The Enduring Agony of a Squirrel Rampage

By Joanna Miller in Miscellaneous on Aug 15, 2006 9:07PM

It was a perfect day for shopping, and, really, what day at Tiffany’s isn’t? As the sun bounced brightly off of her new diamond tennis bracelet, Marcy Meckler wondered how life could get any better. Little did she know the terror she was about to experience.

It was two years ago, but Meckler still has nightmares about the squirrel – the one that lunged at her leg as she reached for the keys to her BMW in the Old Orchard Shopping Center parking lot. She frantically tried to escape the squirrel’s death grip and crashed to the ground, suffering injuries that would last the rest of her life.

Meckler still finds it painful to talk about, but she’s vowed to seek justice. That’s why she filed a lawsuit against the employees and security personnel at Westfield Corp. on Monday. By feeding and caring for the beast, they encouraged it, and might as well have attacked her themselves. The pain is still very real – both in her leg, her heart and her mind.

And to think, it all could have been prevented by a simple warning. If only they would have warned her of the dangers that lurked in the parking lot, maybe things would be different. Instead, $50,000 in damages will have to do.

Obviously, squirrels are dangerous animals, and we think it’s time we banned them. Actually, we’re surprised the Tribune hasn’t already written a three-part narrative about this horrific incident and left it up on their homepage for several days. Nah, that would be a little much.

How we reported this story: We made some of it up. We have no idea what Meckler was thinking, what kind of car she drives or whether or not she wears diamonds. But she was attacked by a squirrel in the Old Orchard parking lot, and she is suing them for 50 G's. Some things you just can't make up. For just the facts, go here.

Attack squirrel via gds