Vicious squirrel puts two in HOSPITAL as terrified neighbourhood on high alert

A neighbourhood is on high alert afterbad-tempered squirrels left two people needing hospital treatment.

Joan Heblack, who lives in Lucas Valley, in San Rafal, San Francisco, recalled how a squirrel "came out of nowhere" before it"clamped on my leg".

Speaking to KGO-TV, she said: "The tail was flying up here. I was like, ‘Get it off me, get off me!’" Isabel Campoy, who lives in the same area, said she watched in horror as a squirrel vaulted off the ground straight towards her face. It landed on her arm and scratched her until she bled. The two women then sought medical treatment at a local hospital, reports say.

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To protect the community, flyers are being posted in the local area warning of a "very mean squirrel". They say the spiteful creature "comes out of nowhere" and has already targeted five people.

Marin Humane, an animal welfare and adoption charity, says it has not received any squirrel attacks in the past few weeks with the most-recent reports received in mid-September.

The non-profit's spokeswoman Lisa Bloch said the group would work with the state to remove the animal should it go on another rampage. She said: "We've seen this kind of behaviour before. It's almost always because someone has been feeding the animal.”

Lisa explained that luckily, the rodents do not carry rabies. She warned people never to feed wild critters.

Earlier this year, experts warned that gardens across North America were being invaded by grotesque squirrels riddled with oozing sores. Residents in the US and Canada were left horrified after spotting grey squirrels covered in bulbous growths that split open and leak pus. Disturbing photos show the creatures with tumours spreading across their faces, eyes, legs, and even their private parts.

The freakish phenomenon first surfaced in Maine in 2023, when locals captured images of the stricken animals. Since then, reports have snowballed online, with stunned social media users swapping theories about the grisly condition.

Some claimed it could be "squirrel pox" - but wildlife officials believe the more likely culprit is squirrel fibromatosis, a virus that disfigures the rodents with wart-like lumps. And everyday bird feeders may be turning the problem into an epidemic.

"It's like when you get a large concentration of people. If someone is sick and it's something that spreads easily, others are going to catch it," warned Shevenell Webb of Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.