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Gatwick train cancelled after squirrels board and 'refuse to leave' (news.sky.com)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Wtf are your squirrels eating? The ones by me are sized between a mouse and a rat lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago

Fucking HUGE! 🤦‍♀️