The most common four-footed wild animals in Macomb are squirrels, which are now busy making nests and storing nuts. They have been our town’s characteristic wild creatures for a long time and have had some notable interactions with local folks over the years.
Illinois has four tree squirrel species, and the largest of those — also the largest in America—is the fox squirrel. That’s the one you commonly see, with mixed fur colors of rusty yellow and black. They range over most of the U.S., from the East Coast to the Great Plains.
One reason why they thrive is that they eat a wide range of things, including not just hickory nuts, acorns, and walnuts, but tree seeds, buds, roots, bulbs, berries, corn, soybeans, oats, wheat, insects, and even bird eggs and bark. Alert and quick, they are also hard for most predators to catch, but bobcats, coyotes, foxes, hawks, and owls can take them occasionally.
Of course, fox squirrels were here before Macomb started, and were often hunted for food by native Americans. The pioneers hunted them, too—and some rural people still do.
As Macomb developed, there were many oak, hickory, and walnut trees, which the fox squirrels favor, so the town had many of the furry rodents, running in yards and chattering from branches. By 1900, in fact, some residents fed them, and a few people kept them as caged pets and even crusaded to protect them, feeling that squirrels contributed to the nature experience in town. The 1906 “Macomb Journal” refers to the creation of an ordinance for that purpose:
“The mayor stated at a council meeting that Albert Eads and another gentleman had requested that an ordinance be passed protecting squirrels, as they had a number that they were keeping, to turn loose in the parks and trees. The city attorney was instructed . . . to prepare one.”
As the squirrel population grew, however, there were occasional problems. Some got into attics, garages, and other places. A few even attacked people. One noted instance occurred in 1930, as reported in a “Journal” article titled “Squirrel in Attack upon Macomb Man”:
“A squirrel attempted to attack John McCreary of the Macomb Motor Company, in front of his home on South Lafayette Street, this afternoon. He had some difficulty escaping it. . . .
John started out of the front door and down his walk when he felt something brush against his leg. He looked down, and there was the squirrel, reaching for him with its front claws. He stepped away from it, thinking it was someone’s pet.
At this movement, the rodent leaped for him. He dodged it and ran to his car, which was parked at the curb. He jumped up on the fender of the car, and the squirrel jumped after him. Maneuvering, he succeeded in getting away from it, got into his car, and drove to the police station, where he informed Chief of Police Ford. . . .
The squirrel was in the fork of a tree when the officers soon arrived with Mr. McCreary. At the approach of the group, it started down the tree and came running toward them. But before it could reach the group, a shotgun charge ended its life.”
While this episode led to various jokes about the frightened, squirrelly Mr. McCreary, there was a serious aspect, too. People then suspected squirrels of carrying rabies.
In fact, there were various squirrel bitings which prompted that concern. One in the early 1940s involved a first grader, Mary Bodine, who was bitten by a pet squirrel that was brought to the Western Training School by Carle Crabb, Jr., another first grader, the son of Carle and Lida Crabb. Soon after the squirrel bit little Mary, it died. The parents became frightened, and both the girl’s father, Professor Marcy Bodine, and Western’s president, Frank Beu, took the squirrel carcass to the University of Illinois for rabies tests.
The results were negative, but the town was increasingly split between those who liked
squirrels, and wanted them protected, and others who simply wanted them controlled.
Surely the most controversial Macomb squirrel case of all time occurred in the winter of 1945. The first newspaper article on the matter referred to more than one attack:
“A squirrel, believed to be one that has bitten several persons in the vicinity of the 500 block of North Randolph Street, was killed yesterday afternoon, and the police took the dead animal to the University of Illinois today for examination to determine whether it had rabies.
Mrs. Thelma Black, 702 East Murray Street, is the latest attack victim of the squirrel. She was bitten on both sides of her left ankle a few days ago. She is . . . taking anti-rabies shots. Mrs. Leota M. Owens, 623 North Randolph Street, was bitten on the heel by the squirrel a few weeks ago and also took the anti-rabies shots. . . . The squirrel was described as a pet that would eat out of someone’s hand but might also nip at them. It also chased cats in the neighborhood. . . .
The [probable] squirrel was killed yesterday by Alderman Andy Baker. . . . He shot it with a shotgun. However, there is no definite proof that the squirrel killed yesterday is the same one that has been biting people.”
Tests soon showed that the squirrel did not have rabies. But controversy sprang up. It turned out that the dead squirrel — which some people called “Jack the Ripper”—was “the pet of a number of families” in that neighborhood. That was why it demanded attention from people walking by. One angry, squirrel-loving woman even cried out, when she saw Jack killed, “They ought to shoot some policemen instead of our squirrels.” But as the bitings continued, others felt sure that the wrong fox squirrel had been killed. They complained, so the police soon shot two more of the scampering rodents in that part of town. And the conflict over squirrels raged on.
All of which shows, perhaps, that our most common wild animal has also been our most controversial. And as the number of trees in Macomb continues to increase, in our time, the cute but sometimes feisty little rodents will no doubt increase as well. More deeply than most people realize, they have been, for generations, part of the cultural experience as well as the natural environment in our town.
Author and local historian John Hallwas is a columnist for the McDonough County Voice. Research assistance was provided by WIU archivist Kathy Nichols and retired WIU biologist John Warnock.