Squirrels Eat Town's Christmas Lights

[link to www.heraldsun.com.au]

Squirrels eat town's Christmas lights - except the red ones


GREY squirrels are ruining Christmas in the US state of New Jersey by eating all the festive lights.
Well, not all of them - the red ones seem to be off-limits.

Officials in the town of Fredericton say the rodents have developed a taste for the lights that decorate their downtown Christmas tree and have implemented several measures to deter them without much success.

"The squirrels, I think, are getting the better of us," Downtown Fredericton general manager Bruce McCormack told CBC News.

"They seem to be very, very hungry and they like plastic and they like the LED lights and that's all.

"We just can't fight them anymore."

The squirrels normally diet on nuts, seeds and fruits, but even replacing the lights with bigger ones hasn't stemmed their appetite for plastic Christmas bulbs.


However, a local sports team manager has discovered the squirrels only have a taste for blue and white lights.

"They will take their time and they will eat through the bulbs of every light," Dave Morell said.

"Except the red ones.

"I'm a little more determined than Bruce is ... he's tried it so long that he's just given up.

"Well, I don't give up. I just keep putting up red ones."