Californians already face numerous challenges such as a poorly functioning government, a governor who spends excessively on hair products, and some of the highest gas prices in the country. On top of all that, they are now dealing with an unexpected issue.
In Santa Monica, a cherished local park, Palisades Park on Ocean Avenue, is facing a peculiar problem. The park is not being taken over by illegal immigrants or the homeless, but instead by squirrels.
Reports have revealed that the squirrels in Palisades Park on Ocean Ave. in Santa Monica have become increasingly bold and aggressive. Some visitors have shared incidents of being chased by squirrels, while others have had to leap over them while jogging to avoid stumbling.
The city has posted signs around the park warning people not to feed the animals. But in search of food, the squirrels have reportedly been chasing people in hopes of getting their tiny hands on something to munch.
The increase in population is also attributed to mating season and the birth of new babies.
So, the increase in population is attributed to squirrels mating and having new babies? Wow, who didn’t see that coming? But then, that’s rodents in a nutshell; if there is anything they are good at, it’s breeding.
Of course, part of the squarrel people are having with the rodents is due to ill-advised folks feeding them. Feeding wild animals isn’t a good idea; the free food makes them slow, lazy, and unwilling to forage for themselves, and no, California politicians aren’t drawing the obvious conclusion. You don’t have to be Squirrel-lock Holmes to figure that out, but politicians often aren’t the types to go out on a limb.
Don’t feed the squirrels. That’s the message from Santa Monica officials. They may be cute, but the burrow-dwelling rodents are overrunning a local park. https://t.co/KzAoJoCoMI
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) May 13, 2025
As a-gnaw-ing as these rodents can be, it’s hard to come up with control measures without knowing what specific squirrels are involved. Tree squirrels and ground squirrels require different approaches, and these could be western gray squirrels or any of several kinds of ground squirrels. Unfortunately, they are too clever to be easily distracted by cheap entertainment; they won’t be lured by, say, a television showing Nutflix. Maybe they could be hired to do grounds maintenance, which may save the city of Santa Monica some money, as the squirrels will work for peanuts.
Of course, if people would stop feeding them, that would help. My grandfather used to feed squirrels and the result was a horde of bushytails around his farmhouse; one of them even learned to talk, and was fond of reminding us “You are what you eat,” but he was nuts.
