It’s gone nuts: News of a ‘blood thirsty’ squirrel rampaging through Buckley makes it onto websites in India and Turkey
News of a ‘blood thirsty’ grey squirrel going on a 48-hour rampage through Buckley has gone nuts over the last couple of days and has even made it onto websites in India and Turkey.
For those who haven’t seen the story – first reported by Deeside.com – a vicious squirrel has been attacking terrified residents in Buckley.
It reportedly attacked 18 people and some have had to go for a tetanus jab as a result of receiving quite nasty looking injuries from the rodent.
Dashed decent of them to hide the squirrel’s identity https://t.co/nDIabpXRE6
— Angry People in Local Newspapers (@angrypiln) December 27, 2021
Here is how LadBible opened their piece on the crazed bushy-tailed beast:
“Residents of a small town in Wales have been terrified by a quite unusual culprit after a squirrel went on a two-day rampage that left some people afraid to leave their homes.”
“Yes, a tiny squirrel.”
“However, while this might sound like a funny story, it’s actually got quite a dark undertone, because the furry fighter has been indiscriminately attacking older people, children, and pets in the gardens of Buckley, North Wales.”
UPDATE: The story is now doing the rounds in the USA, South America, and parts of Europe.
The RSCPA confirmed yesterday it had euthanised the squirrel which had been given the name ‘Stripe’ by locals after the evil character in the Gremlins film.
In a statement, the charity 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 opposed 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.”
Being in that kind of no man’s land between Christmas and New Year – apparently called Twixmas – news sites across the UK are scratching around for stories like pre hibernating squirrels looking for nuts.
So when a story about a ramping squirrel ‘breaks’ the national news sites are quick to pounce.
Pretty much every major news brand has published a story about ‘Stripe’ and his/her spate of attacks in the “small Welsh village” of Buckley.
Sarah from the fashionably late BBC still appears to be looking (virtually) around the town for people who have come into contact with the now deceased ‘Stripe’.
The story of the rogue squirrel has even made it onto the Indian news website RepublicWorld.com with the headline: “UK: Squirrel Attacks 18 People In Welsh Town, Victims Rush To Get Tetanus Shots.”
Russian state-owned media agency Sputnik published a story on its Turkish language site, they did however struggle with the location.
The (Google translated) opening paragraph: “A squirrel that haunted a town in Wales, England, attacked many people in a short time, injuring them. According to the residents of the town, the little squirrel was caught after two days of struggle.”
İngiltere’deki bir kasabada sincap terörü: 18 yaralıhttps://t.co/TMejS3sfp7 pic.twitter.com/sIX8trOigC
— Sputnik Türkiye (@sputnik_TR) December 29, 2021
Another Turkish website made a hash of the story, daily newspaper Karar also claimed Buckley was in England with the (Google translated) headline: “Bloodthirsty squirrel’ hospitalized 18 people in England.”
İngiltere’de ‘kana susamış sincap’ 18 kişiyi hastanelik ettihttps://t.co/KN74Qxvhop pic.twitter.com/4IMtIaHMTD
— KararHaber (@KararHaber) December 29, 2021
