Squirrel attacks, injures 18 people in 2 days

• A vicious squirrel is put to sleep after being captured.
• A woman who used to feed it said that the squirrel was a "frequent and friendly visitor" to her garden.
• After being captured by the woman, RSPCA took animal for examination after which it was euthanised by a vet.

BUCKLEY, UNITED KINGDOM: A grey squirrel was captured and put down after it became vicious and attacked 18 people in two days, leaving people wounded.

A woman reported that as she was taking her boxes for recycling when she got attacked by the squirrel, while another victim posted on social media the animal bit them, after which they had to get a tetanus jab, the BBC reported.

Owing to its strange behaviour, people gave it the nickname 'Stripe', referring to the dangerous character in the film Gremlins.

A drift in Stripe's nature became a reason for distress for a 65-year-old woman — Corinne Reynolds — as she had been feeding him since March 2021. According to Reynolds, the squirrel was a "frequent and friendly visitor" to her garden.

Reynolds said that in the beginning, Stripe used to come for stealing bird food.

"All those months, he's been fine, he would even come and take a nut out of my hand," she said.

She also mentioned that while feeding it last week in the garden, she got bit by the animal. When she scrolled through Facebook, she saw reports of other bites and attacks too. 

"After I saw all those pictures of people's injuries, I thought 'oh my goodness, what's happened to him'?"

Reynolds said she knew something had to be done and thought "because I knew him, I knew I was likely to catch him".

"I only left the trap near the area I normally feed him for 20 minutes, and he was in. I felt he did trust me, and I betrayed him." 

After being captured by Reynolds, the RSPCA took Stripe for examination. He was subsequently euthanised by a vet.

It is reported that a spokesman for the RSPCA said: "We were incredibly sad to have to put this squirrel to sleep but were left with no choice due to changes in legislation in 2019 making it illegal to release grey squirrels back into the wild."

"We do not agree with this law and oppose it, but legally we have to comply. There are numerous ways to humanely deter grey squirrels and we would urge people not to trap them as it is now illegal to release them into the wild and the only option is to put them to sleep."