CURRENT EVENT #3 blogg

The article that I read was about squirrels in Washington DC. As lame as the article title may be, and as boring and dumb squirrels are, some how this article grabbed my attention.
The reason that seeing squirrels in Washington DC is now such a big deal is because a little more then a century ago, there was not one squirrel to be found in the gardens or grassy parks of DC. Yet Eastern gray squirrels are native to our area, many of them have disappeared over the years due to hunting which wasn’t outlawed until 1906. Although after that law was issued, people in DC managed to stock the US capitol grounds, Lafayette Square, and the Mall with squirrels. With the squirrels being brought in by animal dealer Edward Schmid, the squirrels became a source of public entertainment and a simple pleasure.
The squirrels in Lafayette Square attracted many people to come and enjoy this unique animal. Special instruments such as squirrel houses were installed to keep the squirrels content in the square. Many worried about harsh winters to come in DC yet the US park police fed the animals as part of its duties. As the population in DC grew, people became more protective of the squirrels, saying cats were terrorizing squirrels, dogs were chasing squirrels, and once again the food supply caused public anxiety leading to the creation of a designated feeding ground.
Frederick Law Olmsted was the US capitols first landscape architect. He was one of the main guys who called for more squirrels in DC parks. He Quotes…"It is not the least of the charms of those grounds as they are to-day to see the familiar gray squirrels quietly feeding there, or bounding over lawns, or scampering up and through the trees." The piece goes on to say that "people passing through the Capitol grounds, whatever their hurry may be, . . . will stop for a moment and linger over the little gray figures, with all their associations of childhood in the woods."