Trained squirrels at Epcot?

[Dementia]

I have been trying to track down the source of this for ages now. The closest I found was a blurb by a former CM on a message board...
I'm determined to get to the bottom of this now


Posted by mabels on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 @ 06:46 PM:

Hi, my name is mabels and I'm a Ponderholic ...
In the real world I'm known as Ilene the squirrel lady as I trained squirrels when I worked at EPCOT and named them all mabels (as in Mickey, Minnie and mabels). I now work at Animal Kingdom and love it most of the time (unless my feet start to hurt from standing for long hours). I've worked at the Mouse House for 6 years now.



I've emailed her, but have heard nothing. But at least I know I'm not crazy



(Okay maybe not crazy in THAT way...*twitch*)

But has anyone had any encounters or known anything about this at all?

 

[Sorcerer Figment]

As crazy as it sounds, I wouldn't put it past Disney. I love how there are always cute little bunny rabbits running around all Disney resort hotels.

 

[ladysoleil]

I don't know if the squirrels at Epcot were "trained", but we had a run in with a very friendly one in the courtyard of the Rose and Crown. The little guy actually tried to jump in hubby's lap as he was eating a piece of candy, and hung out with us for quite a while as we were drinking our cider. I'm not sure if they'd be trained to get that personal with the guests, though.

 

[Otimon]

Believe me,there are no trained squirrels at Epcot. Gave me a good laugh though.

I know nothing of the CM in question but perhaps he/she was in Çustodial and would offer the squirrels some nuts as they walked around just to entertain the kids - making it look as though they had been trained to respond. The squirrels at Epcot (or any park) are quite used to people and will often come up to you if you put your hand out with food. Same with the ducks.

Would not recommend doing the above at all but have seen many quests do just that.

 

[WDSearcher]

There are no trained squirrels at Epcot (or anywhere else on Disney property, for that matter). Many squirrels have gotten used to people, and they regularly beg from guests and CMs, but Disney does not assign someone to train them to do so! But, like Otimon, I got a good laugh from that!

 

[WVMomof3]

The squirrels are very smart! Watch out when you park your stroller and make sure all your bags are zipped tight if you leave them in the stroller. I watched for about 5 minutes as a squirrel was rummaging through the bags in the stroller parked next to mine. That bag got a better search by the squirrel than any of my bags at the security check!

 

[PandyPaws]

The squirrels are very smart! Watch out when you park your stroller and make sure all your bags are zipped tight if you leave them in the stroller. I watched for about 5 minutes as a squirrel was rummaging through the bags in the stroller parked next to mine. That bag got a better search by the squirrel than any of my bags at the security check!

This made me LOL!! No, not trained, but the squirrels are especially smart...there's one near the Safari cue at stroller parking that lets the birds do all the work for him (and those birds are extremely good at rifling food...if it's not locked up or zipped in a bag, they'll get it....if they can't open a box of crackers, they'll toss it on the ground and let the impact pop it open). The squirrel watches and follows the birds until they find something, then stands nearby under the bushes and waits for the birds to bring something out onto open ground, then runs out and helps himself.

 

[mking624]

Trained squirrels? Ummm, no. LOL

I agree with the others....squirrels are VERY smart. My husband and I adore squirrels. In one apartment we lived in, a mother squirrel and her 4 babies made a nest on our patio. The mother wound up leaving but the babies stayed and grew up together. Squirrels are typically territorial, but they knew they had it good where they lived...we spoiled them rotten. In the apartment we live in now, we have several squirrels that come to our door every single day for food. We have a metal mail slot at the bottom of our door that I used to slip the peanuts out of...just a couple of times of doing that and they started banging at the mail slot because they knew that's where the peanuts would come. I never use the mail slot anymore, I open the door and hand feed them, yet they still bang on the mail slot because they know that's how to get my attention. One of them will jump on my lap and let me pet him...he LOVES attention. Another one likes to come right in and lay out on the floor while my husband and I watch tv. He'll stay for about 20 minutes before deciding to leave. There are a couple that will run to our door and bang on the mail slot to be let in if there's a bad storm outside (this happened about a week and a half ago, in fact). They pick up on things very quickly. The more they are around people (especially when there's food around), the more friendly they tend to be. They will hang out on laps or hang out beside you when they know there is nothing to be feared. There doesn't need to be a trainer for that to happen. The "wild" animals at WDW are around people all the time. They know they have no reason to fear. But animals outside of that kind of environment typically will have a different "attitude" regarding their territory and those they are not familiar with.

