Edward (Eddie) Arfe is a prosperous attorney who lives in the East River co-ops and is mild mannered, reasonable, even affectionate about most areas of life, save one: Mr. Arfe loses his good humor when it comes to squirrels.
“I went to put some garbage in the trash receptacles in the park,” Eddie Arfe recalls his evening of terror, “when all of a sudden something hit me in the chest and bounced off. That was a squirrel. Needless to say, it was quite frightening.”
Since that time Eddie has been “observing the squirrels climbing into the garbage receptacles, foraging for food,” which could mean that another innocent neighbor looking to deposit their garbage may also be attacked one of these days. But while you could attribute that attack to a fear response of a trapped animal, it’s harder to .nd excuses for other squirrel damage. “Squirrels have been eating up the wires in the cars,” complains Arfe. “There’s a young fellow who parks his car in our lot who puts mothballs under it, to discourage the squirrels from ‘visiting’ his car.”
A friend from the Seward Park co-op has complained to Arfe that she can’t sit in her park any more, because the “squirrels have become so aggressive.” And it’s not just their begging for nuts. “In previous generations, squirrels used to be intimidated” by the presence of people, says Arfe. “If you fed them they came up, but otherwise they ran away from you. Apparently we’re cultivating a breed of squirrels that are not frightened of humans.” Indeed, on a recent Saturday afternoon a squirrel ran into a local synagogue during a talk by the rabbi, and caused considerable panic. “It’s because of all the nuts there,” Arfe, who attends that synagogue, joked.
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