If your daily dose of exercise involves a jog around New York’s Prospect Park, you might want to heed the latest warning involving an “aggressive” squirrel.

Of course, the timing isn’t the best: summer has descended upon the city that never sleeps, meaning everyone is heading to local parks and other public spaces to cool down and take a deep breath of fresh air.

As things stand, a total of five people have been attacked, reports Gizmodo, which might mean there’s one less park to enjoy your break:

In a press release, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)—which is overseeing SquirrelGate —said the attacks took place between July 18th and July 20th near the Parkside and Ocean Avenue entrance to the park.

“Four patients have been identified; a fifth, who was attacked while jogging, has not been identified,” the DOHMH said. “This is an isolated incident. Squirrels are rarely infected with rabies; however, based on the unusual aggressive behavior [sic], the Health Department is acting under the assumption that the animal is rabid.”

A rabid, unidentified squirrel on the loose? Of course, the Brooklyn community is shooketh.

No local squirrel has “been found to have rabies in the 25 years since the city started testing them for it”, so people are understandably curious about what’s with the little creature, reports Gothamist:

Arina Hinzen, a state wildlife rehabilitator, told the [NY Times] there’s a chance a human took the squirrel home when it was a baby, fed it like a pet, and then released it into the park when, like any tween, it stopped being cute.

“I get bitten by the ones I nursed and loved and cared for since they were teeny, tiny, little adorable ones,” Hinzen said. “Possibly somebody raised it at home and then found out the hard way that they do not make very good pets. Then they put it outside and now this poor, psycho squirrel is attacking everybody.”

Let’s hope everyone involved in the situation is OK, including the little dude himself.

[source:gizmodo]