 

[Bill From PA]

The squirrels throughout WDW are 'trained' in the sense that they've come to realize that we humans are not only harmless but we'll actually hand them food. I'm guilty of having one at AK's Conservation Station eat out of my hand. Also, at the outside Cantina @ Mexico in Epcot we had birds begging for handouts. I dipped a nacho in hot sauce and gave it to one of the flock. I was shocked when it flew to the lagoon, washed it off, then ate it! That's what I call trained.

Bill From PA

 

[mking624]

The squirrels throughout WDW are 'trained' in the sense that they've come to realize that we humans are not only harmless but we'll actually hand them food. I'm guilty of having one at AK's Conservation Station eat out of my hand. Also, at the outside Cantina @ Mexico in Epcot we had birds begging for handouts. I dipped a nacho in hot sauce and gave it to one of the flock. I was shocked when it flew to the lagoon, washed it off, then ate it! That's what I call trained.

Bill From PA

Yes, I agree with you on that...they are "trained" in the sense that they know the kind of environment they are in and how they are treated and how they can act. But they are not trained in the sense as this "mabels" is claiming.

 

[loriandmatt]

any one who has paid a considerable amount for bird seed and/or feeders as well as an extensive bulb garden does not like squirrels.

nasty distructive thieves. cute, but still nasty.

- lori

 

[mking624]

They're trying to get food just like any other animal. I guess trying to eat is considered nasty and destructive. If you take the time to "get to know them", you'll find they're really not that nasty. I've noiced that the people who take the time to leave out a few peanuts dealings with "squirrel destruction" considerably less...because they already know where food is guaranteed.

 

[loriandmatt]

come now - have a sense of humor about you.

sure they know where food for them is guarnateed - in my back yard. (again - humor there, not sarcasism.) not only in the corn cobs that i leave out for them but in my fat/seed hangers, the seed for the finches, in my bulb garden, by dog's bowl - you name it - they rade it. they have chewed through two $75 bird feeders.

it's all a matter of perspective. some folks dig snakes, some don't. some folks love cats, some don't. some folks enjoy seeing squirels scampering around, i don't. all opinions. (by the way, hate snakes - love cats.)

glad disney isn't spending cash training them. how silly would that look anyway. they would have to have tiny little chairs with tiny little whips.

- lori

 

[mmccoy]

I hate to be the naysayer for this thread, but...regarding feeding the birds, please don't. We ate lunch at the Mexico Cantina during our last stay. Not only were the birds a nuisance, their poop was, as well. I felt like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

While I'm ranting - Animal Kingdom has a real problem with indigenous species trying to set-up house in the trail areas. The biologists have to be selective about feeding times, and maintain a physical presence when feeding some species in the trail areas. Of course, the indigenous species probably own first rights to the space, but, then, most folks don't go to Animal Kingdom to see mallard ducks. Grackles, starlings, and cow birds are extremely adaptable, and have become serious nuisances in some areas.

 

[Dementia]

Thanks everyone for all the information! I guess "mabels" is just a crazy ol lady and I guess the rumour went on from there (maybe that's why i've seen it listed on websites)

 

[rockyroad]

I saw a kid trying to get a squirrel to come take food from his hand. A group of kids kind of had the thing cornered on the back of that fake donkey in the Mexico section of WS. The squirrel got down right indignant and I thought the boy might lose a finger there for a moment.

I would leave the squirrels alone. They are wild animals, not characters.