QUEENS, New York — Attack squirrels are on the prowl in New York City.
There have been at least five reports of squirrel attacks in Rego Park in Queens, WABC reported.
One woman said the aggressive animal bit her hand, and she had to go to an emergency room for treatment.
“It just basically runs up my leg and I’m like, ‘OK squirrel, hello, what are you doing,’” Micheline Frederick told WABC. “He either bit or scratched me on my neck, and then I must have reached over and next thing I know, it’s a cage match and I’m losing.”
She shared photos with WCBS of blood-stained snow, what she said was the aftermath of the attack.
A security camera also captured the attack, WCBS reported.
Frederick’s hands were bloodied and bruised. She received a rabies vaccination as a precaution.
Her neighbor Licia Wang said she was also attacked by a squirrel.
“I tried to shake it off but I couldn’t. Squirrels have claws, cling onto your winter jacket. There’s no way to shake it off,” Wang told WABC.
Another family said they have been attacked multiple times.
The neighbors have called the city, but officials told them to hire a trapper, who has set up traps but have not yet caught the rodents.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says small rodents like squirrels usually don’t carry rabies. But Vinati Singh says she’s worried because of how aggressive the squirrels are becoming, and because people don’t know why.
“I”m a little surprised that the city is not taking it a little more seriously considering how many people have been attacked,” Singh told WCBS.