With their bushy tails, squirrels are often viewed as much cuter than most of their rodent kin; beauty privilege at work again. But at least one wild brown squirrel in San Rafael, California is reminding citizens not to be fooled by its friendly Disney-critter appearance. The little guy is attacking people and has already sent at least two victims to the hospital for wound care. Posters have been deployed throughout the town with the header “Attack Squirrel Beware!!!!” followed by a picture of a squirrel mid-flight looking straight at the camera like it’s a bowl of nuts. (Note: the photo is believed to be a stock image and not a direct representation of the assailant still at large.) Then the first line of the notice reads, “This is not a joke more than 5 people have been attacked by a very mean squirrel.” Of course it’s not a joke… yet it could be said that the particular image selected for the posters might strike some as humorous, but in a menacing fashion. Speaking for a friend.
Marin county’s humane society lays the blame on humans: “We’ve received at least two reports of people being attacked by a squirrel in a neighborhood of San Rafael. This behavior is unusual for squirrels and is likely the result of someone feeding it,” said Lisa Bloch, the director of marketing and communications at Marin Humane, in a statement. “When wildlife is fed by humans, they can lose their natural fear and act more emboldened. This is why we remind people that feeding wildlife can have negative consequences — for both people and the animals,” Bloch added.
A survivor speaks: Joan Heblack was enjoying a peaceful walk through Lucas Valley in San Rafael, when the rodent launched itself at her and proceeded to claw and bite her, she told ABC News affiliate, KGO-TV. “It came out of nowhere. I didn’t see him running up to me at all,” Heblack said. “It clamped onto my leg. The tail was flying up here. I was like, ‘Get it off me, get off me!’ I didn’t want to touch it.” Heblack said her injuries were so severe, she went to the ER to seek treatment.
And another: Isabel Campoy said she was another victim of the vicious squirrel and was hospitalized from her wounds after coming into contact with the rodent on a walk. “Squirrel went from the floor tried to jump up to my face, I tried to protect my face, my arm was completely overcome by squirrel,” Campoy told KGO. “Finally it jumped off, by then I was full of blood, I run to the emergency room.”
Seriously, don’t feed wild animals: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agrees that feeding wild animals is destructive, as it may cause them to react negatively when they are not fed. “Wild animals that gain regular access to human or domestic pet food slowly get used to being in busy areas and seeing humans. Over time, these usually calm and docile animals may become aggressive and cause harm to people in the area,” the agency says on its website.
Squirrels don’t spread rabies: There have been no reported cases of rabies transmission from squirrels to humans in the United States, as they do not spread rabies, according to the LA County Department of Public Health.
“…feeding wild animals is destructive, as it may cause them to react negatively when they are not fed.” This principle doesn’t exclusively apply to wild animals. Again, speaking for a friend. But yeah, not at all surprised that at the end of the day the source of the problem is… people. Once more: don’t feed wildlife! It’s a game of FAFO that the animals will always win — just ask that woman in Washington State who fed raccoons for years, then woke up one morning to find 100 of them in her yard.
That fact about squirrels not spreading rabies took me and CB by surprise, but it’s true. While no one (in the US) is on record as having gotten rabies from a squirrel, some public health boards warn it may be a concern if the squirrel is acting “abnormally,” and also recommend getting a tetanus shot if bitten regardless of the squirrel’s behavior. To the citizens of San Rafael: first and foremost be safe and aware of your surroundings. Then, can we maybe stop slandering this woodland creature? It wasn’t born mean, it was driven to this! By us!! Now it’s facing a grim winter where its kids will only get two acorns for Christmas instead of 30.
According to local news outlets near San Rafael, there have been at least two reports of people claiming to have been attacked by a squirrel and seeking emergency medical care. (Photo: Joan Heblack/AP)https://t.co/NnN1FNJjNz pic.twitter.com/tVRoOZyaCr
— KSHB 41 News (@KSHB41) September 26, 2025
Photos credit: pixabay and Chait Goli on Pexels
The stuff of rodent nightmares.
We are actually living a squirrel nightmare – one of the little nasties chewed an electric wire and 1/4 of our house went up in literal flames this past July.
But it seems better than being full-on mauled. So thanks, maybe, for the reframe? (arsonist squirrel v. attack squirrel…)
Sorry but lol. Where I am, squirrels (and foxes for that matter) are basically domesticated and will literally climb on your lap if you have food. But they don’t bite.
We need to get better at learning how to share space with animals, and what it means to have species that are becoming domesticated and how we navigate that change.
Soon it will be coyotes and black bears. We have a bit a dilemma here where we are encroaching on their land, territory, so woodlanders are going to wander onto our homes and properties, seeing and smelling food. So they’ll see us as providers, get used to us, learn how to secure such food, and lose interest in foraging and hunting.
I avoid walking through Boston Public Garden in October and November because I have been stalked and chased by a scurry of aggressive squirrels
We had one that kept chewing holes in our screen porch. So we humane trapped it before the dogs got it. And transported it (trap covered with towel to avoid stressing the squirrel) to the park. I’m sure he prefers the river and trees.
The squirrels in my yard like to taunt my Frenchie. They’ll climb up the tree just out of my dog’s reach and stare at her. It drives her crazy.
This. Squirrels suck. They regularly taunt my dog on walks. And since she has high prey drive, she scans every tree looking her busy tailed nemeses.
That does suck. My GSPs are ground hunters, so usually once squirrels run up the tree, the dogs are looking for the next critter. Although, they would not give up when they treed a raccoon.
I have an overly tall and uncharacteristically wild-ass sheltie boy who will tear old tree stumps apart to get to one (I have it on video- he’s chuffing like a bear and got so wound up that foamy saliva was at the corners of his mouth), so they stay away. He can be asleep in another room, and I will see one in the back yard- all I have to do is say, “Scouty, squirrel” once and he is at the door ready to drive it under the fence and out of the yard!
Seriously, though, if that happened to me I’d be in the ER getting rabies immunoglobulin injections. 😱
Feeling a bit guilty about the two squirrels I used to feed from my hand many years ago before I knew any better. Also my grandparents had a squirrel feeder so I think people used to believe it was ok to feed them.
I’ve seen squirrels get very assertive from time to time about wanting food, but only in public spaces like parks. Also, there are two large oak trees in front of my house, and when the squirrels are nesting or have babies they will sometimes pelt me with acorns when I walk underneath them. But unlike nesting birds, they’ve never dive-bombed my dogs as I walk them.
I would think a squirrel attacking people is more likely to have a neurological disorder than it being a result of past people feedings. Most of my walking is done with a Black Mouth Cur, so critters cut us a wide berth.
Oh, I dunno about the neurological disorder part. One fine spring day I had taken my book out to the back yard to read, sitting on a bench under a big shade tree. After a bit I noticed a chattering overhead & I looked up. This squirrel was on the branch directly over me chattering at me & stomping its little front foot at me–it wanted me gone! I thought fine, I’ll leave, sorry to interrupt. I assumed that maybe I was too close to its den or maybe it had infants nearby or something, the usual reasons wildlife gets upset with you.
I would still be afraid of rabies, no matter what they say.
I don’t know what they thought was going to happen when they named the place “Diablo Circle’. They were just asking for it!
Yeah—unlike Badger’s Drift or Midsomer Worthy, this name screams “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!” 😉😂😈😎
I used to work for the Forest Service & using maps were a large part of my job. I always enjoyed the old names & weird names out there in wide open spaces. So many were named Devil’s Canyon, Devi’s Kitchen, Hell’s Half Acre, etc., etc.
Ask me about the ground squirrels that tormented me last winter/spring. My yard looks like Battle of the Somme!