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Squirrel Stuck In Discarded Peanut Packet On Live Tube Track Delays Commuters In Bizarre Incident

COMMUTERS went nuts when a squirrel got stuck on the live tracks.

Some threatened to free the furry intruder, which was trapped in a discarded packet of nuts, despite a risk of electrocution.

Commuters went nuts when a squirrel got stuck on the live tracks

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Commuters went nuts when a squirrel got stuck on the live tracksCredit: Dorling Kindersley - Getty

Trains were forced to come to a halt on the Tube's Piccadilly Line amid the nutty stand-off at Alperton, North West London.

The London Underground's incident log reported: "Squirrel stuck in a bag of peanuts on the track. Customers threatening to access the track."

The squirrel was eventually released before scuttling off.

The bizarre incident delighted fellow passengers online, with one hailing the kindness of the Tube commuters, often mocked for their stand-offishness.

They posted: "Nice to see that even though my fellow Londoners may dislike people, we will grind public transport to a halt to help a squirrel in distress. Excellent work everyone."

Another said it demonstrated the nation's love of animals, asking: "How British is that?"

But others said grey squirrels were an invasive non-native species and should be killed when trapped.

Transport for London refused to comment on last Wednesday's incident but said: "Nobody should ever attempt to access the track."In 2016 trains from Orpington, Kent, were delayed after a squirrel got stuck in a vent.

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Squirrels Aren't So Bad After All: Nature News

With writer Sue Pike away, this is a reprised edition of Nature News from August 2023.

I put up my bird feeders last week and started thinking about what to do about the squirrels that usually take more bird feed than the birds. Squirrels are much-maligned at bird feeders; we put out food that the squirrels want and then get mad when they come and eat it.

A friend recently shook my world view by suggesting that this isn't really fair to the squirrels, that instead of trying to thwart the squirrels at our feeders we enjoy them. That perhaps the real problem with squirrels and our bird feeders is that they make us feel stupid because we can't outsmart them. Red squirrels and gray squirrels are the two squirrels we usually worry about at our feeders this time of year.

A red squirrel ferociously chattering and quivering for having its raid on a feeder disturbed

Chipmunks, the smallest members of the squirrel family, aren't around in the winter. They semi-hibernate, instead of storing body fat they wake up periodically to snack on their stores of nuts and seeds. Flying squirrels are definitely visiting bird feeders, they don't hibernate, but since they are nocturnal, we don't notice them.

Gray squirrels are the most commonly-seen animal in our area. According to US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) statistics they are the second-most fed and watched animals, after birds. So, perhaps we should embrace them rather than vilify them—they aren't going away. On the positive side they help control plant populations by eating seeds and fruits. While we think of rodents, like squirrels, as being primarily herbivores, according to the USFWS their diet also includes numerous insects, amphibians such as peepers and red-backed salamanders, and, amazingly, birds! The USFWS site lists cardinals and bald eagles among the prey of gray squirrels-it turns out that gray squirrels are voracious predators of  both eggs and nestlings.

This whole squirrel-as-predator is taken much more seriously by red squirrels. Mike O'Connor, owner of Bird Watchers General Store (and author of "Why don't Woodpeckers get Headaches?" and "Why do Bluebirds Hate me?") writes "The American Red Squirrel is one lucky creature. While the entire human race is cursing its larger cousin, the gray squirrel, old red is getting away with murder, sometimes literally. ……In addition to pine seeds, they eat nuts and may occasionally eat bird eggs, young birds and even baby rabbits. (Here's the, "getting away with murder" thing I mentioned earlier. I know eating rabbits doesn't constitute murder, but try telling that to the rabbits.) Before we start thinking of these squirrels as barbarians, you should know they also have a sophisticated side. It seems red squirrels have an appetite for mushrooms. However, they don't just chow down the mushrooms where they find them. They first carry them up in a tree, place them on a branch and allow them to dry in the sun to become more flavorful before they eat them…or before sautéing them with baby rabbits."

One study found that the main cause of mortality of young snowshoe hares in the Yukon was predation by squirrels-primarily red squirrels and arctic ground squirrels!

So I suggest we do some re-branding of squirrels and invite them into our lives. Instead of viewing squirrels as nuisances, consider their virtues. They are fluffy and cute, they are super-cool predators, they are creative and ingenious in their never-ending determination to eat all our bird food. Go out and buy a squirrel feeder, they're already available at most birdfeeder stores; ones that simply feed squirrels or feeders like the "Squirrel-go-round" (available at birdwatchersgeneralstore.Com) that entertain you while the squirrels eat your food.

This story was previously published in the York Weekly/York County Coast Star/Portsmouth Herald Dec. 2, 2014

Susan Pike

Susan Pike, a researcher and an environmental sciences and biology teacher at Dover High School, welcomes your ideas for future column topics. Send your photos and observations to spike3116@gmail.Com. Read more of her Nature News columns online at Seacoastonline.Com and pikes-hikes.Com, and follow her on Instagram @pikeshikes.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Squirrels aren't so bad after all: Nature News

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