The first story comes from Atlanta.Kari and Dustin Drees bought their first home last month in Buckhead. Then they went to visit family for Christmas. They returned a week later and their interior was destroyed! As Channel 11 reports A squirrel had fallen down their chimney and became trapped inside the house. It defecated, and urinated everywhere! It chewed and scratched everything to try and escape. Eventually it made a nest in the couple's couch.
"We're stressed at first, but we were like, 'This is why you have homeowner's insurance. It's in situations like this.' ... and so we weren't too stressed," Kari Drees said.
She's stressed now though as she was told that her home insurance provider Mercury Insurance, said they aren't covered because “a squirrel is a rodent," and rodent damage is not covered under the policy. Mercury told news outlets that the contract “explicitly stated" the insurance does not cover damages by rodents. If a raccoon destroyed the house, the damages would have been covered.
The second squirrel story comes from England. The headline reads "Scientists are trying to make gray squirrels extinct in Britain with genetic engineering." They're implanting a gene into thousands of males to ensure any female offspring are infertile. Gray squirrels were imported to Britain from the US. They have almost wiped out the native red squirrels. They are having a negative effect on trees growing by stripping bark.
Andrew Kendall, spokesman for the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, said: “We want to reverse the invasion. It is very humane — there is no need for trapping or shooting — they just stop reproducing.”