Check out the picture of the albino squirrel and then check out the story below.
Park Slopers may be furious about the recent raccoon invasion, but the neighborhood famous for its peaceniks and organic produce consumption loves its albino squirrel.
Yes, even as raccoons continue to pester the locals, a bright white squirrel has become so beloved that at least one Sloper broke the law — the law of Nature, certainly, but also city and federal law — to save the critter from becoming another animal’s lunch in the Ninth Street playground last week.
“My husband was in the park with our son, and [the squirrel] came very close to being captured by a hawk,” one woman notified her neighbors, via the Park Slope Parents Web site.
“The squirrel probably would have been caught had the parents not thrown things at the hawk to drive it away.”
The woman admitted that she was “upset” at the people who challenged the natural order of things — and many others weighed in against the squirrel-huggers.
But the woman who saved Al the Albino didn’t shy away from a fight: “I was the parent throwing things at the hawk,” said the woman, who identified herself only by her nom de guerre, Suzanne.
Bowing to the neighborhood’s non-violent creed, she quickly added that she fired just “one small twig that never made it anywhere near [the hawk].” But then, her defiance continued: “I did not want to see that lovely and unusual squirrel swooped away. So many enjoy seeing the squirrel, including children who would not give a grey squirrel a second look. The hawk was certainly amazing, but looked plump and not in need of snacking on this particular squirrel.”
Another person added that Parks Department rules state that no person shall “molest, chase, wound, trap, hunt, shoot, throw missiles at … any animal.” That missive was signed, “Geoff, who thinks the squirrels are cute, but also enjoys seeing the red-tailed hawks do what they do best (catching squirrels).”
Still, Suzanne defended her turf: “My twig toss was meant only to distract, not to harm or harass,” she said, signing off by referring to the hottest of the hot buttons in Park Slope: last winter’s “boy’s hat” discussion.
[read the rest of the story at The Brooklyn Papers]
