"They have no fear of humans now."

[sound of Darth Vader music playing.]

And you thought I was KIDDING about the Squirrel Revolution!

Take this for example:

What began as a peaceful lunch on the New Haven Green one recent weekday afternoon became a scene out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. At the prompting of a squat woman in a long coat and dark glasses, four seemingly deranged, bloodthirsty squirrels crawled up the bench slats and tried to eat our food.
"Give him a bite of your apple, dear!" croaked the elderly squirrel feeder, who returned to toss scraps of bread into their scrambling paws. Any attempts to shoo the animals away only went awry: The squirrels came closer, mistaking the gestures for offerings of food.

Noting our distress, a nearby man distributing copies of Center Talk , a homelessness advocacy newspaper, pointed to one of the squirrels and warned: "Stay away from that one! That's the crazy one!"

It continues:

So what is the best defense against a fearless, fevered squirrel crawling up your pant leg, disturbing the tranquility of your noontime park experience?

"Try waving a stick," Kowalski suggests. "But you might have a hard time shooing them off--they're so used to being fed that they have no fear of humans now."