...

Oonagh Nutt Gone Flake? Isn't that a Small Faces album?

Chip Ahoy said...

Better than a man named Acorn with his balls stuffed in a squirrels cheeks.

I used to have a Belgian groenendale that was the biggest pacifist. I would observe her sitting on her little dog house porch with squirrels robbing her dish of dry kebble. This puzzled me. Why didn't she protect her food? Then one day I came home from work and saw blood all over the snow in her run. The gruesome sight sent a shock up my spine. As I got closer I saw tuffs of fir and body parts. Squirrel fir. Squirrel parts. I was never so proud of my little darling angel. Finally, she busted a move.

John Hillery said...

Feral cats will eat squirrels. Tell her to get a few dozen from the local shelter. If they're not feral now, they will be after they're told they'll have to survive on squirrel.

rhhardin said...

People really don't understand the damage they cause.

Idle paws are the devil's workshop.

rhhardin said...

Nature's miracle: a Robin migrates a thousand miles, retracing exactly the path to window he attacks for a month and a half next to my computer each spring.