- cross-posted to:
- weirdnews@real.lemmy.fan
- cross-posted to:
- weirdnews@real.lemmy.fan
The squirrels jumped on the Great Western Railway (GWR) 8.54am train from Reading to Gatwick on Monday, forcing passengers to flee to other carriages.
The passengers alerted staff, who tried to lure the squirrels off the train at Redhill with snacks, before trying to force them off with brooms - but to no avail.
They subsequently called the journey off entirely.
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forcing passengers to flee
Err, why? We know they’re not rabid since it’s the UK, so why not just ignore them?
They were trying to pinch their nuts.
How do you know they’re not rabid? (Serious question)
Rabies is virtually eradicated in the UK. Bats and imported animals are a potential risk, but the chance of a squirrel having rabies is nearly zero.
I honestly didn’t know this. Thank you!
The UK is one of very few places in the world designated rabies free.
That answers my question then, TIL! Thanks!
Others have answered, but the UK has been rabies free for over a century!
The British Isles (GB and Ireland) have been rabies free since the disease was eradicated in terrestrial animals in 1922.
Also note, while you should always assume on the side of safety, it is an invariably fatal disease that is too late to vaccinate for or treat by the time you have symptoms, it is exceedingly rare for small rodents like squirrels to carry rabies as generally if they make contact with a rabid animal they don’t survive the encounter to pass it on. Most of the few rodent/lagomorph rabies cases in the US are in beavers and groundhogs.
I REPEAT: They CAN get rabies and the only way to be safe is to get treatment immediately if you are in contact with any wild animal that could even remotely have rabies, also squirrels can carry other diseases that can kill you including plague and hantavirus, contact a doctor immediately if you get bitten by any unknown animal and only interact with wildlife with your eyes and ears from a respectful distance.
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Rabies is probably illegal in the UK, so no rabies anymore?
Illegal? I mean in the US yeah, we’re supposed to vaccinate our pets and such but there are still wild animals that could be rabid.
We have coyotes, raccoons, and opossums where we live, and they aren’t anyone’s pets. So you try to stay away from them and keep your pets away, too, if they go outside as a precaution.
We had a dog once that ran outside unexpectedly when we opened the door because we heard something. It was an opossum and he attacked it. He was vaccinated and okay, but we grabbed him and drug him inside and made sure that neither one of us had cuts or anything…he was covered in blood and enjoyed a nice long bath after.
Squirrels were armed with WWII Lugers they’d picked up on the black market. Damn, I hate Nazi squirrels.
Australia: ‘Had to hop over a few rattlers on the way in today’
India: ‘Lol I just picked up a cobra and threw it out the window’
Blighty: ‘Thankfully I was able to flee the squirrels and make it to safety, fortunately I was wearing my brown trousers’
This is my local line. To be honest the squirrels were probably just stunned that the train turned up in the first place.
GWR will use any damn excuse to cancel a train.
I’m guessing most people in here haven’t had to interact with a tense squirrel in a confined area before. Squirrels look cute when they’re sitting with their twitchy fluffy tails and extremities tucked in or jumping/climbing around gracefully.
The reality, squirrels are huge up close (cat sized), have extremely muscular physiques, and fucking claws like a Velociraptor. I’ll admit though with trying to find pictures online that it turns out my local breed is just a larger species of the family but there’s really no photography I’m finding out there of them. Guess it’s time to learn some new skills and post up the group that lives around the house.
Wtf are your squirrels eating? The ones by me are sized between a mouse and a rat lol
They’re unfortunately eating all the pecans, the property has large pecan and acorn trees everywhere from one of the previous owners so they’re always well fed. Looks to me like I have eastern fox squirrels after researching into it further, they can grow up to 30 inches in length and the claws look about right. Seems like my area is one of the few places in the state they reside, really glad I looked into it further and finding out so much more about them.
I will say, I absolutely love the guys and want to do more with the property to support them. The property around us was recently clear cut so our trees are the only vestige of a habitat that they have left around here. I’ve always thought about setting up a webcam of some sort because they love sun bathing on our bricks during the cool hours and will sit on our window sills under the awning when it gets really hot out. That’s how I’ve been able to observe them so closely and realized they’re not so cute and cuddly so wouldn’t want to be trapped in an enclosed space with a frightened one.
Fucking HUGE! 🤦♀️
